EKWB 3090 FE Special Edition waterblock

I've seen the website. It's probably the best looking 3090 FE waterblock out there now or coming soon. That price though....:eek:
 
I've seen the website. It's probably the best looking 3090 FE waterblock out there now or coming soon. That price though....:eek:
After spending almost $2000 on my case + watercooling setup and $1600 on the GPU, what's another $370? That's what I am telling myself anyway.
 
After spending almost $2000 on my case + watercooling setup and $1600 on the GPU, what's another $370? That's what I am telling myself anyway.

That's a fair point. Although, I already have a Bykski waterblock. It does the job but it doesn't look all that good.
 
If I can ever get my hands on a 3090 FE, that's the water block I'll probably end up with. Just like the way it looks, except, I wish you could get the black block with the black backplate instead of silver without ordering a separate backplate and replacing it. The dual color thing kinda bothers me a little, would prefer a single color look
 
No way I'm spending that much for a waterblock. I don't care how good it looks.
 
I have the Corsair 3090FE XG7 water block, it does its job Ok. Not much O/C, 150 GPU/250 mem with the power limit to max. I can probably do a lot better on the memory, but does it really help that much?
They are in stock now, 170USD
 
It would be nice if they offered an AIO solution. My friend who snagged an 3090 FE last BB drop wanted an AIO cooler for it. I couldn't find on for him and he couldn't either.
 
If you can buy a 3090 FE, you can also afford that pricy waterblock 😏
 
If you can buy a 3090 FE, you can also afford that pricy waterblock 😏
But why? There are blocks half the price and perform similarly. Sure if you like the look and you care too much about it then go for it.
 
I did preorder couple months ago when it was listed as available on the web shop and just yesterday received shipping notification.
 
I did preorder couple months ago when it was listed as available on the web shop and just yesterday received shipping notification.
Let us know of any issues or successes when you get it.
 
My delivery was pushed out to May 21. Unfortunate, but I'm okay to wait given how long it took to get a 3090.

Have you seen how bad most are with money?
That doesn't apply to me so don't worry :p

FWIW, the 3080 version of this block had QC issues. Many blocks were received with badly scratched acrylic and/or very poor machining of the acrylic.

If I'm paying this much for a waterblock I expect it to be pretty much pristine.
I'll keep an eye out for that. I saw a few posts about this on Reddit I believe.

But why? There are blocks half the price and perform similarly. Sure if you like the look and you care too much about it then go for it.
It has an actively cooled black plate, and the 3090 has memory on the back side of the PCB. My memory temps with a very mild OC have hit 104C with the stock cooler, I want to bring those down.
 
My delivery was pushed out to May 21. Unfortunate, but I'm okay to wait given how long it took to get a 3090.


That doesn't apply to me so don't worry :p


I'll keep an eye out for that. I saw a few posts about this on Reddit I believe.


It has an actively cooled black plate, and the 3090 has memory on the back side of the PCB. My memory temps with a very mild OC have hit 104C with the stock cooler, I want to bring those down.

I believe they are calling it "hybrid" cooled backplate? It doesnt have direct contact with the fluid if I recall correctly.
 
I believe they are calling it "hybrid" cooled backplate? It doesnt have direct contact with the fluid if I recall correctly.
Yea it is just a back plate that connect to to the transfer plate. There isn't any water going across the back plate.
 
I believe they are calling it "hybrid" cooled backplate? It doesnt have direct contact with the fluid if I recall correctly.
Yea it is just a back plate that connect to to the transfer plate. There isn't any water going across the back plate.

Yeah, that's correct. This is how they describe it:

This water block comes with an included backplate that makes sure the entire graphics card is enclosed and not at all visible. The aluminum CNC-machined backplate has a ribbed texture in order to increase surface area for additional passive cooling power. The "active" cooling part is achieved through a section of the backplate contacting the coldplate, which is then directly cooled by the liquid. The Black variant of this Special Edition water block has a natural anodized aluminum backplate.
I realize there is no water flow through the actual backplate but I still this is an interesting design and I'm curious to see how it impacts my memory temperatures.
 
Yeah, that's correct. This is how they describe it:


I realize there is no water flow through the actual backplate but I still this is an interesting design and I'm curious to see how it impacts my memory temperatures.
there is a large section of 'blank' pcb between the nvlink connector and the power connector. if you put an appropriate sized thermal pad on the front and back of this section, you could bridge the backplate and main heatsink on the 3090FE with the stock cooler. I believe thermal pad requirement would be 2.5mm front and 3mm rear. I have not done this.


edit: I messed up on the thermal pad thickness if you were to put them on the blank part of the pcb. The REAR should be 2.5mm, since the backplate is more or less flat, yet uses 1.5mm pads on top of ~1mm gddr6x modules, hence 2.5mm space between pcb and backplate. 2.5mm pads are not readily available, so I would take some 0.5mm copper shims, thermal tape them to the backplate in the appropriate spot, and then use 2mm thermal pads, which are easier to find and have more (better) options available.

As for the front, I would have to measure to be sure. The main cooler has a raised plane which contacts the front memory modules, so you would need a larger than 2.5mm pad. If the plane is 0.5mm higher than the base plane, it would be 3mm pad up front, though if it were more, you would want to get 3mm pad plus shims again, IMO. The front part of the cooler where it covers the blank pcb section is the actualy heatpipe. Basically from below the nvlink connector to the edge of the furthest memory row.
 
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there is a large section of 'blank' pcb between the nvlink connector and the power connector. if you put an appropriate sized thermal pad on the front and back of this section, you could bridge the backplate and main heatsink on the 3090FE with the stock cooler. I believe thermal pad requirement would be 2.5mm front and 3mm rear. I have not done this.
If I wasn't planning on watercooling regardless, I would probably do this. But as it is, I don't want to disassemble the GPU twice. But yes, I heard the issue with memory temps is primarily contact with the stock thermal pads. Replacing those + fresh paste on the GPU is probably a solid improvement.
 
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