EK-Quantum Vector² RTX 4090 Strix/TUF GPU Block

[VSG]

EKWB offers not one but three different options for GPU blocks compatible with the ASUS RTX 4090 Strix/TUF, including an active backplate. Today we examine the EK-Quantum Vector² which uses an updated cooling engine and aims to provide improved performance paired with EK's aesthetics.

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[Kapone33]

I guess people buy these but why are pieces of acrylic and copper so expensive? EK makes the others seem so much more viable with their offerings for much less. Paying $454 for a Block/Backplate combo seems ridiculous. It would be cheaper to buy one that comes retail with a block already.

 

[N/A]

Thank you for the great work comparing these.

 

[ypsylon]

I guess people buy these but why are pieces of acrylic and copper so expensive? EK makes the others seem so much more viable with their offerings for much less. Paying $454 for a Block/Backplate combo seems ridiculous. It would be cheaper to buy one that comes retail with a block already.

Well everything is certainly more expensive lately. Enough to say that a tonne of copper went up by 30% in last 5 years. Electricity in EU YoY is probably 50% up with inflation & VAT. Insanity with gas prices in 2022 certainly didn't helped.

According to EK page they manufacture blocks in Slovenia. Working hour in EU is very expensive. Not defending EK in any way. There is huge part of their products which is solely made in China instead EU so they can't claim that's the main reason for EK-tax. EK went overboard with EK-tax for sure on great many products. Sadly they have by far the widest offerings on the market and sometimes you either pay or you are stuck with overheating turd. In this particular case I have no idea what for is active backplate. There is no memory at the back as on 3090, there is 0 reasons - unlike 3090 - to invest in it.

 

[AnarchoPrimitiv]

Well everything is certainly more expensive lately. Enough to say that a tonne of copper went up by 30% in last 5 years. Electricity in EU YoY is probably 50% up with inflation & VAT. Insanity with gas prices in 2022 certainly didn't helped.

According to EK page they manufacture blocks in Slovenia. Working hour in EU is very expensive. Not defending EK in any way. There is huge part of their products which is solely made in China instead EU so they can't claim that's the main reason for EK-tax. EK went overboard with EK-tax for sure on great many products. Sadly they have by far the widest offerings on the market and sometimes you either pay or you are stuck with overheating turd. In this particular case I have no idea what for is active backplate. There is no memory at the back as on 3090, there is 0 reasons - unlike 3090 - to invest in it.

I just don't understand EK's popularity...Watercool Outperform them for around the same price, bykski and Barrow can match performance for much cheaper....I just feel like EK's popularity is entirely based on marketing. Someone new to watercooling who goes on youtube and searches "watercooled pc" will most likely see 9 out of 10 videos using EK parts, so they then assume "well, EK's very popular, so they must be the best"....and that's what the majority of EK sales come from...and as for aesthetics, in my opinion, Watercool's Heatkiller line has always looked better than EK's.

If anyone's interested, here's a different 4090 waterblock roundup where Watercool dominates: https://hardware-helden.de/vergleic...r-fuer-die-geforce-rtx-4090-founders-edition/

 

[Bwaze]

I guess people buy these but why are pieces of acrylic and copper so expensive? EK makes the others seem so much more viable with their offerings for much less. Paying $454 for a Block/Backplate combo seems ridiculous. It would be cheaper to buy one that comes retail with a block already.

It's the high Slovenian standard of living, high worker salaries!

Sarcasm, of course. We're basically a third world country compared to EU proper, net monthly salaries in most companies are in range from minimum, which is 880 EUR, and all the way up to average monthly salary, which is calculated at 1440 EUR - that is considered a very high salary, only reserved for engineers with years of experience, and other highly contributing workers.

 

[bogami]

A very solid block not made up of separate parts, which is worth a lot in itself. A piece of copper is a block, and many blocks could be more efficient, with proper mounting and plumbing . Most of them could be made by punching !, and there are ceramic tools for making slots. Copper is soft enough, but serial production is unfortunately too low and the production price is more expensive. And as a citizen of Slovenia, I must point out that most incomes in Slovenia reach around €1,100, and as a disabled pensioner I receive approximately €630 per month! But I built liquid cooling with smaller purchases. The block is worth buying mainly because of the possible upgrade and additional options! Lots of happy use with well cooled parts on the GPU will add a lot to performance, life and stability in any game. Good luck!

 

[Dammeron]

I just don't understand EK's popularity...Watercool Outperform them for around the same price, bykski and Barrow can match performance for much cheaper....I just feel like EK's popularity is entirely based on marketing. Someone new to watercooling who goes on youtube and searches "watercooled pc" will most likely see 9 out of 10 videos using EK parts, so they then assume "well, EK's very popular, so they must be the best"....and that's what the majority of EK sales come from...and as for aesthetics, in my opinion, Watercool's Heatkiller line has always looked better than EK's.

I still remember, when EK was the cheap option compared to eg. Koolance, or Swiftech...

 

[ErikG]

Alphacool all the way, EK is just to expensive but not the best on the market.

 

[SOAREVERSOR]

I still remember, when EK was the cheap option compared to eg. Koolance, or Swiftech...

If you go to larger sites there are still products that cost a good bit more than EK when you start looking at actual CPU and GPU blocks or just "normal" water cooling.

The issue is that those days are long since dead. People aren't water cooling their computers for better performance anymore. PC gaming is about lifestyle branding now more than anything. EK gets that. So they sell the complete rack of things to make your gaming rig look as cool as possible with it's glass windows when you post a picture of it on the internet to prove how PC gamer you are with all your RGB bling.

 

[Dammeron]

The issue is that those days are long since dead. People aren't water cooling their computers for better performance anymore.

Speak for Yourself - I loathed my throttling, loud jet of a card, so I did a full LC loop for both CPU and GPU and somehow managed to do it slighly on the budget. Got an Alphacool 3070ti fullcover for almost 50% off, bought 2 radiators from them for 20€ each (used for testing, dirty as hell inside ), for CPU I used my old Heatkiller 3.0, that was somewhere deep in one of the drawers, same with radiator fans... Result - both 5900X and 3070ti never reaching 65°C or above. And best of all - completely quiet.

 

[Neizel]

If you go to larger sites there are still products that cost a good bit more than EK when you start looking at actual CPU and GPU blocks or just "normal" water cooling.

The issue is that those days are long since dead. People aren't water cooling their computers for better performance anymore. PC gaming is about lifestyle branding now more than anything. EK gets that. So they sell the complete rack of things to make your gaming rig look as cool as possible with it's glass windows when you post a picture of it on the internet to prove how PC gamer you are with all your RGB bling.

You're living under a rock.

Today is where most users, even those that have never touched a pc before are using liquid cooling parts in their computers because of ease and accessibility of guides and high reliability of the hardware made specifically for it.

15-20 years ago watercooling was just for the more extreme enthusiasts using every part that could be used even if wasn't meant for computers.

 

[Dammeron]

Today is where most users, even those that have never touched a pc before are using liquid cooling parts in their computers because of ease and accessibility of guides and high reliability of the hardware made specifically for it.

15-20 years ago watercooling was just for the more extreme enthusiasts using every part that could be used even if wasn't meant for computers.

True watercooling is still for enthusiasts (or people spending a small fortune on a butique pre-built). I agree that with AiOs becoming more popular (and in some cases - a necessity) more people are involved with LC, but You can't compare even the best AiO to a properly built custom loop - the performance, noise and (unfortunately) price is not even close...

 

[Bwaze]

You're living under a rock.

Today is where most users, even those that have never touched a pc before are using liquid cooling parts in their computers... .

I'd say this is far from reality.

Hard core enthusiasts are only a small part of PC buyers. And even if we disregard all the rest and focus only on a enthusiast builders, it is very clear that the heyday of water cooling is behind us.


And I think one of the reasons, beside the price and almost zero gain in performance compared to better air cooling is actually availability of AIOs. Which many enthusiasts tried - and since they are generally all crap and just fail at some point, they turned many people from using any dangerous stuff in their computer.


Apart from just failing, AIOs have taken out countless motherboards, graphics cards, power supplies... And what is even more valuable, user content that was irreplacable, but with general poor backup discipline usually existed only in single copy on computers.

I also personally know people who have high end EK watercooling, but with the change of generation they just stopped bothering - when you are young a couple of years seem a long time. When you are older, even waiting to change graphics cards every second generation, CPU even less often seems like "Didn't I just replaced everything?"

Also, investing in PC parts has generally a very poor return (maybe this will change now a little with the new "Moore's Law is Dead, price of parts will not come down any more!"). But generally, selling watercooling parts after they had their use and are specific to an outdated part gets you even less return than selling those outdated CPUs, graphics cards...