EK Expands Its Threadripper Waterblock Portfolio With the EK-Supremacy sTR4's Four SKUs

[Raevenlord]

EK is releasing new dedicated EK-Supremacy sTR4 water blocks that are specifically designed for HEDT AMD Ryzen Threadripper processors. The cold plate covers the entire IHS of the AMD Ryzen Threadripper processor and the fin structure is fine-tuned for multi-die CPU cooling.

EK-Supremacy sTR4
The release of AMD X399 chipset based HEDT processors opened new opportunities and challenges for cooling solutions. EK was first on market with a liquid cooling solution, but now it's time to go for the pole-position. The primary goal in designing the new EK-Supremacy sTR4 water block was to cover the entire IHS of HEDT AMD Ryzen Threadripper processors and to optimize the fin structure according to the CPU die layout. A dense micro-fin structure that counts 91 grooves is split in half in the center so that the CPU dies are cooled more directly. The water block features a patent-pending technology called TDC (Targeted Die Cooling), which is a unique approach to cooling of multi-die processors in order to maximize the cooling performance of every single die by addressing them directly.





We are announcing four versions of the EK-Supremacy sTR4 waterblock:

• EK-Supremacy sTR4 RGB - Nickel
• EK-Supremacy sTR4 - Nickel
• EK-Supremacy sTR4 - Acetal + Nickel
• EK-Supremacy sTR4 - Full Nickel

Every EK-Supremacy sTR4 water block comes with a precisely machined copper base (sometimes referred to as 'cold plate') which is made from purest copper available on the market and is treated with nickel electroplating. Unlike some other CPU blocks, the sTR4 comes with a diamond cut unpolished cold plate to achieve the best possible contact with the IHS of the AMD Ryzen Threadripper processor, thus enabling better thermal transfer. The top is made from CNC machined POM Acetal, acrylic glass or nickel-plated brass (depending on the variant).

All mentioned water blocks are enclosed with a small tube of high-performance Thermal Grizzly Hydronaut thermal grease. It's suitable for high demanding users and for overclocking due to its excellent thermal conductivity. The thermal grease consists of a silicon-free structure, this makes it very light and highly flexible and easy to apply. It's recommended that users follow the EK-Supremacy sTR4 water block installation manual for the suggested method of thermal grease application for the best-expected results.



The base plate is covering 100% of the of the AMD Ryzen Threadripper processors Integrated Heat Spreader (IHS). The EK-Supremacy sTR4 cooling engine implemented into the water block is the key to a high-flow design with low hydraulic restriction combined with high-performance cooling. The RGB version of the EK-Supremacy sTR4 water block is compatible with popular RGB sync technologies from all major motherboard manufacturers. The arrow marking on the 4-pin LED connector is to be aligned with the +12V marking on the RGB header. You can easily remove the LED strip cover which is mounted with two screws to replace the LED strip with some other type LED strip.

EK-Supremacy sTR4 comes with a pre-assembled error-preventing mounting mechanism that is installed directly onto the SocketTR4 mounting holes. The result is a perfect installation which results in optimal performance every time. This also means the water block is out of the box compatible with AMD's server type Socket SP3 motherboards. With such a mounting solution, the user does not need to remove the motherboard from the case and so has a hassle-free installation procedure of the new CPU. The sliding mounting screws also allow the block to be flipped and to orient the In and Out ports based on the user's needs.



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[RH92]

It was about time since EK had the worst waterblock to cool TR untill now !

Hopefully those who purchased their previous TR waterblock will get a big discount on this or even better a free replacement .

 

[Ubersonic]

Hmm, looking at this I would say either EK has received a tip off that Thread Ripper 2 is going to have more than 16 cores, or they are just trying to exploit the fact that most users these days don't understand that the CPU dies are much smaller than the IHS and there's zero benefit to covering the entire IHS.

 

[RejZoR]

Hmm, looking at this I would say either EK has received a tip off that Thread Ripper 2 is going to have more than 16 cores, or they are just trying to exploit the fact that most users these days don't understand that the CPU dies are much smaller than the IHS and there's zero benefit to covering the entire IHS.

That's not entirely true. Heat doesn't go straight through the IHS, it expands on its surface, outwards. Meaning if you cool entire IHS, you're increasing the cooling capacity/potential.

 

[dj-electric]

That's not entirely true. Heat doesn't go straight through the IHS, it expands on its surface, outwards. Meaning if you cool entire IHS, you're increasing the cooling capacity/potential.

Yup, it would be a huge mistake not to cool all of the IHS+ 5-10%.

Looking good, EK. Nice job.

 

[Ubersonic]

That's not entirely true. Heat doesn't go straight through the IHS, it expands on its surface, outwards. Meaning if you cool entire IHS, you're increasing the cooling capacity/potential.

No, not in the slightest. You see the name IHS is a misnomer, it is not a heat spreader (the IHS is actually a thermal insulator) it is a weight spreader, it's there to protect the die or dies from crushing during cooler installation (similar to the rubber bump stops on the Athlon XP).

Once the die or dies are covered by the waterblock there is zero benefit to covering any more of the IHS, the threadripper blocks simply do it because it's what unknowing users expect. Last August when the TR4 blocks first launched I demonstrated this by running both the TR4 Supremacy and the 115x Supremacy on my 1950X using the TR4 bracket, there was approximately 0% difference in performance. However in both cases there was a notable gain from rotating the block 90 degrees (this is the fin orientation all the other blocks use) so it's nice to see EK have learned from that with this updated block.

 

[RejZoR]

That's BS and you know it. I well know what naked core is and what's an IHS. Been slapping coolers on CPU's back from when they were still all naked. If outer edge of the block is barely covering cores, it means the actual fin stack inside of it is NOWHERE near the actual cores. If you cover most of the IHS, it means cores are located directly underneath the fin stack of the block.

 

[ghazi]

No, not in the slightest. You see the name IHS is a misnomer, it is not a heat spreader (the IHS is actually a thermal insulator) it is a weight spreader, it's there to protect the die or dies from crushing during cooler installation (similar to the rubber bump stops on the Athlon XP).

Once the die or dies are covered by the waterblock there is zero benefit to covering any more of the IHS, the threadripper blocks simply do it because it's what unknowing users expect. Last August when the TR4 blocks first launched I demonstrated this by running both the TR4 Supremacy and the 115x Supremacy on my 1950X using the TR4 bracket, there was approximately 0% difference in performance. However in both cases there was a notable gain from rotating the block 90 degrees (this is the fin orientation all the other blocks use) so it's nice to see EK have learned from that with this updated block.

How is it that greater area of thermal transfer makes no difference? Especially when the IHS heats up along with the dies and that heat spreads out across the IHS -- why wouldn't you want to cool the whole thing? Especially with Threadripper which is not a monolithic design with a single small die in the center. Regardless of what the intended purpose of the IHS is in your mind it does function in this way.

https://www.anandtech.com/show/12454/analyzing-threadripper-cooling-big-base-cooling-wins/5

To say that only the part of the IHS directly above the die needs to make contact with the cooler is like asking why AMD's stock heatsink has a fan that covers the entire thing when it only needs to cover the section above the die.

 

[RH92]

Hmm, looking at this I would say either EK has received a tip off that Thread Ripper 2 is going to have more than 16 cores, or they are just trying to exploit the fact that most users these days don't understand that the CPU dies are much smaller than the IHS and there's zero benefit to covering the entire IHS.

Lol this is total BS !

HardOCP reviews have shown that there is HUGE difference between blocks who cover the entire IHS and those who don't like the previous Supremacy EVO TR block :https://images.hardocp.com/images/articles/1526065020nhd1rl3n47_3_3.png
As you can see there is 12°C delta between something like the Raystorm wich covers the entire IHS and the EVO TR that doesn't . 12°C delta for a waterblock means that blocks who have full coverage are on another planet !

This is precisely the rason that pushed EK to realease a full cover block .

If you cover most of the IHS, it means cores are located directly underneath the fin stack of the block.

This !!!

 

[thebluebumblebee]

IHS is a misnomer, it is not a heat spreader (the IHS is actually a thermal insulator) it is a weight spreader

Well..., not quite.

A thermal insulator is something that prevents heat from moving from one place to another.

Once the die or dies are covered by the waterblock there is zero benefit to covering any more of the IHS

That is not true. Heat(energy) does not travel in a straight line through a substance. Think of every Flir image you've ever seen. There's always a hot spot with outward spreading, decreasing thermal "rings".
example

I demonstrated this by running both the TR4 Supremacy and the 115x Supremacy on my 1950X using the TR4 bracket, there was approximately 0% difference in performance

But EKWB has basically admitted that that block sucks. We'll look forward to your analysis of the new block compared to the 115x Supremacy.

 

[bogami]

Good and nice job EK !

 

[Ubersonic]

That is not true. Heat(energy) does not travel in a straight line through a substance. Think of every Flir image you've ever seen. There's always a hot spot with outward spreading, decreasing thermal "rings".

The heat present on the outer edges of the IHS is transferred not from the dies but outwards from the centre of the IHS which is contacting the dies, essentially the empty area of the IHS is acting as fins for the central contacted part. When you apply a waterblock to it it makes zero difference to CPU temps if you cover the excess parts of the IHS or not.

This can be demonstrated easily by comparing the results of the standard EK Supremacy Evo block and the elongated TR4 one, the results are approximately identical thus it's safe to say there is no benefit of having the waterblock extended over the empty space. What was interesting was that the standard block performed noticeably better when rotated 90 degrees (which is to be expected as that fin stack orientation better fits the die layout of Threadripper) and the same was true of the TR4 block (which in that orientation has the elongated section hanging off over the edges of the CPU).

We'll look forward to your analysis of the new block compared to the 115x Supremacy.

I definitely plan to do one, hopefully this time people will believe me if I point out something wrong instead of like several months ago when I was the only one saying EK had messed up and everyone was calling me names and saying EK knew what they were doing lol.

Three things that are immediately apparent from the photo are that they have rotated the fin stack 90 degrees (finally lol) and changed the jet plate. This hopefully should give it equal if not better performance to the standard Supremacy EVO (which has no TR4 jetplate option), however the third thing is that they have failed to rotate the blocks G1/4 port orientation, opting to polish the turd, hopefully they have managed to do it as you would expect them to have thoroughly tested everything this time around.