Closer Examination

May I say right away that I think the Heatkiller V Pro looks stunning? I also think it's cleaner looking than the Heatkiller V block from the previous generation, and this is even before I realized the backplate comes pre-installed to make for a boxy sandwich. Watercool was among the very first companies to go for the clear top with opaque metal side cover design when it comes to both CPU and GPU blocks, and the new Heatkiller V Pro continues this trend with a polished Plexiglas (the actual brand, not generic acrylic) top and your choice of shiny stainless steel or black anodized aluminium surrounding it. This gives you a clear look at the cooling engine too which confirms this is a full-coverage block cooling the GPU core, the VRAM modules, and VRMs alike. This is also a full-cover block in that it does not leave the PCB exposed anywhere. Branding is clean with Heatkiller on the top and front and we also see a cutout going the length of these two sides where we will no doubt see ARGB lighting in action. There is also a cutout to allow access to the GPU power connector itself and a look from the side confirms the use of a thick acrylic top, a thinner cover, and then a wrap-around section going to the back where we have the backplate.


The GPU block has an integrated I/O terminal on the side rather than as a separate section on the top as before. There are two stop plugs pre-installed on the front and two open BSP G1/4" threaded blocks in the acetal (POM) terminal on the back. You will need your own hex key to remove the stop plugs if you plan to change the plumbing layout, and here is where other larger brands do better in providing all the tools necessary to not leave you hanging. There are subtle markings on the side to indicate the preferred inlet and outlet ports and we also see a smaller connector which no doubt fits the RGB cable we saw on the previous page. Turning the block over, we see an aluminium backplate in black—it is black for the other color version also—that is held in place via Torx T8 screws. It is also shaped to neatly fit the terminal and the side cover piece which wraps around the block as we saw before. The backplate is also going to cool the card thanks to clear locations where you will have thermal pads contacting the back of the PCB.


Removing the backplate also provides a better look at the nickel-plated copper cold plate used here. It's so shiny that I had a hard time taking photos without reflections in it, but then that also helped in the last photo above to show Watercool has given a polish to remove most of the machining marks here. We can see raised sections where the cold plate makes contact with the relevant components on the PCB via thermal pads or thermal paste.


At this point I also realized the top side cover could be removed too, seeing as how the wrap-around section was taken off. It's held in place via Phillips-head screws on the side and now you can see the full extent of the machined acrylic top while also better admiring the cooling engine with the split central flow to the core and a fairly symmetric design throughout. The cover is also used to keep the LED strip in place at the bottom which has 12 individually addressable RGB LEDs firing upwards into the acrylic top. The lighting should be mostly visible through the clear top as well as the strips cut into the side covers on the top and front.


Disassembly was done after all testing was completed, and there isn't a lot to do here since the clear top already provides a good look at the internals. Still, I saw that the cold plate had a smaller section that was screwed in place so I removed it to gain access to the active area cooling the GPU core itself. This is also similar to a CPU cold plate and the modular design is clever if Watercool aims to use similar parts across its lineup. This smaller cold plate is 2.3 mm thick—less than average, so the thermal heat transfer barrier is lower too—with 60 machined microfins occupying a 30.3 x 41 mm area. The fins are 250 µm thick with the same distance between them for the microchannels that the coolant will flow through. They are not as tall as most other such fins on GPU blocks I've tested though, so we'll see soon how all these factors come together for both coolant flow restriction and thermal performance itself. Overall, I am plenty pleased with the design and build quality of the Heatkiller V Pro GPU block.