Thermal Performance

Test System

Test Methodology

The previously used CORSAIR Hydro XD5 pump/reservoir combination, an Aquaero 6 XT controller, and a Black Ice Nemesis GTX 480 radiator with CORSAIR ML120 PRO RGB fans complete the loop. The CPU is not placed in the loop to make the only source of heat the GPU and, thus, the GPU block itself. Average flow rate is set to 1 GPM, and calibrated in-line temperature sensors are used to measure the coolant's temperature.

Testing a block for thermal performance is fairly simple once you realize that you have to measure VRM and VRAM temperatures manually. As such, I installed an Omega NTC type thermistor on NVDD #1 and another on the bottom VRAM module, and connected both to an external display for a VRM temperature readout. TechPowerUp GPU-Z was used to monitor GPU core temperatures. The GPU was overclocked to 2.1 GHz, although given GPU Boost works with power limits more than anything else these days, it did vary slightly. Similarly, with core voltage being nearly impossible to set manually and fix at that point, it is best to compare the results below within the data set, not to other reviews elsewhere.

Everything required was placed inside a hotbox, and the ambient temperature was set to 25 °C. Noctua NT-H1 was used as the thermal paste of choice because not every block includes TIM, and cure time was taken into consideration. Three separate mounts/runs were done for statistical accuracy and to remove chances of mounting-related anomalies. For each run, a 60 minute loop of 3DMark Time Spy Extreme was done, and temperatures were monitored until a steady state was reached, after which they were recorded. A delta T of GPU core/VRM and loop temperatures was thus calculated for each run, and the average delta T was then obtained across all three runs. This way, the cooling solution is taken out of the picture.

Test Results

As mentioned on the previous page, I chose to test everything with the backplate in place since the majority of blocks I got in the first round included backplates in the box. This keeps things simple and avoids a bunch of very similar entries from only a few companies.

I knew going in that the RTX 3080 was not going to be the best use case for the EK-Quantum Vector active backplate. There are no critical components on the back of the RTX 3080 PCB after all. The only reason this is even a product to begin with is because of the the extremely hot VRAM on the back of the RTX 3090. Even so, there are definitely improvements throughout with the active backplate across the board. While small increments on top of the already decent cooling with the EK-Quantum Vector GPU block with the regular backplate, it is enough to consistently push this combination to the top of the charts.

I also made the tough call of removing the performance-per-dollar chart this time around because prices are so different in different regions. There is no single consistent trend even when going from EU to US or UK pricing, and we have active backplates such as this one make it worse. I will address this by instead discussing pricing more in the conclusion, which we get to now.