Posted on Monday, November 09 2020 @ 12:02 CET by Thomas De Maesschalck
EK Waterblocks has a new EK-Quantum Vector FE RTX 3080 D-RGB series for the GeForce RTX 3080 Founders Edition. The company offers a black and a silver model, these are sold via the EK webshop for 269.90EUR. You can pre-order them today, shipments will start in early December.
EK®, the leading computer cooling solutions provider, is proud to finally unveil its Special Edition high-performance GPU water blocks for the NVIDIA® GeForce® RTX™ 3080 Founders Edition graphics card. The EK-Quantum Vector FE RTX 3080 D-RGB comes in two versions – Silver and Black, both featuring stark contrasts between the aluminum outer shell and backplate, as well as the Plexi window and terminal illuminated with addressable D-RGB LEDs.
Both water blocks come with two types of connection terminals, offering unrivaled versatility. The performance is one of the key elements of the design, which is why this block features a 30% larger fin area compared to other water blocks from the Vector family.
The EK-Quantum Vector FE RTX 3080 D-RGB water block enclosure is the most complex GPU cooling solution developed by EK to date. The small form factor and unique shape of the RTX 3080 Founders Edition PCB presented a rare engineering challenge.
The water block is purpose-designed with an extremely thick copper base for high-performance, allowing it to clear all components of the densely-packed PCB and adding more heat removal capacity in the process. The cooling engine used in this water block is the largest EK has built to date, having roughly 30% more surface area than the rest of the existing Vector series water blocks.
A Testament To the Build Quality
Like the Magnitude CPU water block, the entirety of this water block is CNC-machined without mass-production techniques. The block’s base is milled out of a 12mm thick piece of pure electrolytic copper sourced from Europe, which is then nickel-plated, while its top is CNC-machined out of a glass-like cast Acrylic material.
The external enclosure, which is not in any contact with the coolant, is machined out of a 20mm thick solid piece of aluminum, which is afterward anodized into black or gray color, depending on the model. The included single-slot I/O shield is supplied with special screws for attaching it to the aluminum enclosure in order to even out the entire water block’s weight distribution. The watertight sealing is ensured by high-quality EPDM O-rings, while brass standoffs are already pre-installed and allow for a safe and easy installation procedure.
Special Terminal Design
The water block is delivered with a set of connection terminals, allowing users to swap them out based on their needs. One terminal has two direct G1/4? ports on the side, while the other one is more conventional, having four G1/4? ports going through it.
The new design allows terminals to be directly attached to the copper cold plate of the GPU water block, making it more rigid and reducing the chances of damage.? The terminal is neatly located between two prongs on the PCB, utilizing minimal space. This kind of design allows for incredible versatility, especially for Small Form Factor builds, and of course, more interesting aesthetics.
Cooling Engine
This Special Edition Vector water block directly cools the GPU, VRAM, and the VRM (voltage regulation module) as cooling liquid is channeled right over these critical areas. The water block is in contact with MOSFETs and chokes to maximize cooling and minimize the chances of unwanted coil whine.?The flow paths are also optimized to reduce hydrodynamic instabilities and vortexing (dead spots) inside of them.
The integrated Open Split-Flow cooling engine design proved to be a superior solution for GPU water blocks. It is characterized by low hydraulic flow restriction, meaning it can be used with weaker water pumps or pumps running on low-speed settings and still achieve top performance.
The jet plate and fin structure geometry are optimized to provide even flow distribution with minimal losses and optimal performance when used in any given coolant flow orientation.? Fin array is populated by 31 microfins with 0.6mm wide microchannels that provide exceptional cooling performance without unnecessary flow restrictions or clogging hazards.
Exclusive Founders Edition Backplate
This water block comes with an included backplate that makes sure the entire graphics card is enclosed and not at all visible. It also provides additional passive cooling for the GPU core and backside of the printed circuit board VRM section. Due to the small size of the card and the block itself, the ribbed backplate boasts the increased surface area for additional passive cooling power. It’s CNC-machined out of aluminum, which is either black-anodized or nickel-plated, depending on the version of the water block.
D-RGB Lighting on the EK-Quantum Vector FE RTX 3080 D-RGB Water Block
This water block boasts a whopping 20 individually addressable D-RGB LEDs that illuminate both the water block’s interior and the terminal itself. It is compatible with all popular RGB Sync technologies from major motherboard manufacturers. The arrow marking on the 3-pin D-RGB LED connector is to be aligned with the +5V marking on the D-RGB (addressable) motherboard header.
Upcoming NVIDIA RTX 30 Series Water Blocks
There are probably a lot of questions about other RTX 30 Series water blocks as well – for the AIB cards and Founders Edition especially. EK water blocks for EVGA® FTW3 and MSI® Trio Series graphics cards will be available in a few weeks.
