Introduction

If you had to name a single brand in the realm of PC DIY watercooling then chances are high that would be EKWB, or simply EK as commonly referred to. The Slovenian outfit is almost guaranteed to have water block support for the latest hardware sooner than most others as well as multiple options even for partner cards compared to a single one offered by its competitors. When I contacted EK to let them know I was working on a new GPU block roundup using the ASUS RTX 4090 Strix, they let me know to expect something sooner than later but were coy about which of the three compatible items it would be. Indeed, EK has not only two different GPU block colors for this card but also a higher end version that uses an active backplate similar to what we have seen before. A couple of weeks later I knew it wasn't the active backplate version but it was cool nonetheless.


EK has been adding extensive support for different colors with its fittings in particular, although when it comes to GPU blocks they usually tend to go with nickel-plated copper cold plates and a clear plexi or opaque acetal top. With the RTX 4090 Strix/TUF cards, the new EK-Quantum Vector² design language includes a side cover made of acetal and a matching I/O terminal which maintains support for EK's Matrix7 system. This allows for a black or white finish and I have the white version here. The EK-Quantum Vector² is an update to the older EK-Quantum Vector GPU block generation that was tested previously here, with the cooling engine using a new asymmetric flow insert that aims to improve flow distribution and thermal performance. I am certainly curious to see how this stacks relative to the newcomers from the likes of Watercool and Alphacool that had brand new designs both inside and out! Thanks to EK for providing a review sample to TechPowerUp as we begin this review with a look at the product specifications in the table below.

Specifications