Vega 64 EKWB waterblock not compatible with R9 290

A

allen5055

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Mar 25, 2012
Messages
1,553
Hi all, I recently bought two Vega 64's with EKWB waterblocks. I decided to keep two R9 290's with EKWB waterblocks. However.... to my great shock, the connectors at the top between the two different blocks don't quite line up. I can't do a 4 way GPU system with the EKWB 4-way connector.


I thought about doing two EKWB water connectors at top, but the space between the gpu's is too sharp and I don't think I could connect them.

I'm amazed that the blocks are slightly offset.

This is the 4-way connector I was hoping to use, that doesn't fit because the two different waterblocks have a 4mm offset.
https://www.ekwb.com/shop/ek-fc-terminal-quad-semi-parallel

Any ideas?
 
Just use individual fittings and tubing?

After all, function and performance trumps silly aesthetics every time :p

Just because I am curious, what is your use care for four mismatched GPU's?
 
allen5055 said:
Hi all, I recently bought two Vega 64's with EKWB waterblocks. I decided to keep two R9 290's with EKWB waterblocks. However.... to my great shock, the connectors at the top between the two different blocks don't quite line up. I can't do a 4 way GPU system with the EKWB 4-way connector.


I thought about doing two EKWB water connectors at top, but the space between the gpu's is too sharp and I don't think I could connect them.

I'm amazed that the blocks are slightly offset.

This is the 4-way connector I was hoping to use, that doesn't fit because the two different waterblocks have a 4mm offset.
https://www.ekwb.com/shop/ek-fc-terminal-quad-semi-parallel

Any ideas?
Click to expand...

That is expected and actually it's your expectation that is incorrect. Blocks from different pcb designs will not line up and they usually are not designed to line up. And Vega and Hawaii are so very far apart design wise...
 
Zarathustra[H] said:
Just use individual fittings and tubing?

After all, function and performance trumps silly aesthetics every time :p

Just because I am curious, what is your use care for four mismatched GPU's?
Click to expand...

I've been experimenting with individual fittings. The problem is for GPU's that are adjacent in slots that the barbs are too large. I can't fit two barbs pointed toward each other. The only way I could see individual fittings working is if there were some low prominence ones that I don't know about.

How do people use individual tubing for GPU's that are right next to each other? If there's one slot between GPU's it's pretty easy.
 
allen5055 said:
I've been experimenting with individual fittings. The problem is for GPU's that are adjacent in slots that the barbs are too large. I can't fit two barbs pointed toward each other. The only way I could see individual fittings working is if there were some low prominence ones that I don't know about.

How do people use individual tubing for GPU's that are right next to each other? If there's one slot between GPU's it's pretty easy.
Click to expand...

Usually we don't use mismatched components to avoid this. You can off-center fittings.

http://www.performance-pcs.com/bitspower-matte-black-off-center-block.html

You would use that with a male to male rotary.

http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/enmablromato.html
 
thesmokingman said:
Usually we don't use mismatched components to avoid this. You can off-center fittings.

http://www.performance-pcs.com/bitspower-matte-black-off-center-block.html

You would use that with a male to male rotary.

http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/enmablromato.html
Click to expand...

Thanks for the link. I was looking for something like that. The question is, I would have to buy one off-center block, and two male to male rotarys. Would that fit between two gpu slots? I think it would be too large to fit.

I would have to connect a GPU using a male to male rotary to the off-center block, connect that using another male to male rotary to the next gpu. I think those three things would be too large.

The second question is, would the offset be the right amount.
 
allen5055 said:
Thanks for the link. I was looking for something like that. The question is, I would have to buy one off-center block, and two male to male rotarys. Would that fit between two gpu slots? I think it would be too large to fit.

I would have to connect a GPU using a male to male rotary to the off-center block, connect that using another male to male rotary to the next gpu. I think those three things would be too large.

The second question is, would the offset be the right amount.
Click to expand...

It's unknown if the offset is the "right" offset until you get it in hand. Regarding the male fitting, you'd only use one rotary per connection as the rotary is thicker than a regular non-rotary male to male fitting.

If all else fails, one way of doing it would be to run two sets of two gpus in parallel and plumbing the top 2 gpus from top and the bottom 2 from the bottom. Then plumb those two sets of parallel gpus in series. For ex one set like below and another plumbed down... Also the setup below uses sli fittings to achieve that spacing.

http://cdn.overclock.net/c/cb/cb551377_Two_Towers_-_2_Loops_038.jpeg
 
thesmokingman said:
It's unknown if the offset is the "right" offset until you get it in hand. Regarding the male fitting, you'd only use one rotary per connection as the rotary is thicker than a regular non-rotary male to male fitting.

If all else fails, one way of doing it would be to run two sets of two gpus in parallel and plumbing the top 2 gpus from top and the bottom 2 from the bottom. Then plumb those two sets of parallel gpus in series. For ex one set like below and another plumbed down... Also the setup below uses sli fittings to achieve that spacing.

http://cdn.overclock.net/c/cb/cb551377_Two_Towers_-_2_Loops_038.jpeg
Click to expand...

It's a shame I can't just get two SLI connectors from EKWB and then connect them by the side. But... EKWB doesn't have inflow side connector options for their blocks. While I was thinking about that I realized that the parallel and serial EKWB 2 GPU connectors have different outflow options. The serial one has two outflow options whereas the parallel one only has outflow from the bottom right side.
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIAC8W4YY2652

I went ahead and ordered one serial 2GPU EKWB connector. I think I will run two Vega 64's and one r9 290 that is separated by one slot.

While I could run two separate loops for the GPU's, I think it would be a pain in the ass.

I could do something really ugly I suppose. I could buy two EKWB 2 GPU blocks, and use the bottom right outflow from the first, make a long loop with tubing and feed it back down into the second 2GPU block with a 45 degree connector. It'd look pretty bad though.
 
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