Introduction

I mentioned in my recent Heatkiller GPU block review that it was going to be the first of a series focusing on the flagship RTX 4090—the aftermarket ASUS RTX 4090 Strix at that! NVIDIA has decided to elongate the 4000 series lifetime and so, despite these GPUs having been out for a while, there is still merit to taking a look at what's on the market today. This also helps me know where the various water block manufacturers are these days with their designs, especially since most companies tend to go with simple changes for GPU compatibility each generation and only really come up with a new cooling engine every five years or so, if not longer. Alphacool had its turn and now it is CORSAIR's time to shine.


CORSAIR's GPU blocks are not new to TechPowerUp readers since we have covered this design not once, but twice before. As I did then, I will shorten the product name to CORSAIR Hydro XG7 block for the RTX 4090 Strix/TUF for convenience. There have been minor updates to the design language and cooling engine since the very first such CORSAIR GPU block but overall I'd say this block is an iterative take on that same design rather than being something new entirely as with the recently overhauled Watercool and Alphacool GPU blocks. This means we already have a good idea of what to expect with the photo above confirming integrated RGB lighting and a see-through top. I'd also expect to see a bundled backplate and easy installation as with previous CORSAIR GPU blocks, so let's not wait further to confirm all this in our review which begins with a look at the product specifications in the table below. Thanks to CORSAIR for providing a review sample to TechPowerUp!

Specifications