Alphacool Eiswolf 2 AIO GPU Cooler

[VSG]

Alphacool adds to their pre-filled AIO and expansion kit portfolio with the updated Eiswolf 2 family of GPU coolers. Using simple quick disconnects, the company wants everyone to be able to easily watercool GPUs individually or add to an existing setup, while being affordable too!

Show full review

 

[Makaveli]

Thanks for the write up of this i've been waiting.

I'm hoping this will be compatible with AMD's upcoming RDNA2 cards as that is what I want to slap one of these on. With an AIO on my CPU I hate having the gpu using a fan its loud compared to the rest of my quiet system.

 

[Jism]

Looks like finally someone picked it up building a decent AOI for GPU's rather then CPU's.

 

[wickerman]

I quite like these AIO gpu coolers, my 2080 from EVGA uses a 120mm rad and I'd always wished it had been a 240/280.

Custom loops are fantastic, but I don't like bringing my workstation offline unless I'm swapping in new parts so AIO/air cooling is where I always seem to wind up. Great review, I had no idea Alphacool had something like this.

 

[Makaveli]

I quite like these AIO gpu coolers, my 2080 from EVGA uses a 120mm rad and I'd always wished it had been a 240/280.

Custom loops are fantastic, but I don't like bringing my workstation offline unless I'm swapping in new parts so AIO/air cooling is where I always seem to wind up. Great review, I had no idea Alphacool had something like this.

i'm in the same boat I bought a case that is great for custom loops but staying AIO right now for ease of install and no maintenance, and no occasional downtime which is required on a custom loop. I believe they say you should flush and inspect once every 6 months.

 

[AnarchoPrimitiv]

While alphacool does make nice products, you can get one of this by Bykski off Aliexpress for half the price, heck you can build an entire custom loop off aliexpress on the cheap, I just ordered a full cover block for my CPU for $60, 16mm fittings for $2.45 each, and a 360mm full copper rad for $60, whole thing was approximately $134, all Bykski and all good quality.

In my opinion, Watercool's Heatkiller line are the highest quality blocks available, and these bykski blocks and fittings are right up there, on par with EK (which is overrated in my opinion), and that from an official bykski store (that could be a lie, but they had thousands of positive reviews and I received everything without incident. Bykski even offers a block for my Sapphire 5700xt Nitro+ for $74 which is an incredible price, but honestly I feel like that would be purely for aesthetics as the air cooler keeps it under 70°C, and it wouldn't be providing any noticeable additional performance. It's a shame more people don't take advantage of Aliexpress.... I'm guessing it's either because they'll think they'll be ripped off (which isn't an issue as long as you order from a store with good reviews) or they can't way 2-3 weeks, which I have no problem doing for items at literally half the cost you find them for on Amazon.

 

[wickerman]

i'm in the same boat I bought a case that is great to custom loops but staying AIO right now for ease of install and no maintenance, and no occasional downtime which is required on a custom loop. I believe they say you should flush and inspect once every 6 months.

The maintenance of a custom loop is my biggest issue, especially with my tendency to forget its due and resulting in far more work if I have to strip the blocks and clean out any build up. But what also bothers me is when its time to upgrade, it's unlikely the custom block is going to fit any other card. I doubt ampere is going to use the same pcb layout as the 2080s for instance, so I'd be stuck having to sell the block for cheap or let it collect dust.

I suppose this particular AIO gpu cooler has the same issue, but if they prove popular enough there might actually be a second hand market for used blocks that is more accessible than full custom loops. I'd quite like this to be a popular product!

 

[Makaveli]

While alphacool does make nice products, you can get one of this by Bykski off Aliexpress for half the price, heck you can build an entire custom loop off aliexpress on the cheap, I just ordered a full cover block for my CPU for $60, 16mm fittings for $2.45 each, and a 360mm full copper rad for $60, whole thing was approximately $134, all Bykski and all good quality.

What you are describing is a full custom loop though.

But you have me curious lets see what is would cost to try and rebuild just the GPU AIO

Bykski Full Coverage GPU Water Block for ASUS TUF3 RX 5700XT - Clear W/ RBW (A-AS5700XTTUF-X) $132

https://www.bykski.us/products/byks...us-tuf3-rx-5700xt-clear-w-rbw-a-as5700xttuf-x

Bykski 240mm x 29mm Copper Radiator - Thin - Black (B-RD240-TN) $59

Bykski 240mm x 29mm Copper Radiator - Thin - Black (B-RD240-TN)

Bykski B-RD240-TN radiator is a single channel copper radiator. The thickness of the radiator is 29mm which allows this radiator to be mounted in smaller profile locations. The single channel design creates a low pressure drop across the radiator which is great for slow flow systems. Features...

www.bykski.us

 

[Kapone33]

What you are describing is a full custom loop though.

But you have me curious lets see what is would cost to try and rebuild just the GPU AIO

Bykski Full Coverage GPU Water Block for ASUS TUF3 RX 5700XT - Clear W/ RBW (A-AS5700XTTUF-X) $132

https://www.bykski.us/products/bykski-full-coverage-gpu-water-block-for-asus-tuf3-rx-5700xt-clear-w-rbw-

a-as5700xttuf-x

Bykski 240mm x 29mm Copper Radiator - Thin - Black (B-RD240-TN) $59

Bykski 240mm x 29mm Copper Radiator - Thin - Black (B-RD240-TN)

Bykski B-RD240-TN radiator is a single channel copper radiator. The thickness of the radiator is 29mm which allows this radiator to be mounted in smaller profile locations. The single channel design creates a low pressure drop across the radiator which is great for slow flow systems. Features...

www.bykski.us

Will need you guys to help me finish this what other parts will be needed.

The funny thing about the Eiswolf and Eisbaer series is that you can use whatever you want as they are all G1/4 compatible. In reference to BYiski they were the only ones that had a block for my Vega card and it worked perfect. The only thing to mind is not to use anything aluminum with these.

 

[Makaveli]

I would love to go with this Eiswolf on a RDNA2 gpu in a vertical mount in my Fractal case.

 

[Kapone33]

I would love to go with this Eiswolf on a RDNA2 gpu in a vertical mount in my Fractal case.

Make sure you get the unit with the pump inside, the movement will keep your temps in the 20s on idle.

 

[Makaveli]

Make sure you get the unit with the pump inside, the movement will keep your temps in the 20s on idle.

Thanks noted.

Have to wait for them to release the gpu's in the fall, then to see what Eiswolf has that is compatible. But a project I'm expecting to do in the fall.

 

[Kapone33]

Thanks noted.

Have to wait for them to release the gpu's in the fall, then to see what Eiswolf has that is compatible. But a project I'm expecting to do in the fall.

I don't expect RDNA2 GPUs to be much different than the 5000 series GPUs and Alphacool are great at support for even AIB GPUs.

 

[Nater]

That's impressive. I can't justify dropping $200 on a cooler for a card that "only" cost $425 though. I could totally see getting this for the new $1000+ cards coming in the fall though. The only thing you can hear in my case now is the 5700XT.

 

[Makaveli]

For me $200 is worth the performance, silence and the increased longevity of the gpu as it will last longer at lower temps. So I would have no issue dropping that on a $500 gpu I consider it an investment.

 

[Kapone33]

For me $200 is worth the performance, silence and the increased longevity of the gpu as it will last longer at lower temps. So I would have no issue dropping that on a $500 gpu I consider it an investment.

Especially the silence.

 

[Deleted member 50521]

Hmmm I like it quite a lot. The EVGA default 2080Ti cooler definitely is lack luster compared to an AIO. Only thing I worry is longevity. My first AIO GPU was not a great experience. Pump died ~3yrs age.
@VSG How would you predict the reliability of this DC-LT 2 pump over long term usage?

Also for any AIO I would also be interested in the warranty information

 

[maxfly]

Being that its a full coverage block makes this a surprisingly good value. I was expecting it to be of the universal block type that require a fan to cool the memory and vrms. Most full coverage blocks start at $150 and go up from there. So imo this is a solid deal. Availability will be an issue with so many different gpu pcbs even if they only go with top tier cards. They may have to stick with fe cards exclusively or come up with a way to allow customers to pick the block they need. That may cause delays in shipping but that would be a small inconvenience.

 

[VSG]

Hmmm I like it quite a lot. The EVGA default 2080Ti cooler definitely is lack luster compared to an AIO. Only thing I worry is longevity. My first AIO GPU was not a great experience. Pump died ~3yrs age.
@VSG How would you predict the reliability of this DC-LT 2 pump over long term usage?

Also for any AIO I would also be interested in the warranty information

Hard to say how the DC-LT 2 will fare without having a standalone unit to take apart and examine the construction. I've seen a lot of inexpensive and cheap pumps put in the market the last few years, but they mostly never sell or develop problems. I wasn't a big fan of the original DC-LT, although this was more to do with the lacking performance and noise relative to other offerings.

As for warranty, I suspect it would be the same 2 years as with their Eisbaer Aurora CPU AIOs.

 

[Firedrops]

they need to sell the GPU block by itself, people will likely want to pick better components for the rest of the loop.

also those fans are seriously disgusting, they gimped 120mms to practically 92mm just for the sake of overblown LEDs. plenty of companies have managed to add LEDs without this degree of compromise, wtf is alphacool thinking?

 

[fb020997]

i'm in the same boat I bought a case that is great for custom loops but staying AIO right now for ease of install and no maintenance, and no occasional downtime which is required on a custom loop. I believe they say you should flush and inspect once every 6 months.

The flushing intervals depend on al lot of factors. The two most important ones are the kind of fluid in the loop and if the tubes see sunlight (if clear). For the first one, pastel/opaque fluids are a PITA, since they tend to gum up everything, so they need to be flushed pretty frequently. The worst one are those with shiny particles inside, BTW. If you use a clear or colored one (but still transparent) there’s no need of flushing it every 6 months, unless the tubes/res, if clear, see the sunlight. In that case, there’s a much higher probability of bacteria/algae growth in the loop, so you need to flush more often (6 months).
In my case, I flushed my loop in my user pic after 2 years of 3 hours of gaming a day average, and it was EXACLTY like the new one I put in. Zero discoloration, near zero staining on soft tubes, and zero blocking of microchannels. I only use Aquacomputer DP Ultra fluid, IMHO the best one on the market. I could keep the original one (much) longer, but I had to open the loop for changing its order.

 

[Chrispy_]

This looks like a really nice product, but I do wonder whether there's much point to cooling anything other than a 2080/2080S/2080Ti; Even though this is a relatively cheap way of watercooling a GPU (no-name chinese stuff excepted), adding $200 and subtracting a warranty is a lot to ask of a $400 graphics card - You are surely better off buying a $600 card and having an intact warranty until at least a 2080?

The thought of buying a 2060S and a watercooling it instead of just buying a 2080S is kind of silly unless you want "LED watercooling" more than you want actual performance. If you have a vanilla 2080 or 2080S, then sure - go for it.

 

[BoboOOZ]

It's true, but in practice what happens is that people buy a 400$ card, they like the performance, but they don't like the temps and noise, so they have to either sell the card, or do something to use all its potential. So either use an air cooling kit from Arctic or, now you have one of these options that are quite neat.

BTW Bykski sells kits of custom loops for graphic cards, but their better quality kit is 250USD. And your warranty is with a seller on Aliexpress...

139.44US $ 12% de réduction|Bykski RBW 5v 3pin Hard Tube – Kit de programmes multiples pour Intel /AMD, Kit de refroidissement d'eau, niveau débutant et avancé | AliExpress

Achetez malin, vivez mieux! Aliexpress.com

fr.aliexpress.com

So there's definitely a niche for these AIO, although the smartest option is indeed to wait for reviews and buy the card with the best cooling/thermals in that bracket from the get-go, I'll try to do that the next time.

 

[Chrispy_]

the smartest option is indeed to wait for reviews and buy the card with the best cooling/thermals in that bracket from the get-go, I'll try to do that the next time.

What card do you have? I prefer near-silent operation instead of those last 5-10% of performance and with the exception of the heavily-locked Nvidia reference coolers, have managed that for both AMD and Nvidia cards with some simple tuning. For Navi, GT106, and GT104 - restricting the clocks to ~1700MHz will hurt the performance less than 10% but make a big impact on noise, thermals, and efficiency.

Yeah, you're not getting all the performance you paid for but if you aren't getting acceptable performance in a particular games at particular settings, the chances of 10% making a noticeable difference are pretty slim - you either need to adjust the settings or replace the card for something significantly more potent.

 

[BoboOOZ]

What card do you have? I prefer near-silent operation instead of those last 5-10% of performance and with the exception of the heavily-locked Nvidia reference coolers, have managed that for both AMD and Nvidia cards with some simple tuning. For Navi, GT106, and GT104 - restricting the clocks to ~1700MHz will hurt the performance less than 10% but make a big impact on noise, thermals, and efficiency.

Yeah, you're not getting all the performance you paid for but if you aren't getting acceptable performance in a particular games at particular settings, the chances of 10% making a noticeable difference are pretty slim - you either need to adjust the settings or replace the card for something significantly more potent.

I have a MSI Evoke OC 5700XT, which becomes quite loud at 225W. But I use it at 140W most of the time (1080p monitor), and I think it runs passively cooled most of this time, in any case the case fans are covering it.
But when I move to 1440p/4k I will need way more umph. Lucky for me, I have a resale contract for 80% in one year, so I don't need to do any tinkering, I'll just upgrade to a higher tier RDNA2 the next spring (most probably). But not all are as lucky, I guess