Installation

Installation of the Eisblock XPX on Intel sockets is easy regardless of whether you are going with the LGA 115x or LGA 20xx HEDT platform. For the former, it begins with the backplate, with the insulating side facing down to prevent electrical shorting. Remember to peel off the stickers to get it to stick firmly. The backplate needs to match up with the screws in the socket ILM as well, and note that depending on how many components are on your motherboard, there may be some interference in getting a flush fit with the rubber gasket. There is generally enough give to where this should not be an issue, but please be aware of it and double check before trying to force-fit something.

With that done, take one of the LGA 115x mounting posts and have a metal spring and washer go through it. That combination then goes through one of the corners in the mounting bracket and is secured in place by the provided nut. Do this for all four corners until you have a block ready to be screwed in place on the backplate. Apply some thermal paste to the CPU IHS and screw the block in by aligning the mounting posts with the threads in the backplate and then tightening in a diagonal manner, in sets of two. This is somewhat of a precise mounting system in that you can tighten the locking nuts until you run out of thread, but then the mounting posts are fixed in place and may need to be moved around to match the threads in the backplate. You may have to do some trial and error here, and when done, remember to use the provided post covers and rubber caps to conceal the screw heads for aesthetics.


Installation on the Intel HEDT platforms is even simpler owing to the pre-built cooler mounting system on the same side of the motherboard as the CPU itself. Use the M4-threaded mounting posts with springs and washers as there is no need for a socket backplate or nut here and repeat the steps as before. There is not a big difference in CPU block orientation anymore, so go with the port arrangement that best suits your plumbing layout.


Here is a look at the Eisblock Aurora XPX Aurora Edge all lit up in static and dynamic lighting effects. The 15 d-RGB LEDs make for an impressive light show with the high profile plexi top, and the ramp system with the height differential looks more like a bejeweled souvenir than a CPU block.