Ekwb Nickel Plated 2080ti Block After 3 Months Of Use With EK Clear Cryofuel.

I dont get it, whats wrong with this image?


Soooo you're gonna buy pure metal blocks of only one specific metal type? Like a pure copper block or pure silver block?

Huh what? Blocks are made from pure electrolytic copper. I don't get your question, what other metal are they made from? Pure silver what??
 
+1 for the Koolance coolant. Been running it for YEARS and 0 problems. And if there were going to be problems, I would have them. I let this shit run in systems for 2 or 3 years at a whack. When I swap out parts (soft tube with QDCs), I am not afraid to mix in different Koolance coolant colors when I top off the reservoir. Despite that, still 0 problems. Clean blocks and seals, no corrosion anywhere. Aluminum rads & nickel plate blocks or Copper rads and copper and/or nickel-plate blocks, all good.

And the price for it from Performance PC's is very reasonable if you are planning on buying pretty much anything else with it to qualify for the free shipping. (Speaking of Koolance coolant pricing - the Amazon pricing for this is plain stupid - as in $25/bottle vs PPC's $14 last time I checked)
 
I'm pretty sure I am going to switch to AquaComputer moving forward. I have a lot of money in EK products, but I'm absolutely pissed about how they've handled the situation with the Loop Connect.

I gave up with mine and bought a full AquaComputer controller setup (Octo controller for fans and Farbwerk controller for RGB plus 6x splitty4s) and it is by far the best vendor software I have ever used for a cooling product. It is amazingly good. I am driving a full 24 fans, 2 pumps, and 26 RGB devices with it simultaneously. No issues. Everything works, everything is driven by PWM based on loop coolant temperature, and it even tells me how many amps/watts each device is pulling. And the best part is - every PWM header is controlled by the controller's microprocessor, so you simply save the settings and you can close the software. Nothing needs to be running in the background, so no worries if there's a crash or software bug.

This is my loop idling in a ~25C room.

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Added some details to the post above about my setup ^

tl;dr I am very impressed with AquaComputer. They are a bit more expensive but the quality lives up to the cost.
 
Added some details to the post above about my setup ^

tl;dr I am very impressed with AquaComputer. They are a bit more expensive but the quality lives up to the cost.
Sexy dashboard. Need a flow meter? I have a Koolance one I no longer need.
 
I'm pretty sure I am going to switch to AquaComputer moving forward. I have a lot of money in EK products, but I'm absolutely pissed about how they've handled the situation with the Loop Connect.

I gave up with mine and bought a full AquaComputer controller setup (Octo controller for fans and Farbwerk controller for RGB plus 6x splitty4s) and it is by far the best vendor software I have ever used for a cooling product. It is amazingly good. I am driving a full 24 fans, 2 pumps, and 26 RGB devices with it simultaneously. No issues. Everything works, everything is driven by PWM based on loop coolant temperature, and it even tells me how many amps/watts each device is pulling. And the best part is - every PWM header is controlled by the controller's microprocessor, so you simply save the settings and you can close the software. Nothing needs to be running in the background, so no worries if there's a crash or software bug.

This is my loop idling in a ~25C room.

View attachment 283402

damn I need to update my version of aqua suite, it do not look like that
 
damn I need to update my version of aqua suite, it do not look like that
Yeah this is my first time using it, basically out of the box settings with my Octo controller except I renamed the temp sensors and the two PWM headers for the pumps to match up with how I'm using them. It's nice.
 
Ill just leave this picture here. Ive had Zero issues since purchase date.
GPU has long gone out of the loop, but rest is still used. I've back flushed radiators and changed coolant once 5 years ago. (y)
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I know this is an old thread, but I really wish they'd offer solid copper, specifically electrolytic copper blocks in unplated form. Problem is in ideal environment (18 MegOHM d/i) water they tend to turn black which with acrylic tops looks unsightly. Pure copper plate AND cover for CPU, VRM, et al is ideal. But where acetal tops are the only option I'd prefer bare copper all the way. The nickel looks nice but if the plating isn't done correctly too many things can and will go wrong. And with the advent of hard tubing no one wants to tear everything down over and over again.

I only bring this up because the EK blocks specifically for Strix 3090 and 6900XT parts have nickel plated lowers.
 
My ek 3080 block had had most of the nickel come off in less than 3 months. Used corsairs clear coolant for the first time. Funny enough, the aquacooler cpu block's nickel plating in the same loop looks good as new. Ended up taking the ek gpu block apart and used a little copper polish to get the rest of the nickel plating off. Just terrible plating as usual with ek. Have always preferred non plated blocks, just copper & brass in my loops, never have any problems. These days though everything is plated. Stay away from ek of you can, unfortunately for me they were the only brand making my specific 3080 at the time. It's only a cosmetic issue, but for the price the plating should last longer.
 
My ek 3080 block had had most of the nickel come off in less than 3 months. Used corsairs clear coolant for the first time. Funny enough, the aquacooler cpu block's nickel plating in the same loop looks good as new. Ended up taking the ek gpu block apart and used a little copper polish to get the rest of the nickel plating off. Just terrible plating as usual with ek. Have always preferred non plated blocks, just copper & brass in my loops, never have any problems. These days though everything is plated. Stay away from ek of you can, unfortunately for me they were the only brand making my specific 3080 at the time. It's only a cosmetic issue, but for the price the plating should last longer.
Why didnt you send it back? A 3 month old block? I would have been livid. That thing would have gone back to ek sloppy wet in a ziploc baggy. No way in hell id keep a block thats failed that soon. Not to mention the potential for it to continue to shed metal into my loop. I hope for your loops sake you managed to get all of the exposed nickel off.
Its not just cosmetic if its already clogged up your rad or gouged up your pump rotor.

Ive only had one block flake on me. A swiftech cpu block(forget the name) with a nickel plated top and copper base. Turned both of my ek solid copper 8800gtx blocks black along with the base. Still have them. Used the swiftech for target practice ;)
 
Why didnt you send it back? A 3 month old block? I would have been livid. That thing would have gone back to ek sloppy wet in a ziploc baggy. No way in hell id keep a block thats failed that soon. Not to mention the potential for it to continue to shed metal into my loop. I hope for your loops sake you managed to get all of the exposed nickel off.
Its not just cosmetic if its already clogged up your rad or gouged up your pump rotor.

Ive only had one block flake on me. A swiftech cpu block(forget the name) with a nickel plated top and copper base. Turned both of my ek solid copper 8800gtx blocks black along with the base. Still have them. Used the swiftech for target practice ;)

The Nickel plating is pretty thin, doubt there's any risk of damaging anything, cloging, ect. It didn't flake off, more like it wore off. Most of it was probably suspended in the coolant sense it runs 24/7, which was drained and replaced. Unfortunantly I bought the block 2nd hand though unused, didn't want to bother with the hassel. Still performs good as new and I like the copper look anyway.
 
The Nickel plating is pretty thin, doubt there's any risk of damaging anything, cloging, ect. It didn't flake off, more like it wore off. Most of it was probably suspended in the coolant sense it runs 24/7, which was drained and replaced. Unfortunantly I bought the block 2nd hand though unused, didn't want to bother with the hassel. Still performs good as new and I like the copper look anyway.
Ah i see. Still a drag that you had to monkey with it. Nothing more annoying than having to pull your loop apart because of a defect. And then to have to perform surgery on your nice shiney new block.
I found similar temp results with my old swiftech and gpu blocks. The temps never gave away the fact that there was any corrosion going on. My temps didnt change at all, coolant didnt discolor, nothing, but man my beautiful gpu blocks were ugly af internally! The copper fins on the cpu block were rotted bigtime. Portions were completely gone. The nickel was probably 1/16in thick or so but it must have had a pin prick im assuming (from the research i did at the time) that slowly turned into a teardrop shaped hole exposing the aluminum underneath. Yep i foolishly trusted a nickel plated aluminium top. Back then swiftech cpu blocks were the best of the best so i figured i was safe and it looked cool! 😆
So yeah, ive got a sore spot for piss poor nickel jobs.
 
I've never had issues with the EK brand. I've used the same cpu block for the last couple of builds with no wear showing, and am using their front mounted distro plate for my 011 dynamic XL. But, I really don't have much brand loyalty to them either. The gpu block I have is Bykski, and my fittings are Bitspower.
 
I've never had issues with the EK brand. I've used the same cpu block for the last couple of builds with no wear showing, and am using their front mounted distro plate for my 011 dynamic XL. But, I really don't have much brand loyalty to them either. The gpu block I have is Bykski, and my fittings are Bitspower.
I havent either(knock on wood). Ive actually had really good luck with ek gear(pumps,blocks,fittings, pump/res tops,res,rads ive used it all). Barring one cracked plastic supremacy top i havent had any problems. They stood on their heads making that right. Dont hesitate to use their CS btw, they are top notch.
Up until my last gpu block i used ek blocks exclusively for many years. If they hadnt gotten all stupid with their prices i would likely still be using them.
I also switched to a byski gpu block and spent half of what an ek block cost. Its been top notch both temp and quality wise. Also switched to byski hard line fittings at the same time for less than half of what i normally spend and have been nothing but impressed by them. With 4 internal o-rings i dont know how you could make one leak and they look sweet to boot. The drawback is ordering from the awful aliexpress website and waiting a month or more for your parts.
 
While EK has tons of bad PR from previous things, I have seen most interactions and my own interactions have been very positive. You also have to remember that compared to every other watercooling vendor, EK outsells them probably 10x or more in terms of raw parts shipped/pieces used in builds. Like comparing Watercool to EK? Watercool doesn't even have their FTW3 block out yet nor do they have their active back plate. Sure you can go with a brand like Byski or Barrow but it's still raw number wise less than EK I think outside of China.
 
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