EK Launches EK-Pro GPU Water Block for NVIDIA RTX 4090 WindForce V2

[Lt. James Hetfield]

uh?? how is EK stll in business??

 

[ty_ger]

Lots of AMD discussion in an EK, NVIDIA topic.


The stainless is a major turnoff.
I always buy clear tops so I cam see what is going on without guessing. It's not just the opaqueness that is a turnoff, but why stainless? Why mix metals? Yuck

 

[Dicfylac]

The use of stainless steel in cooling parts is not good for heat transfer, as it treats the heat in opposite direction of copper, brass and aluminium. Outside screws, inox and other steel parts should kept away from cooling systems.

 

[BoggledBeagle]

The use of stainless steel in cooling parts is not good for heat transfer

They are not using it as a cooling part of the block, which is made from copper.

 

[ty_ger]

They are not using it as a cooling part of the block, which is made from copper.

The water block features a CNC-machined nickel-plated copper base paired with a precision laser-cut stainless-steel top, ensuring both durability and superior liquid cooling efficiency.

I too read it as stainless steel was justified as a way of providing superior cooling. Otherwise, why are they using it? I don't know. They shouldn't use stainless, in my opinion. Depending on alloy, they are close in the galvanic series, which is good, but why have any difference in galvanic properties at all with two metals in very close proximity? Bad idea.

 

[BoggledBeagle]

I too read it as stainless steel was justified as a way of providing superior cooling. Otherwise, why are they using it? I don't know.

You can see in the third photo in the first post in this thread, how is the stainless sheet used.

 

[ty_ger]

You can see in the third photo in the first post in this thread, how is the stainless sheet used.

Eh, what?

I know how a water block is assembled. The top is stainless. Bad, in my opinion.

 

[HBSound]

I hear you but unfortunately my EK block is the only one that blew a gasket and looked like Niagara Falls at night. I have blocks from Alphacool and Byiski that have never done that. I also noticed that my EK block had some particulate matter inside as well. It was noticed on TPU when I posted the picture. At least this one is not $400 US like the last one they released for the 4090.


Just buy the card with the block applied if that is the case. At least you won't void your warranty.

I remember when I built my PC, AlphaCool and Bykski did not offer items for the PNY A series of GPUs. However, the AlphaCool items I saw afterward, based on reviews, never added up and fell short. When I built my PC, I wanted a complete water-cooled system, and at the time, EK offered a cooling block for the Threadripper Pro and PNY A GPUs. So, I went with what was available despite the cost.

Are their products overpriced? Yes! But what isn't overpriced these days in the PC world? Nothing seems to hold value. However, EK's value came in its customer service, as they answered every single email I sent them about setting up and picking products.

Would I use them again? Partially, yes, because they have products to support the pro-level items I use. As of now, I have not had any issues with any of their pro-line products. I have no experience with their Intel/AMD gamer GPU products.

 

[terroralpha]

To be fair, it's meant to mount a top a well north of $1k Video Card. I think they have an idea of their 'market'.

no, they do not. i have a 4090 suprim myself. i've always had the top tier or near top tier GPU going back to the GTX 6800GT days. i used EK religiously until their prices went off the rails about 6 years ago. I spend a lot on my GPU because i can't go to a competitor and get the same thing or better for a lower price. but EK is not the only game in town for waterblocks. they can f*** all the way off with this overpriced trash.

ironically, their quality went down the gutter around the same time their prices skyrocketed. the last few EK blocks i've owned had their nickel coating disappear within months of use and the cooling fins started visibly eroding within a year. they also designed blocks that straight didn't work (threadripper 1 blocks, for example). then of course is their snake oil, "actively cooled backplates".

meanwhile, the bykski block on my 4090 suprim held up flawlessly. the coating and fins are all still there nearly 2 years later and it was only $120 WITH A BACKPLATE.

I always buy clear tops so I cam see what is going on without guessing. It's not just the opaqueness that is a turnoff, but why stainless? Why mix metals? Yuck

same. i want to see what's going on inside the block. you'll never know if a seal/o-ring is failing if you can't see it. my EK GTX780 kinpin block leaked because the oring was not installed correctly. that could have been prevented if i was able to see inside.

 

[Dicfylac]

They are not using it as a cooling part of the block, which is made from copper.

I know they are using copper for the block, but the 29 screws on top of stainless steel plate tells me is, there is , maybe, direct contact between the plate and the block, and so, as the copper absorbs heat from the graphics and passes down to the liquid fluid, the plate is taking some part of the heat preventing the fluid transporting the most of the respective to the radiators. As the copper and the stainless steel heats at different rates, the process is not much efficient as copper/acrylic or copper/acetal, as for example.

I too read it as stainless steel was justified as a way of providing superior cooling.

I guess the stainless steel use case is not related to superior cooling.

 

[kapone32]

no, they do not. i have a 4090 suprim myself. i've always had the top tier or near top tier GPU going back to the GTX 6800GT days. i used EK religiously until their prices went off the rails about 6 years ago. I spend a lot on my GPU because i can't go to a competitor and get the same thing or better for a lower price. but EK is not the only game in town for waterblocks. they can f*** all the way off with this overpriced trash.

ironically, their quality went down the gutter around the same time their prices skyrocketed. the last few EK blocks i've owned had their nickel coating disappear within months of use and the cooling fins started visibly eroding within a year. they also designed blocks that straight didn't work (threadripper 1 blocks, for example). then of course is their snake oil, "actively cooled backplates".

meanwhile, the bykski block on my 4090 suprim held up flawlessly. the coating and fins are all still there nearly 2 years later and it was only $120 WITH A BACKPLATE.

same. i want to see what's going on inside the block. you'll never know if a seal/o-ring is failing if you can't see it. my EK GTX780 kinpin block leaked because the oring was not installed correctly. that could have been prevented if i was able to see inside.

This

 

[Random_User]

For the low low price of 2200 euro you to can own a water cooled 4090. Or build an entire PC with peripherals for less. I know which I would choose.

Even with these prices, $300 is about the price of 6700XT.

"InOx" is just what they call stainless steel in Europe. I used to finish stainless steel and my tools from Fein and Pferd always referred to stainless as "inox" (it's from the French "inoxydable")

Funny thing is that they charge more for these cards when for all intents and purposes they should be cheaper without the acrylic, right?

The kitchen/cookware has "inox" in their description for a good while (20+years), so... Anyway, from what I've read and know, this term being refered to medical/food grade 18/10 (AISI 304) stainless steel 18%(Cr)/10%(Ni).

I'm sure they do.

EK Issues Official Statement Acknowledging Past Issues, Plans Corrective Actions - ekwb.com

In light of recent video content by different media outlets and overall public sentiment concerning the company's operations, EK takes the situation very seriously. EK's founder and CEO, Edvard König, issued the following statement.

www.ekwb.com

'There is still a long way to go'

I think the overall sentiment wrt EK is that they've been misfiring for quite a while now, and the price of their products is certainly in that category. Let's hope it was a crisis/covid related thing that they're turning around. But part of that turnaround must be in price.

That's still nothing, no result. Some PR, guilt pretending buzzwords. They just made a statement, that doesn't lead anywhere. From GN only experience, there were already at least three+ huge, bragging brands, that expressed some "appoligies", and then continued the same thing. The only risk of court and lawsuit was keeping them at the fence.

And like you've mentioned, the another problem is that the product issues do not affect the final price. I mean, the company screwed up, and many products have been reported to have them. But the public image of them stays high nontheless. This applies to absolute majority of "renowned" brands, not only EK.

And EK is one of the many brands, that rides the reputation train gained during first succesful years, to gouge. Along with reducing the quality and expenses. Typical capitalism. This is some disastrous trend, when the company gains success, with 9:10 chance it's going into downwards spiral by quality, and opposite by the price they have audacity to ask.
I understand, that materials have gone up in price. But many of them rise the prices retrospectively.

Spoiler: Salty rant

And they do this, because every other company, and business, does the same. They've created the public perception of some thing, and then collectively riding it.
What I mean: for example the bread maker, rises prices, due to wheat costs going up. Surely, this is fair enough, so people are ready to pay more, to have the same quality product. Or even make less of product with the same good quality. But no. The size and quality goes down instead, so they multiplying their margins, by cutting both quality and amount, thus reducing their expenses significantly. Then another link in the chain does the same, justifying this by the same fact.
So ends up as vicious circle, which none of the business owners are going to end. Even when the material/resouce prices go down, the end product prices remain the same.

Exactly. Its a slab of metal, no matter how pretty you do the marketing around it. At some point you've just crossed the line towards being for the upper segment only, and you'll lose the mass market. Nobody can explain why EKWB is the optimal choice for its price today. They're not better, but they are more expensive.

There are so many stuff on the market. And since the LQ inception (I guess it takes the origin from auto-enthusiast's makeshift DYI projects), when it meant a tiny waterblock with transparent flexible tubes and some cooper radiator outside the case. And with the CNC becoming a more widespread thing, the amount of companies rivaling in the same space has grown significantly. There are Bysky, Alphacool, Koolance, Barrow, Aquacomputer and many, many others. I don't even mention AIO, that theoretically can be refit for custom loop purposes.

Maybe some are not equally same quality, design or features. But at this point, buying EK's preimum stuff for a lot of money, doesn't guarantee a good quality either, nor better design. Especially, after countless of issue reports all across the web.

Of course, not everything they have is bad, and any product from any company can have the problems. And the prices are high across the whole LQ board. But nonetheless, when someone buys such expensive product, it should have had no issues at all, whether it is EKWB, or any other brand.

P.S.: What interests me, is how viable is CNC drilling the entire blocks, instead of cast/mould, and then CNC'ing the the micro fin array? Surely this needs the refining, but so does the CNC machining. And the amount of material wasted during CNC milling, is huge concern. As much as the power and tools. Just thoughts.

"EK, the leading computer cooling solutions provider"

I don't know who made this assertion, but I dispute it.

Not to mention, that they are most likely using some kind of OEM manufacturer's services themselves.

Eh, what?

I know how a water block is assembled. The top is stainless. Bad, in my opinion.

Depends on the steel mixture. However I doubt it would have any corrosion related problems, if it's 18/10. Since for example the already mentioned coockware has been made from stainless steel and copper composite, and none issues has been found. As much as the aluminium plate, that being placed inside double bottom of many pans, and other kitchenware.
Also, the old cars used to have steel thermostats within the loop with copper radiator and aluminium block. And it seems to be fine, at least from corrosion standpoint, even with ICE's working temperatures. I know, this isn't apples to apples comparison, but...

Anyway, I doubt it is so much worse, than full acrylic top cover. Also, it's possible to apply much higher sealing pressure.

From what I've read, acrylic has the conductivity of 0.209 W/m-K, while the 18/10 SS has about 16W/m-K

 

[maxfly]

Most folks that have been into watercooling for more than a few years either from personal experience or through browsing/researching wcing, learn very quickly that price absolutely doesn't equal quality (In our current worldwide economic situation very few people are willing to overpay for anything just cuz, regardless of the depth of their pockets). And EK, is more often than not the reason for that lesson. If it were simply a numbers game that would be one thing, but unfortunately for EK it's not. They have had so many instances of piss poor early implementation AND shoddy quality control it's hard to keep track of them all. You would think that because of the sheer volume of manufacturing available to them, that at some point they would have mastered the engineering, plating and assembly processes. Especially considering they constantly tout themselves as, "the leading computer cooling solutions provider" and the cherry on top is the owner is an engineer...funny stuff.

I do have to give their support staff their props, they are top notch. They have always treated me well, taken care of my issues professionally and on time. The obvious problem... I shouldn't have had to deal with them at all.

Well, that's my 2.

 

[BoggledBeagle]

Eh, what? I know how a water block is assembled. The top is stainless. Bad, in my opinion.

You might want to check the photos one more time...

As the copper and the stainless steel heats at different rates, the process is not much efficient as copper/acrylic or copper/acetal, as for example.

I guess the stainless steel use case is not related to superior cooling.

How is steel worse in cooling than plastic? Plastic conducts heat much worse than stainless steel. You may as well mount insulating polystyrene sheets instead of the acrylic/acetal.

 

[claster17]

Jetplates and other plates for flow guidance are usually made from stainless steel.

 

[ty_ger]

You might want to check the photos one more time...

Rather than beat around the bush, why don't you just tell me what you believe you see? I can't dispel your misconceptions if you don't communicate them.

 

[BoggledBeagle]

The stainless sheet is on the bottom of the card, not on top. It is used instead of the usual plaxiglass or plastic (thermally insulating) layer.

The only disdvantage I see with this solution as somebody already mentioned is that you do not see what is going on in the block, but on the other hand when you maintain the loop you may just blow air or water the opposite direction, loosening and washing out any debris collected on the chip fins, so one may argue that this is enough to clean the block and you do not need to see how it looks inside.

 

[ty_ger]

What you call the bottom, everyone else calls the top. Look at any waterblock sales brochure. They will say acetyl top or polycarbonate top or whatever.

I don't know what point you are trying to make, or what you thought we thought.


"Somebody already mentioned"? Yes, me.


Edit: if the contact area is the baseplate, that is why the top is the top. They aren't going to call the top the basement.

 

[lexluthermiester]

t-this...isnt a review?

Review or not isn't the point. TPU continuing it's association with EK on any level is more than a bit disturbing, some find it unacceptable and it certainly sends the wrong message. W1zzard can't claim he didn't know about all of this as several persons directly informed him as to the goings-on. This is most worrisome. EK is has proven itself little more than tax-dodgers, thieves and fraudsters. TPU should not be associating with such. Very poor showing here..

I don't know who made this assertion, but I dispute it.

And you would be correct to do so.

 

[Solaris17]

Meh its a news post. I think the total opposite. Thats EKs problem. Other avenues posture all the time to get views or try to garner respect on false pretense. People are swayed too easily.

It sucks and hopefully it works out for all involved, but thats the game. They arent out of business yet and they released a new block.


Get over it imo.

 

[Bwaze]

Apart from quality control issues EK made some very costly blunders in product development.

Anyone else remembers when EK tried to make an integrated fan / pump / RGB controller similar to Aqua Computer ones? Loop Connect. A thing was quite expensive, never really worked, and buyers were just left waiting for the constantly promised "software update" that would fix everything, but never came... And instead of a grown-up recall they just left the customers with broken product.

 

[Dr. Dro]

Meh its a news post. I think the total opposite. Thats EKs problem. Other avenues posture all the time to get views or try to garner respect on false pretense. People are swayed too easily.

It sucks and hopefully it works out for all involved, but thats the game. They arent out of business yet and they released a new block.


Get over it imo.

Yeah, I'm of the same opinion. I think end of the day, EK is a traditional name in the WC business and I think they're going to make things right, if anything, for their own survival. The tech press is grilling them well.

 

[lexluthermiester]

It sucks and hopefully it works out for all involved

It's not going to be worked out. They are going down. They will be shutting down and will sometime soon be barred from doing business in the United States. They are ripping people off, blatantly. They are ripping off governments and they are ripping off their own employees. They are criminals and their time is at an end, deservedly so.

 

[Dr. Dro]

It's not going to be worked out. They are going down. They will be shutting down and will sometime soon be barred from doing business in the United States. They are ripping people off, blatantly. They are ripping off governments and they are ripping off their own employees. They are criminals and their time is at an end, deservedly so.

Perhaps we'll live to see the day corporations being treated as they should, but I'm not sure today is that day

 

[Bwaze]

Review or not isn't the point. TPU continuing it's association with EK on any level is more than a bit disturbing, some find it unacceptable and it certainly sends the wrong message. W1zzard can't claim he didn't know about all of this as several persons directly informed him as to the goings-on. This is most worrisome. EK is has proven itself little more than tax-dodgers, thieves and fraudsters. TPU should not be associating with such. Very poor showing here..

But that's the reality of tech media for years now. Any tech media outlet that tried to be critical of companies ended up destroyed (remember HardOCP? Or the really insightful reviews on AnandTech?)

Most tech review sites operate very similar to YouTube reviewers - you can clearly see they are completely dependant on review samples handed to them by tech companies, and this clear dependance shows in rewievs where there are almost never any downsides, technical issues and even downright non functioning products that are later recalled get stellar reviews, unprecedented price hikes get explained like they are inevitable etc...

YouTubers even showed more backbone, pushing against some blatant company pressures (and generating views by doing so), but standard tech review sites? Completely subordinate, bought with the shiny trinkets they are reviewing. Nothing more than repeaters of press releases , even when that is completely out of tune with reality.

"The tech press is grilling them well."

Where? Apart from some YouTubers I haven't seen any criticism of EK commited to typed word.