Thoughts for a new AM5 Waterblock

[inquisitor1]

AIO is restricted to the CPU. As a whole, a well configured custom loops components will generally far outclass an AIOs aluminum rads, tiny blocks and weak pumps in both performance and quality. There are a few quality AIOs that have added qdcs for expansion and upgradability but they're no longer AIOs in anything but name at that point. The longevity factor of custom components is regularly 2 to 3 times that of an AIO. A custom loops components last 10-20 years when properly cared for. Pumps being the obvious outlier. Rads literally last forever. Blocks outlive their usefulness long before they're throwaway items. I'm running a DDC 3.2? (I forget) in my back up rig with a manufacturing date of 2006 or 8 as an example.

For some reason people love to try and compare AIOs and a custom loops performance. It's like comparing NCAAF to the NFL. Their similar but not at all on the same level.

I would go with whichever block you prefer, including the EK you have in storage OP. Finding parts for it should be easy and far cheaper than buying a new block. Performance will likely be within throwing distance of everything but the very best blocks available as well.

I guess im dumb to see the appeal of a custom loop. its an enthusiast sector and im not one, thats obvious

its like you coming into wedding photography and you wondeirng why I use big asz full frame cameras when a piece of s*** iphone can take great pictures and can shoot a whole wedding no issue (it cant though so forget that) . or even people wondering why I use flash outside in daylight.

when ill get the 5950x ill get a cheap trashy aio and just swap those every year or 2. theyre cheap for a reason and they do a decent job.

 

[Ferrum Master]

I recently discovered Thermal Grizzly - AM5 Adapter & Offset Mounting Kit for $10. I wonder if it's compatible with original Velocity Block I snagged for $30 a few years ago? I'll have to do some digging on the web.

That's the way to roll.

 

[Noci]

I guess im dumb to see the appeal of a custom loop. its an enthusiast sector and im not one, thats obvious

when ill get the 5950x ill get a cheap trashy aio and just swap those every year or 2. theyre cheap for a reason and they do a decent job.

Like I said, custom water cooling a matter of choice or even taste if you put it like that.

For me as a water cooling enthousiast, it's also about the fun of building of an unique (water cooling) system as well as the tweaking afterwards to find all the sweetspots for optimal performance for that system.
It's an addition to fun factors of the PC hobby for me and most likely for a lot of other folks too, building something from scratch can be very satisfying.
And (most of) the people doing custom water cooling are aware of and accept the fact there are more costs involved. Every cooling solution has pro's and con's, often abusively compared to each other as apples and pears.

Clearly you have other decision criteria and another point of view, I don't judge you for that but you have to understand not everybody has the same taste or interrests.
Just respect their choice and for yourself do what you think is best. It is a free choice .

The destination is proper cooling of your chips/components/system, the directions of the roads to it is solely up to the traveller.....

To get back on topic, the OP has still an EK Velocity AM4 block lying around (according to post #15), so that should be very easy to reuse see this link. No need to buy a new one to keep the Ryzen 9 7950x cool.

 

[A Computer Guy]

That's the way to roll.

So I ran into two issues.

1. So it turns out the Thermal Grizzly - AM5 Adapter & Offset Mounting Kit is NOT100% compatible with my B650 Live Mixer motherboard (see screenshot below)
   1. I ended up angling the adaptor in a 45 degree offset.
2. When using the offset the original AM4 Velocity Waterblock mounting bracket edge overlays over the NVMe heatsink under the CPU
   1. Despite the overlay the NVMe heatsink does not appear to be hindering the block. I did give the end a little bend so there was a very tiny gap. I currently don't have the right tool to cutoff the overlapping portion of the CPU bracket but it turns out I might not need to cut it off after all.

It turns out that little metal tab in he picture below is in the way so I can't get the full 7mm vertical offset. I was able to make it work somewhat by angling off about 45 deg.

Here is a composite picture below of the installation.

• The 45 degree thick read lines shows the orientation of the offset mounting kit.
• The green dotted line shows the orientation of the CCD's horizontal center
• The yellow dotted line shows the default orientation of the cpu block jet plate channel
• The red dotted line shows the adjusted orientation of the cpu block jet plate channel

Note I have rotated my waterblock channels to run perpendicular too the CCD horizontal orientation in order to maximize the waterflow over the CCD's.

Here is a live photo of the block installed.

The system idles around 40c. (pump is at 50%, fans 50%) Ambient is about 29c at the moment.

Cinebench run is not tapping out at 95c on the first run. Subsequent runs it dips just below 95c during the run.

 

[A Computer Guy]

Despite the minor incompatibilities and workarounds everything is working great. The $10 Thermal Grizzly offset kit with the old Velocity block seems to be taking an otherwise mediocre block and making exceptionally good use of it. I think I'm going to stick with this setup for awhile. Thank you everyone for your suggestions and feedback. I hope you enjoyed the installation photos.

Some more photos to end this thread.

Dialing in orange RGB to match the motherboard heatsinks is nearly an impossible task let alone trying to match the color between iCue and motherboad RGB. It's even harder to try and catch the eyepopping color on camera. The nice thing about this LiveMixer is it has plenty of RGB headers so I can configured 4 zones of effects plus whatever I can manage with my old school Corsair iCue setup with hardware controlled lighting. Christmas time this year is going to be a lighting extravaganza in my PC!

I had to cutout a new foam barrier for the rear cutout and this monster power flexible angled adaptor really came in handy.

Once I finalize the OS I can move my dual optane card into the primary PCIe slot. The 180 deg adaptors behind my mini screen are doing a wonderful job of hiding power and HDMI cables. I had to do quite some cable management to tuck the excess of those cables behind the screen.

 

[maxfly]

Well done! I've reused my old EK block in 3 different sockets and several builds so far. The last only required a $15 bracket and backplate to work with my old z390 rig. The 9900kf runs nice and cool with it

You're not alone regarding icues goofy lack of color configuration. I've got my backup rig set to green but icue can't seem to render anything more than a muddy washed out version when its used. Now when I first fire the rig up and the ml120s are rainbow cycling...the green is vivid and bright!