I always find EK to be the SnapOn of the watercooling industry. Big money for identical or comparable performance to lower priced products. you are mostly paying for the name just like SnapOn or Matco tools. (old mechanic here, thats the closest analogy i can relate to)
I recently swapped out my Supremacy Evo for the new velocity2+direct die conversion kit for my 12900k, but the block or direct die part was pure garbage, the old supremacy evo cooled better than after delidding and liquid metal. Safe to say I wish I could turn back time and just keep it stock with the old block.
EKs answer totally confirmed what I believe what EK does with every product. EK doesn‘t aspire to be the best, their business model is to be the first. Because they know enthusiasts who are the early adopters buy the first available water cooler!
@@Jeff.55649 you're right that EK's $250 block performs within 1-2c of a $50 Chinese competitor, still trying to figure out why you're bragging about that.
Thank you so much for doing a round up like this. I remember the radiator round up about 10 years ago and that was super helpful for the community. Hope to see more coverage like this and hopefully every few years or so. Thank you again!
@der8auer EN Pleassse do it. I know in a vacuum choosing LTT was the right business decision (assuming they wouldn't mistest it and slander it) but I would love to see Roman's opinion as an engineer. Neither Steve from GN, Jayz2cents, or any other youtube have the machining experience Roman has and that should be one of the main things to be evaluated. Aesthetic finish, fluid dynamics, craftsmanship, performance, and value. I have no clue what gives Linus the right to say it's overpriced when he knows nothing about labor and materials costs in Europe. Roman has first hand experience running a machine shop and would have the best opinion in the tech space on whether the product is priced competitively in an objective sense. I know it will never have 'value' when it's competitors have 1/8 the price, but what manufacturing costs are all things considered and what the profit margins likely are. If I can pay my local machine shop to make the same/similar for me at a more competitive price then they might have a problem.
Agreed. Although, as unfortunate as the situation was, it brought a lot of things to the surface along with the Lab's jabs at HUB and GN regarding data collection stuff.
Because, sadly, most people prefer shallow goofy approach. The laziness to learn and think. Is a long curve, but worth, given the willingness and time required. But as I’ve mentioned earlier, a goofy dropping a 2k dollars GPU is funny for some.
Because other tech channels would take this result and make the thumb EK IS RIPPING YOU OFF! Then rant rant rant in the video till the fanboys are all fired up. Nobody is really interested in facts, just drama.
@@marinipersonal linus tech tips channel is proof of this! gamers nexus should have 15mil given his attention to detail and proper lab testing like debaur. Linus is quirky and annoying and people are drawn to his antics. I found him annoying.
Amazing video. Finally someone made the test. And thanks for confirming to me that the Heatkiller is basically the best block and only at 80 euro. Im done with EKWB and this video confirms it. Also can you mind telling me what quick connect fittings you use? thanks.
EK is not too bad. Performance average, design is good, but is waaaaaay overpriced, also quality control is poor. Shipping active backplate with longer screws that wouldn’t fit as desired, cracking the bridge between the blocks (stress), distro with over tighten or not tighten enough, same issue for GPU blocks. Let’s not forget the DOA RGB strips or the flipped jet plates. Apart from that, is fine. 😂
Great news on the Heatkillers. I just found a local (Aussie) shop that has these in. Hoping to upgrade my now aging (6.5) years system and pretty much an almost full Watercool components loop (res, cpu, gpu, rads) on my wish list spreadsheet.
Lol EK, Such a company answer: "You had something NON STOCK? Well in that case it's that thing's fault, if you tested it in a normal system it wouldnt be an issue!!!"
12:20 - theoretically you could restore lost performance of coldplate created by such technology by recrystallization. You could test what difference (if any) would this make - just place it in oven with protective atmosphere at 400°C for a few hours.
@@GhostPsi69 it is actual real life performance for me. I have two loops that I sometimes combine. Each is a MORA3 with an EK Dual D5 pump top that all run at 100%. It isn’t cheating on flowrate to have a block designed for high pressure and high flow, as that’s how you’re going to get the best heat dissipation.
@@GhostPsi69 how is it cheating though? I mean I vary my pump speed because I want to achieve a certain dT across the radiator, but other than that I see no real reason to do so. If you mount a D5 properly, you're not going to hear it, regardless of pump RPM. My old D5 didn't even have speed control at all, it always ran at full speed. As long as you keep the same pump speed between different blocks in the test, it effectively shouldn't matter what speed your pump is running. Unless a specific block is really designed for slow flow, but then again why would it be, as that just isn't the efficient way to go about it.
Roman, thank you for the testing information. This really helped me understand more about these types of coolers. I know what to look for and what to do because of your hard work. Thanks again for all that you do. Ronnie.
Wonder if EK will finally sort out the pricing of the stupidly overpriced magnitude. It barely outperforms a Supremacy for more than twice the price. Glad Roman highlighted how poor value they are, and also that the build quality isn't great either. EK are 100% not the company they were 6 or 7 years ago and trade an awful lot off a reputation that is not deserved these days.
Damn, i wish this was available when i was building my AM5 rig...i bought the EK Velocity 2. Im using the very good Alphacool Eisblock for my 4090 which has performed much better than i expected.
I like how you explained how people should watch multiple points of view before making a decision! Watched and respected your thoughts for a long time. I know very little German and I honestly started watching you because it was in German. And you tell the truth as you see it.
Nice video. I bought one of the Alphacool Core 1s off the back of positive reviews, and because I liked the look of it. It replaced an EK Quantum Velocity block. The RGB, although I'm not normally a fan, looks great. Performs well, too, keeping a 7800X3D below 80 degrees with a 35 degree or so water temp.
This was fantastic! I'd love to see me testing like this that gives super accurate, comparative results for us to know not only what to buy, but how what we've bought should be performing.
The Barrow blocks have an add on RGB controller that plugs onto that 3 pin rgb header , there also a converter cable that changes it to a normal RGB header.
I would like to see a test with a vapor chamber between the CPU and the block. I've looked into doing it myself but the power rating on the ones that would fit seem to max out at 150W. My theory on why the Alphacool block is so good: the sideways slots offer an easier path to get rid of water that has already contacted copper and warmed up. That allows higher flow rate of fresh cool water. It also creates turbulence in the water and also creates a bit more surface area.
Thanks for the wonderful testing. I have two projects going on and I actually have both the barrow AND alphacool block that was in this video and it's kinda cool being able to see how both compare.
i really like the Mounting type of double ended Screwing a Backplate to the Board and then Thumbscrew the Block onto that. it's easy to install/remove, the Backplate doesn't fall off when you take off the Cooler, Et Cetera. it's just the easiest to use IMO. as long as the double ended Screws are large enough to operate with your Fingers, that is.
Awesome work and detail on it and thank you for your time , I'm definitely Add alphacool core 1 and watercool Heatkiller IV to my next upgrade blocks :😀
That Barrow RGB header is compatible with standard 5V ARGB, if you make (or buy, if they exist) an adapter; looking along the wire (with the wire closer to your eye than the connector), with the pins at the bottom of the plug with the snapped/cut off plastic tabs below it, it maps to left to right 5V, Data, (no gap), Ground.
Hello, IT? Well, I actually own the Alphacool CORE 1 block, it sits on 14th Gen i9 in Z790 motherboad. And all I can say is, its awsome! It really is! It performs great, keeping the CPU around 60C when playing MSFS2020, which is the most demanding application I am currently using. To be fair, I must say that there is also an Alphacool GPU block on a 3090. And I have a very custom loop with 2 huge 40mm 360 radiators with legendary German Noiseblocker FANs and almost 4 liters of water in the whole loop, pumped with DDC 1T Plus pump. So, plenty of liquid + plenty of cooling capacity = cool and quite components. Great video as usual! Thank you!
the ARGB connector on the barrow is from commercial or DIY. I have 3 controllers and lights with that conector. you can get a adapter for the motherboard connector if you dont want to rewire.
I just switched from EK to a Heatkiller block for my x570/5900X, and it was used. I had to take it apart, and clean it but it dropped my temps by nearly 10c compared to the EK. Increased clocks on all cores, breaking the 5Ghz barrier I had before, to 5.12Ghz, and near or over 5 on every other core. It's sharing a single 240mm x 60mm rad with a 3090.
The core 1 looks great and performs very well. I still use an alphacool nexxos xp that I modified to fit my 10850K but its tempting to upgrade. It would be nice to have good mounting pressure as my mounting bracket has a single bolt that presses down in the centre of the block.
Really nice videos to watch, I just bought an AMD 7900x3d and bought myself a Corsair Hydro X Series XC8 RGB PRO JTC Edition because it was so much cheaper than buying an EK block. and am really happy with the result. Corsair $110 vs EK $220 😃
I went with HeatKiller IV because it has a bracket that I (as a machinist) can change out and make to fit any hole pattern on any board. Also, it doesn't need mounted offset because the inlet is toward the chiplet side on AMD so the chiplets get the cold side and the SOC gets the outlet. Very nice feature.
8:51 The Heatkiller IV is NOT available with RGB! I'd love it if it was, or if I could add RGB to my existing Heatkiller IV Pro, but there is currently no option for this.
Would just like to say thank you for making English videos in addition to the German ones, it really is appreciated and I hope one day to learn German.
I was told "a while ago" by one notorious tech youtuber famous for its water cooling builds that there was no reason to review custom liquid cooler parts for their performance and a sponsored build was a perfect way to show of the parts. A medium one that used science in his handle also told me hey people build custom water for the way they look, no performance review is necessary. I guess corsair is a big sponsor and a performance review of underperforming parts is always unnecessary. BTW Thanks for the review and for actually testing the parts!
I would have liked to see one of the Optimus blocks included in these comparisons due to the bold claims on their website about how much better the cooling is with one of their blocks compared to the rest (un-named) of the blocks on the market
6:39 That alone shows why direct die is the way forward. If you took a scythed design and used EDM to make it i wonder if there would be a difference in temperature.
Would be interesting to throw in and compare OptimusPC's water blocks. I've personally found them to perform noticeably better compared to other blocks I've used (EK, Barrows, AquaComp). Great video!
@@hovant6666 I paid less for a Optimus block than I would for a EK block. And it arrived 4 days later. Had some weird screws in the block. 2 days later a brand new block was sent out. So I got 2 AMD Optimus blocks. 1 copper, 1 nickel. Was so pleased with it that I ordered their strix block as well. Took a bit longer, 2 weeks. Great blocks. Tbh, 1-3C different between just blocks is impressive. That is not an easy feat.
I recognize that pink paste! Looks like the Kryonaut Extreme I put on after installing your contact frame in an attempt to make my 360mm AIO able to cool my 13900k. It helped a bit, but I'm starting to think it's impossible to actually cool that chip. Lol.
I'm running a cheap 360 AIO and it keeps my 13900K from thermal throttling. I hit a max temp in the upper 80's at all stock settings, just undervolted, which doesn't lose any performance, it actually gained performance vs not undervolting.
@@bluegizmo1983 funny you mention that, undervolting dawned on me last night as a pretty obvious thing to do. how far did you push the negative offset on yours?
@bobbyp6592 I didn't use a negative voltage offset, as I followed a guide that talks about how its better these days with modern CPU's to use Load Line Calibration to achieve an undervolt. Google "Asus Maximus Z790 Extreme and Intel i9-13900k - A tuning guide for beginners." It's a long interesting read about why this way is better, but to jump right to the information, you want the second post, then scroll down to "So let's start tuning the beast !". Basically it amounts to setting the DC_LL = 1.02 and AC_LL = 0.2, that's it, it's undervolted. You can fine tune it more from there but as it says in the forum post, those numbers should be stable for just about all 13900K's
@@bluegizmo1983 LOL dude im literally reading guides about Load Line Calibration right now wondering if that's a way to optimize the undervolt for stability. I remembered der8auer explaining that setting in his 8700k OC video years ago, and how it affected the way the CPU handles 'voltage droops' or something. You have incredible timing, checking that out now. Thanks.
I wonder if annealing the copper block after skiving the fins would improve the thermal transfer. If so, it might end up being better overall and faster to produce than finely machined fins.
My favourite block is the Barrow CPU-pump-reservoir combo. Elegant way to fit watercooling into SFF. I’ve also asked why they use a fan cable for their LEDs. The answer, it seems, is simply “it’s a better connector”. Which is true, anything would be better than the actual LED connector, but it feels like it’s only an excuse to sell adapter cables.
G'day Shiek, Makita & Roman, How my brain interpreted Shiek at 13:37 "🧑Simply because of the price...€250" "🐱What The!" 😂 Thanks for including the Science behind manufacturing the Fins (that HUGE Skiver making Fins) & Nickel Coating, understanding the difference between them & the finish they give is very interesting.
The alphacool core 1 is the best cpu block currently on the market, better than the optimus. I am currently using the core 1 upgraded from the sigv2 & also previously used heatkiller iv pro & ek magnitude & velocity 2 and the core 1 is the best.
thank you for discussing testing procedures and set ups in reference to the end result. just because i have all the exact same components does not mean i will get the exact same results as you, even if i built the system exactly the same way as you. electronics are all built within tolerances. nothing is exactly the same at this consumer level of electrical computing components.
Amazing content once again Roman so thank you very much for your hard work on this. I know there will be a million people saying 'oh can you add this' but I would like to make it a million and one! Something I think that would be invaluable to know would be where abouts are AIO in all this, so if you used the exact test bench and threw on the best AIO cooler, how much of a delta would there be between these and the dedicated blocks. Cheers.
I would love to see a comparison between Acryl version and full copper version of both Aquacompter and Heatkiller blocks. I plan to buy a Heatkiller IV full copper for my upcoming build.
Another thing to consider is the wear and tear, durability of the nickel coating and also the acrylic part. These block are not cheap so the durability needs more attention
I have an Alphacool Aurora Edge XPX CPU block that performs really well, but it is really restrictive. It's to the point that you couldn't see any flow of the coolant in the loop. Not in the Reservoir, block, or stand alone pump with a clear top. If it wasn't for an Aquacomputer NEXT inline flow meter/temp sensor that I have installed, I would wonder if my D5 pump was even working. It's the only block that I've used that is like that. All the other blocks, I definitely know everything is flowing because of the turbulence in the reservoir.
This is a nice test you have going and would add a few blocks you could test as well. These would be the optimus foundation and the old xspc raystorm waterblack, this the raystorm with acrylic frame and I got a metal one to use instead. I got the raystorm 280 kit with a x79 board, do to fluid in the res falling below half and barfing its fluid. I have have been using it for some year, with a d5 aalpacool eisstation instead. Im moving all that to server duty and got a x299 board to replace it, going to used use a 7th gen chip and your direct die kit. I understand this x299 will have a lot more heat to deal with overclocking, so went the optimus block as a possilbe upgrade since is cnc cut.
This is why everyone should look more at comparison reviews. I've never found EK to be particularly good despite so many people being their fanboys. I got a heatkiller IV, because of availability when I was purchasing.
Do these blocks have a specified flow rate or pump pressure given? You mentioned you tested them at 30% so I wonder if different blocks could be affected by this or if they were optimized to cool at a certain flow rate. It would have been interesting to see the comparison between 30% and 100% to see if all that extra noise is worth it or if there is a block that sees a non-proportional change in performance (ie at 30% it was 5th in performance compared to others but at 100% it was 1st.)
This is the disadvantage to standardized testing. Not that the results are "wrong", but A - B testing when components are optimized for certain conditions means a poor performer optimized for the exact test will do good even compared to the good ones that work across a broader range. Interestingly, this also applies to vehicle emissions. If you don't drive your car the same way the emissions tests are designed then it is often allowed to produce far more pollution than you'd think!
When the video started, I thought Roman was testing my block as well. Packaging had a similar picture on it. I am a bit creature of habit. When some company gets me with their good performance, I stay with them until they eventually disappoint me. Currently, I still buy EK products, and they serve me well. My cyrrent CPU block is EK Quantum Velocity2 1700 full nickel. When 12900K came out with a new 1700 socket, I had to get a new water block. This mounting system and cleanness of the install both me. There is nothing to see from the top. You see, just a beautiful water block that looks like bonded to the mainboard. Knowing that most of the top brands' blocks perform very similar and with my giid experience with the EK, I've went for it. I do not own any other 1700 socket water block to compare it with, but my CPU Temps are great. It really depends on what you configure in the bios, to be honest. If I configure full tilt and allow CPU to pull all it wants, it is pulling over 300 Watts in the Prime95 small FFT, and it reaches thermal cap off 100 and then runs on 98 to 99 degrees. Load line calibration mode 2 archives same benchmark results, but Prime95 small FFT pull 260-ish Watt. That results in 80-ies temperature. Whoever thinks that's high, get Prime95, and run it stable for an hour with a small FFT option. Cinebench pulls like 50 Watt less than even default Prime95 test. Small FFT is pure torture. In everyday gaming, my CPU is at a low 60-ies range. That with very quiet system. BTW, that's mount without the contact frame. I have one but I am waiting for 14900K and will use it when that comes in.
The Barrow also has an adapter like aquacomputer to change it to 'normal' argb connector Btw thank you for this test i have ekwb velocity atm so might go for one of the other ones in the future
I always find EK to be the SnapOn of the watercooling industry. Big money for identical or comparable performance to lower priced products. you are mostly paying for the name just like SnapOn or Matco tools. (old mechanic here, thats the closest analogy i can relate to)
I used laugh at the guys who would run out to the snap on truck like kids to an ice cream truck.
It would be interesting to test older water block generations to see the progress. I still use my ek supremacy evo
Currently using a Ek Phoenix 😅😎
I only replaced my 15 year old EK Supreme HF recently 😂
Using the same block as well!
I use EK-Supremacy EVO too and I wish to know if it's worth upgrading.
I recently swapped out my Supremacy Evo for the new velocity2+direct die conversion kit for my 12900k, but the block or direct die part was pure garbage, the old supremacy evo cooled better than after delidding and liquid metal. Safe to say I wish I could turn back time and just keep it stock with the old block.
EKs answer totally confirmed what I believe what EK does with every product. EK doesn‘t aspire to be the best, their business model is to be the first. Because they know enthusiasts who are the early adopters buy the first available water cooler!
They also will swap for the best
1-2 c difference between all blocks, lmao. Doesn't matter what block you buy. But haters gonna hate!
@@Jeff.55649 1-2c worse for a $250 block vs a $50 block, simps gonna simp.
@@pcodyssey41 haha someone's mad cuz I'm right, lmao
@@Jeff.55649 you're right that EK's $250 block performs within 1-2c of a $50 Chinese competitor, still trying to figure out why you're bragging about that.
Thank you so much for doing a round up like this. I remember the radiator round up about 10 years ago and that was super helpful for the community. Hope to see more coverage like this and hopefully every few years or so. Thank you again!
Billet Labs definitely should have contacted you instead
@der8auer EN Pleassse do it. I know in a vacuum choosing LTT was the right business decision (assuming they wouldn't mistest it and slander it) but I would love to see Roman's opinion as an engineer. Neither Steve from GN, Jayz2cents, or any other youtube have the machining experience Roman has and that should be one of the main things to be evaluated. Aesthetic finish, fluid dynamics, craftsmanship, performance, and value. I have no clue what gives Linus the right to say it's overpriced when he knows nothing about labor and materials costs in Europe. Roman has first hand experience running a machine shop and would have the best opinion in the tech space on whether the product is priced competitively in an objective sense. I know it will never have 'value' when it's competitors have 1/8 the price, but what manufacturing costs are all things considered and what the profit margins likely are. If I can pay my local machine shop to make the same/similar for me at a more competitive price then they might have a problem.
Agreed. Although, as unfortunate as the situation was, it brought a lot of things to the surface along with the Lab's jabs at HUB and GN regarding data collection stuff.
I which Heatkiller made Ram blocks
Why this dude doesn't have a million subscribers in beyond me. IMHO the best tech channel on YT.
Aron Ra-'s videos about atheist rants have millions of views.. About biology is just a fraction of that.
Because, sadly, most people prefer shallow goofy approach. The laziness to learn and think. Is a long curve, but worth, given the willingness and time required. But as I’ve mentioned earlier, a goofy dropping a 2k dollars GPU is funny for some.
Because other tech channels would take this result and make the thumb EK IS RIPPING YOU OFF! Then rant rant rant in the video till the fanboys are all fired up. Nobody is really interested in facts, just drama.
@@marinipersonal linus tech tips channel is proof of this! gamers nexus should have 15mil given his attention to detail and proper lab testing like debaur. Linus is quirky and annoying and people are drawn to his antics. I found him annoying.
You didn't mention the killer feature of the Alphacool Core line - the G1/4" threads are **metal**!
Great video! I would love to see the same type of video about radiators.
Amazing video. Finally someone made the test. And thanks for confirming to me that the Heatkiller is basically the best block and only at 80 euro. Im done with EKWB and this video confirms it. Also can you mind telling me what quick connect fittings you use? thanks.
EK is not too bad. Performance average, design is good, but is waaaaaay overpriced, also quality control is poor. Shipping active backplate with longer screws that wouldn’t fit as desired, cracking the bridge between the blocks (stress), distro with over tighten or not tighten enough, same issue for GPU blocks. Let’s not forget the DOA RGB strips or the flipped jet plates. Apart from that, is fine. 😂
Im interested in those quick connect fittings too! What are those?
Ek has been shit for 10 years but they sponsor RUclipsrs so kids who are new and don’t know better think they’re good.
Great news on the Heatkillers. I just found a local (Aussie) shop that has these in. Hoping to upgrade my now aging (6.5) years system and pretty much an almost full Watercool components loop (res, cpu, gpu, rads) on my wish list spreadsheet.
The fittings look like Koolance QD3
derbauer on the velocity2 mounting: "really simple". Jayztwocents: *immediately breaks it* :D
Im always amazed by the quality of your testing videos. Very informative and educational. You are great teacher. Thanks for posting.
Thank you for the roundup! Interesting results. I'm using the full nickel Heatkiller in my AM5 build, love the look and build quality.
The same. Amazing build quality and looks.
Lol EK, Such a company answer: "You had something NON STOCK? Well in that case it's that thing's fault, if you tested it in a normal system it wouldnt be an issue!!!"
Great content as ever mate! Would be awesome if you could do a direct die comparison at some stage too
Awesome video. Really appreciate the time that went into it.
Wow! Good stuff, brother! You really know your work. I'm glad I found your channel. Keep up the excellent work!
I really enjoyed the video! Lots of interesting fresh info.
I love getting all the extra manufacturing infos on the various blocks.
12:20 - theoretically you could restore lost performance of coldplate created by such technology by recrystallization. You could test what difference (if any) would this make - just place it in oven with protective atmosphere at 400°C for a few hours.
Quite interesting. Good to know that the performance of high end blocks is so close
3:00 Funny thing, my D5 runs quietest above 80% and is quite loud below 30% (something to do with mounting and dynamic balance I guess)
I really wish you would test with higher pump speeds as well. I understand why you don’t, but it would be interesting to see the differences.
Theoretical performance vs actual real life performance, also doing max pump speed would allow manafacturers to cheat on flowrate in the blocks.
@@GhostPsi69 it is actual real life performance for me. I have two loops that I sometimes combine. Each is a MORA3 with an EK Dual D5 pump top that all run at 100%. It isn’t cheating on flowrate to have a block designed for high pressure and high flow, as that’s how you’re going to get the best heat dissipation.
I run my pump 100% all of the time. My computer sits a good distance from me and I can't hear it at all. I've never not run a pump at 100%.
@@GhostPsi69 how is it cheating though? I mean I vary my pump speed because I want to achieve a certain dT across the radiator, but other than that I see no real reason to do so. If you mount a D5 properly, you're not going to hear it, regardless of pump RPM.
My old D5 didn't even have speed control at all, it always ran at full speed. As long as you keep the same pump speed between different blocks in the test, it effectively shouldn't matter what speed your pump is running. Unless a specific block is really designed for slow flow, but then again why would it be, as that just isn't the efficient way to go about it.
Very good point, always good to look at multiple test results, from multiple sources. Especially if you are going to be purchasing that item.
Great technical insight and content
Such a great round up. That Alphacool block is… surprisingly great & basic.
Roman, thank you for the testing information. This really helped me understand more about these types of coolers. I know what to look for and what to do because of your hard work. Thanks again for all that you do.
Ronnie.
Great information. I wished I had this information two weeks ago. My loop is complete. Thanks for taking the time to create this content.
Wonder if EK will finally sort out the pricing of the stupidly overpriced magnitude. It barely outperforms a Supremacy for more than twice the price. Glad Roman highlighted how poor value they are, and also that the build quality isn't great either. EK are 100% not the company they were 6 or 7 years ago and trade an awful lot off a reputation that is not deserved these days.
Awesome review - very systematic.
this and techpowerup convinced me to buy the core 1, perfect timing. Thanks.
Damn, i wish this was available when i was building my AM5 rig...i bought the EK Velocity 2. Im using the very good Alphacool Eisblock for my 4090 which has performed much better than i expected.
This was very good, thank you.
I like how you explained how people should watch multiple points of view before making a decision! Watched and respected your thoughts for a long time. I know very little German and I honestly started watching you because it was in German. And you tell the truth as you see it.
Great video, that Alphacool block did perform well.
It'd be cool to see another one of these roundups with more small name blocks, like Optimus PC. They make some bold claims about their performance.
Well done, explained ser gut. Very useful data for interested costumers.
Great video, Love the details
Happy owner of Watercool Heatkiller :)
Ordered directly from Germany all my watercooling components from them.
Finally some news from water cooling perspective. Nice vid as always man🤙
Nice video. I bought one of the Alphacool Core 1s off the back of positive reviews, and because I liked the look of it. It replaced an EK Quantum Velocity block. The RGB, although I'm not normally a fan, looks great. Performs well, too, keeping a 7800X3D below 80 degrees with a 35 degree or so water temp.
Is this with CB23 runs or just gaming?
@@Div617 Sorry, had meant to say, CB23
This was fantastic! I'd love to see me testing like this that gives super accurate, comparative results for us to know not only what to buy, but how what we've bought should be performing.
The Barrow blocks have an add on RGB controller that plugs onto that 3 pin rgb header , there also a converter cable that changes it to a normal RGB header.
Great work! Love it!!!!
I would like to see a test with a vapor chamber between the CPU and the block. I've looked into doing it myself but the power rating on the ones that would fit seem to max out at 150W.
My theory on why the Alphacool block is so good: the sideways slots offer an easier path to get rid of water that has already contacted copper and warmed up. That allows higher flow rate of fresh cool water. It also creates turbulence in the water and also creates a bit more surface area.
Thanks for the wonderful testing. I have two projects going on and I actually have both the barrow AND alphacool block that was in this video and it's kinda cool being able to see how both compare.
never been disappointed by alphacool, they're my first choice whenever I need any watercooling bits
Awesome as always!
Refreshing to see some proper testing again.
i really like the Mounting type of double ended Screwing a Backplate to the Board and then Thumbscrew the Block onto that. it's easy to install/remove, the Backplate doesn't fall off when you take off the Cooler, Et Cetera.
it's just the easiest to use IMO. as long as the double ended Screws are large enough to operate with your Fingers, that is.
Awesome work and detail on it and thank you for your time , I'm definitely Add alphacool core 1 and watercool Heatkiller IV to my next upgrade blocks :😀
That Barrow RGB header is compatible with standard 5V ARGB, if you make (or buy, if they exist) an adapter; looking along the wire (with the wire closer to your eye than the connector), with the pins at the bottom of the plug with the snapped/cut off plastic tabs below it, it maps to left to right 5V, Data, (no gap), Ground.
Hello, IT? Well, I actually own the Alphacool CORE 1 block, it sits on 14th Gen i9 in Z790 motherboad. And all I can say is, its awsome! It really is! It performs great, keeping the CPU around 60C when playing MSFS2020, which is the most demanding application I am currently using. To be fair, I must say that there is also an Alphacool GPU block on a 3090. And I have a very custom loop with 2 huge 40mm 360 radiators with legendary German Noiseblocker FANs and almost 4 liters of water in the whole loop, pumped with DDC 1T Plus pump. So, plenty of liquid + plenty of cooling capacity = cool and quite components. Great video as usual! Thank you!
Barrow is almost Identical to the first EK-Supremacy, i have both and i can swap tops and mounting plates.
with the chinese brands you can almost always tell what company they copied from. thats good to know in case I need more parts though, lol.
the ARGB connector on the barrow is from commercial or DIY. I have 3 controllers and lights with that conector. you can get a adapter for the motherboard connector if you dont want to rewire.
I think the most important part of this video is at 10:36 when the kitty shows up just to let you know that this video was worth it.
I just switched from EK to a Heatkiller block for my x570/5900X, and it was used. I had to take it apart, and clean it but it dropped my temps by nearly 10c compared to the EK. Increased clocks on all cores, breaking the 5Ghz barrier I had before, to 5.12Ghz, and near or over 5 on every other core. It's sharing a single 240mm x 60mm rad with a 3090.
The core 1 looks great and performs very well. I still use an alphacool nexxos xp that I modified to fit my 10850K but its tempting to upgrade. It would be nice to have good mounting pressure as my mounting bracket has a single bolt that presses down in the centre of the block.
Great video Roman. Now we need a radiator roundup 😀
Really nice videos to watch, I just bought an AMD 7900x3d and bought myself a Corsair Hydro X Series XC8 RGB PRO JTC Edition because it was so much cheaper than buying an EK block. and am really happy with the result. Corsair $110 vs EK $220 😃
DerBauer, when checking mirror finishes on your waterblocks, use a TV sharpness Test! Then you can see exactly how the waterblock is shaped.
Very good Video! Thank you
thanks!
I went with HeatKiller IV because it has a bracket that I (as a machinist) can change out and make to fit any hole pattern on any board. Also, it doesn't need mounted offset because the inlet is toward the chiplet side on AMD so the chiplets get the cold side and the SOC gets the outlet. Very nice feature.
Agree. And did the same. The heat killer block is wicked legit
As a "machinist" you should be able to do most of these brackets bud
And how can it help with that?
Fantastic job, man 👍
thanks!
8:51 The Heatkiller IV is NOT available with RGB! I'd love it if it was, or if I could add RGB to my existing Heatkiller IV Pro, but there is currently no option for this.
Would just like to say thank you for making English videos in addition to the German ones, it really is appreciated and I hope one day to learn German.
I was told "a while ago" by one notorious tech youtuber famous for its water cooling builds that there was no reason to review custom liquid cooler parts for their performance and a sponsored build was a perfect way to show of the parts.
A medium one that used science in his handle also told me hey people build custom water for the way they look, no performance review is necessary.
I guess corsair is a big sponsor and a performance review of underperforming parts is always unnecessary.
BTW
Thanks for the review and for actually testing the parts!
I would have liked to see one of the Optimus blocks included in these comparisons due to the bold claims on their website about how much better the cooling is with one of their blocks compared to the rest (un-named) of the blocks on the market
6:39 That alone shows why direct die is the way forward.
If you took a scythed design and used EDM to make it i wonder if there would be a difference in temperature.
Would be interesting to throw in and compare OptimusPC's water blocks. I've personally found them to perform noticeably better compared to other blocks I've used (EK, Barrows, AquaComp).
Great video!
The reality is once you're near the top, you will see maybe 1-2 degree differences.
If you feel like paying double for one degree better temperatures and waiting a year to receive it then by all means knock yourself out
@@hovant6666 I paid less for a Optimus block than I would for a EK block. And it arrived 4 days later. Had some weird screws in the block. 2 days later a brand new block was sent out. So I got 2 AMD Optimus blocks. 1 copper, 1 nickel. Was so pleased with it that I ordered their strix block as well. Took a bit longer, 2 weeks. Great blocks.
Tbh, 1-3C different between just blocks is impressive. That is not an easy feat.
I recognize that pink paste! Looks like the Kryonaut Extreme I put on after installing your contact frame in an attempt to make my 360mm AIO able to cool my 13900k. It helped a bit, but I'm starting to think it's impossible to actually cool that chip. Lol.
time to try undervolting
I'm running a cheap 360 AIO and it keeps my 13900K from thermal throttling. I hit a max temp in the upper 80's at all stock settings, just undervolted, which doesn't lose any performance, it actually gained performance vs not undervolting.
@@bluegizmo1983 funny you mention that, undervolting dawned on me last night as a pretty obvious thing to do. how far did you push the negative offset on yours?
@bobbyp6592 I didn't use a negative voltage offset, as I followed a guide that talks about how its better these days with modern CPU's to use Load Line Calibration to achieve an undervolt. Google "Asus Maximus Z790 Extreme and Intel i9-13900k - A tuning guide for beginners." It's a long interesting read about why this way is better, but to jump right to the information, you want the second post, then scroll down to "So let's start tuning the beast !". Basically it amounts to setting the DC_LL = 1.02 and
AC_LL = 0.2, that's it, it's undervolted. You can fine tune it more from there but as it says in the forum post, those numbers should be stable for just about all 13900K's
@@bluegizmo1983 LOL dude im literally reading guides about Load Line Calibration right now wondering if that's a way to optimize the undervolt for stability. I remembered der8auer explaining that setting in his 8700k OC video years ago, and how it affected the way the CPU handles 'voltage droops' or something. You have incredible timing, checking that out now. Thanks.
I wonder if annealing the copper block after skiving the fins would improve the thermal transfer. If so, it might end up being better overall and faster to produce than finely machined fins.
Great video
My favourite block is the Barrow CPU-pump-reservoir combo. Elegant way to fit watercooling into SFF.
I’ve also asked why they use a fan cable for their LEDs. The answer, it seems, is simply “it’s a better connector”. Which is true, anything would be better than the actual LED connector, but it feels like it’s only an excuse to sell adapter cables.
The Corsair blocks should come with an adapter to standard A-RGB in the box, at least the one I got did.
Yeah same here they’ve been including more and more of these adapters with hydro X products.
i ll rather just avoid all corsair rgb products instead
Excellent review. Very surprised by EK's performance. I am going to have to reevaluate my cooling decisions. Thank you
G'day Shiek, Makita & Roman,
How my brain interpreted Shiek at 13:37 "🧑Simply because of the price...€250" "🐱What The!" 😂
Thanks for including the Science behind manufacturing the Fins (that HUGE Skiver making Fins) & Nickel Coating, understanding the difference between them & the finish they give is very interesting.
Think. Im going to try a cpuwater
Loop cooling solution. Really like the look of the heat killer block
I was praying that the overpriced ek block would perform worse than the 2.5x cheaper blocks
Never knew there was so much temp variance between different brands of waterblocks
Thank you roman!!
Just fitted a core 1 aurora to my loop
Question for the material science portion:
Would post-scything annealing correct at least some of that 10 to 20 percent loss of conductivity?
Would like to see an Optimus block. Not many channels talk about them.
yes i second this
The alphacool core 1 is the best cpu block currently on the market, better than the optimus. I am currently using the core 1 upgraded from the sigv2 & also previously used heatkiller iv pro & ek magnitude & velocity 2 and the core 1 is the best.
Maybe because their market is almost completely in the US.
thanks for sharing
thank you for discussing testing procedures and set ups in reference to the end result.
just because i have all the exact same components does not mean i will get the exact same results as you, even if i built the system exactly the same way as you. electronics are all built within tolerances. nothing is exactly the same at this consumer level of electrical computing components.
Great and informative vid as usual!
Was the retail Core 1 also suffering from the same plating issues as your engineering part? Ty
Amazing content once again Roman so thank you very much for your hard work on this. I know there will be a million people saying 'oh can you add this' but I would like to make it a million and one! Something I think that would be invaluable to know would be where abouts are AIO in all this, so if you used the exact test bench and threw on the best AIO cooler, how much of a delta would there be between these and the dedicated blocks. Cheers.
I would love to see a comparison between Acryl version and full copper version of both Aquacompter and Heatkiller blocks.
I plan to buy a Heatkiller IV full copper for my upcoming build.
As always, excellent video. If you plan to do more testing Optimus Signature V2 is a must.
@ 5:45, The 28C bios temp seems to be quite accurate. I think you meant it doesn't have the resolution you want.
Another thing to consider is the wear and tear, durability of the nickel coating and also the acrylic part. These block are not cheap so the durability needs more attention
I have an Alphacool Aurora Edge XPX CPU block that performs really well, but it is really restrictive. It's to the point that you couldn't see any flow of the coolant in the loop. Not in the Reservoir, block, or stand alone pump with a clear top. If it wasn't for an Aquacomputer NEXT inline flow meter/temp sensor that I have installed, I would wonder if my D5 pump was even working. It's the only block that I've used that is like that. All the other blocks, I definitely know everything is flowing because of the turbulence in the reservoir.
What about flow rate of blocks and maybe try am5 where main Die is not in center ??
This is a nice test you have going and would add a few blocks you could test as well. These would be the optimus foundation and the old xspc raystorm waterblack, this the raystorm with acrylic frame and I got a metal one to use instead. I got the raystorm 280 kit with a x79 board, do to fluid in the res falling below half and barfing its fluid. I have have been using it for some year, with a d5 aalpacool eisstation instead. Im moving all that to server duty and got a x299 board to replace it, going to used use a 7th gen chip and your direct die kit. I understand this x299 will have a lot more heat to deal with overclocking, so went the optimus block as a possilbe upgrade since is cnc cut.
Would love to see how the modultra coldplate preforms, but it is only in a pumpblock combo.
5:09 it's ARGB with the wrong connector that's why they modified it to fit some chinese argb hubs
This is why everyone should look more at comparison reviews. I've never found EK to be particularly good despite so many people being their fanboys. I got a heatkiller IV, because of availability when I was purchasing.
Do these blocks have a specified flow rate or pump pressure given? You mentioned you tested them at 30% so I wonder if different blocks could be affected by this or if they were optimized to cool at a certain flow rate. It would have been interesting to see the comparison between 30% and 100% to see if all that extra noise is worth it or if there is a block that sees a non-proportional change in performance (ie at 30% it was 5th in performance compared to others but at 100% it was 1st.)
This is the disadvantage to standardized testing. Not that the results are "wrong", but A - B testing when components are optimized for certain conditions means a poor performer optimized for the exact test will do good even compared to the good ones that work across a broader range.
Interestingly, this also applies to vehicle emissions. If you don't drive your car the same way the emissions tests are designed then it is often allowed to produce far more pollution than you'd think!
When the video started, I thought Roman was testing my block as well. Packaging had a similar picture on it. I am a bit creature of habit. When some company gets me with their good performance, I stay with them until they eventually disappoint me. Currently, I still buy EK products, and they serve me well. My cyrrent CPU block is EK Quantum Velocity2 1700 full nickel. When 12900K came out with a new 1700 socket, I had to get a new water block. This mounting system and cleanness of the install both me. There is nothing to see from the top. You see, just a beautiful water block that looks like bonded to the mainboard. Knowing that most of the top brands' blocks perform very similar and with my giid experience with the EK, I've went for it. I do not own any other 1700 socket water block to compare it with, but my CPU Temps are great. It really depends on what you configure in the bios, to be honest. If I configure full tilt and allow CPU to pull all it wants, it is pulling over 300 Watts in the Prime95 small FFT, and it reaches thermal cap off 100 and then runs on 98 to 99 degrees. Load line calibration mode 2 archives same benchmark results, but Prime95 small FFT pull 260-ish Watt. That results in 80-ies temperature. Whoever thinks that's high, get Prime95, and run it stable for an hour with a small FFT option. Cinebench pulls like 50 Watt less than even default Prime95 test. Small FFT is pure torture. In everyday gaming, my CPU is at a low 60-ies range. That with very quiet system. BTW, that's mount without the contact frame. I have one but I am waiting for 14900K and will use it when that comes in.
The Barrow also has an adapter like aquacomputer to change it to 'normal' argb connector
Btw thank you for this test i have ekwb velocity atm so might go for one of the other ones in the future