EK Water Blocks has released a new generation of All-In-One coolers or liquid coolers as some call them named EK NUCLEUS. This series has two broad categories:

• Lux
• Dark

If you have not guessed already, the Lux indicates the D-RGB lighting effect enabled on the coolers whereas the Dark implies the lack of D-RGB and an all-black color scheme. So far, EK Water Blocks has released 240mm and 360mm in each of these categories. There is also a white edition cooler in the Lux series.

We got our hands on the EK Nucleus AIO CR360 Lux D-RGB (quite! a long name) for testing and use in our upcoming project of 360mm AIO round-up. This cooler is in black color and has D-RGB lighting enabled. This cooler is compatible with Intel LGA1700 and AMD AM5 sockets in addition to support for other sockets. There are many design changes compared to the previous generation of AIOs like using EK-Omnilink technology to provide neat cable management and connectivity solution, new positioning of tubes, new pump design, dense micro fins copper cold plate for efficient heat dissipation, rotatable pump top, tunnel effect lighting, and a simple tool to install thumb screws in the tightly spaced near socket areas to name a few.

Product:               EK Nucleus AIO CR360 Lux D-RGB

Price:                     USD $204 / EUR €184.59 [At the time of this writing]

EK Nucleus AIO CR360 Lux D-RGB Cooler Specifications

Packaging and Unboxing

Some time ago, we decided not to focus on packing boxes and etc as such in detail unless something different hits up. The presentation of this cooler is exactly the definition of that different something hence we are showing you the box and presentation.

On the surface there is nothing different. We can see the long name of the product and a lighted unit.

On the backside of main packing box, EK Water Blocks has highlighted key design features of this cooler.

The difference comes from the inside – pun intended. There is a black color Styrofoam pad on top and in the middle, we can see an orange color container welcoming you to the world of EKWB.

Whoa! Now, this is quite an impressive presentation with the nicest and safest packaging of the cooler as it can be. There is a thick black color Styrofoam pad into which the cooler and fans are tucked. There is another orange color container placed on the side with the caution text of this side up. It has accessories.

The accessory box is also orange in color. It is a container that has an inlay that can be pulled using a pull strap on one side. Attention to detail and premium touch is remarkable.

OMG! Even the accessory box has its own spectacular presentation much like how EKWB has done on the main packing. The pillars or bolts are nicely placed in dedicated slots as are the thumb nuts and springs, tool, cable, and screws. And yet, there is another orange color box that probably has backplates and mounting brackets. Oh, did I forget the thermal paste!

Accessories

Let’s see what is provided in the accessories department.

There is a comprehensive user guide with pictures providing installation guidelines on supported sockets.

EK Water Blocks has provided:

• 1x Intel Mounting bracket
• 1x AMD Mounting bracket
• 1x Intel LGA1700 backplate
• 1x Intel other sockets backplate

There are:

• 4x Thumb Nuts with Springs
• 4x Intel LGA20xx thumb screws
• 4x Intel/AMD thumb screws

EKWB has provided:

• 12x Philips UNC 6-32x30mm Fan Screws
• 12x Philips UNC 6-32x34mm Fan Screws
• 12x Philips UNC 6-32x6mm Radiator Screws
• 4x Philips Head M3x4mm Mounting Bracket Screws
• 1x ECO-TIM Thermal Paste Tube

There is a micro-fit 8-pin connector to 4-pin PWM and standard 3-pin D-RGB connectors cable provided as well.

There are multiple brochures for the customers. One is important. Registering this unit with EKWB would give a total of 6 years warranty meaning a 1-year extended warranty on top of a regular 5-year warranty period. Cool!

EK Water Blocks has provided a tool. This is to install the thumb screws on the backplate through the mounting holes near the socket area. While you may not give attention to this at first, this is a blessing when working with a tight-spaced area near the socket area, particularly the top leftmost mounting hole that sits close to the capacitors of the VRM area. I appreciate EK Water Blocks for thinking this deep and providing a simple solution.

The above picture illustrates the use of this tool. Use this tool to mount the thumb screws on the motherboard. Since this tool has a ribbed design, it will not slip from your fingers. Just don’t snap it by using excessive force.

There are two holes in the body of this tool on the opposite side. EKWB was clearly thinking ahead. These would come in handy when removing the thumb screws from the motherboard. But one thing they missed in my opinion is the provision of cross-bar or cross-beam that can be attached to this tool and provides a convenient way to remove or install the thumb screws.

Closer Look

It is time to take a look at the unit itself and then land on thermal testing.

The dimension of an aluminum-made radiator is 400x124x27mm (LxWxH). Here 27mm is the height of this unit. The EK-Loop FPT fans have a thickness of height of 27mm (not 25mm as mentioned in the specifications). Adding this figure to the radiator’s height would give a total height of this unit to be 56mm approximately including the heads of fans’ screws. This radiator has a FPI count of 20 and it has a total of 12 channels for coolant flow. The mounting holes on opposite ends have a standard gap of 105mm.

EK Water Blocks has done a nice job in fin stacking on this unit. We did not observe any bend or broken fin.

The far block or end has a rectangular design with rounded edges. There is no branding on this end.

There is diamond-cut brushed aluminum plating on both sides of the main housing. This adds a nice touch to the overall look and feel of this unit. The near end has an EK logo. The overall height of the radiator on the near end or block side is more than the rest of the 27mm height. This is because of a design element that we will cover shortly.

There is a certain gap between the main housing and the actual fin stack. There is no protective plating under mounting holes. You are good as long as you are using the EK’s specified screws (6-32x30mm).

Looking at the near end, this unit has a distinctive design that I have not seen on any other AIO in my experience. EK has provided a cover on top of the tube connections. This cover runs to a full width of the radiator and it has a height of 27mm. This cover hides the tube connection. The fans sit flush in line with this cover hence we would have a uni-body look on the assembled cooler. This is a simple yet elegant touch.

The above picture shows the inner side of the raised cover. The top of this cover has an inset that further adds to the look.

While we have many factors to praise this unit, we also found a QC issue. The backside of the radiator’s housing has 12x mounting holes. Our sample did not have threads in any of these holes and we were unable to install this unit in a PC case. We also found a user review on AMAZON telling the same story though the user instead of contacting EKWB’s customer support, improvised and managed to install the cooler anyway. We have informed EKWB about this issue and they are looking into it.

EK Water Block’s LUX series coolers are using Ultra-Low evaporation rubber tubes with fine threading. The connections are covered using black color caps. There is a fine nylon braided mesh sleeve on the tubes which is for aesthetic purposes. This tube runs to approximately 380mm excluding the connections. EKWB has mentioned 400mm which is from connection to connection.

Block design on this unit is a different design. The pump housing has a dimension of 82.3×69.2×61.6mm and it is made of ABS material. The pump top is made of ABS material as well. This design is not circular nor squarish or rectangular. The block has a relatively large-looking size.

The pump top is removable and rotatable. There is an EK logo that can be used to grab the top and lift it off. This top features a funnel-looking digital RGB lighting effect.

The above picture shows the inside of the pump housing after removing top cover. There is a thick diffuser. We can see 3-pin connections on all four corners. This is where the pump top makes contact for D-RGB lighting.

The above picture shows inside of the pump top. We can see that one corner has 3 active pins that make contact with the 3-pin pads on the inside frame. The funnel design is created using a designed inside of this pump top.

The above picture shows the D-RGB lighting effect on the pump top.

The above picture illustrates the rotatable pump top design.

The sides of the pump housing have a simple black finish without any branding.

Looking at the backside, we can see two tube connections at a 90° angle. These are using rotary fittings and this time around, EK has narrowed the gap between the connections. According to EK, this would help install this unit in space-constrained areas. There are two flat cables coming out under the tube connection.

One cable has a 4-pin PWM connector to power the pump.

The other cable has two connectors. One is a 3-pin D-RGB, 5V connector and the other is a socket to daisy chain the D-RGB elements.

Looking at the base, this unit comes with a pre-installed thermal paste. Kind of EKWB to include a thermal paste as well in addition to this pre-applied thermal paste. There is a protective cover on the base.

The unit has a copper base measuring 38x38mm. The copper cold plate of this unit has dense micro fins for efficient heat transfer. There are 4x golden color holes on the ABS housing above the copper base. The mounting bracket is installed on these holes. The PWM range of the pump is 20~100% and has a speed range of 3100 RPM ±10%.

EKWB has provided EK-Loop FPT fans. FPT stands for Full Pressure Technology. These fans feature a full frame design that does not allow air to escape and helps in maintaining the pressure. There are 7 blades per fan with a large diameter center with EKWB branding. The holes between the corners and the inner ring are covered from the rear side.

Each mounting corner has a black color anti-vibration pad.

Each fan has a small size cable tucked into one side of the frame. These fans feature the EK-Omnilink concept where by using an 8-pin microfit connector to daisy-chain the fans. This reduces the cable clutter and only one cable comes out to be handled by the user.

One end of the fan’s cable has an 8-pin microfit female connector.

The other end of the fan’s cable has an 8-pin microfit male connector.

The backside of the fan has an X shaped arms design. EK-FPT FAN – 120ER D-RGB is the model of the fan. We can see the power rating of this fan as well.

Salient specifications of these fans include:

Installation

We are not covering the details of installation. Installation is a breeze and we did not observe any peculiar issue to report here other than no threads on the backside mounting holes on the radiator which we have mentioned above. The tool makes the life easier and we can install this cooler even with more confidence than before. Please refer to the user guide for more details.

D-RGB Lighting

Since, this unit is using standard 3-pin, 5V connectors for D-RGB lighting, these AIOs are compatible with RGB sync technologies from all major motherboard manufacturers. We have tested the lighting on GIGABYTE Z690 AERO G DDR5 and Z790 AORUS ELITE AX motherboards. The D-RGB lighting is working fine with RGB FUSION 2.0 on these motherboards. Here are a few pictures.

Testing

We have used the following configurations for testing:

• Intel core i7 12700k
• GIGABYTE Z690 AERO G D5
• Sabrent Rocket 32GB DDR5 Kit @ 4800MHz CAS 40
• GIGABYTE GeForce RTX 3060 VISION OC
• Sabrent Rocket Q 500GB NVMe SSD [For OS]
• Be quiet! Straight Power 11 850W Platinum PSU
• Thermaltake Core P6 TG Snow Edition in an open frame layout

• Intel Core i7 13700k
• GIGABYTE Z790 AORUS ELITE AX
• Kingston Fury DDR5 32GB @ 6400MHz CAS 32
• Sabrent Rocket 4 Plus 2TB NVMe SSD [For OS]
• GIGABYTE GeForce RTX 3060 VISION OC
• Be quiet! Straight Power 11 850W Platinum PSU
• Thermaltake Core P6 TG Snow Edition in an open frame layout

Test table for Intel core i7 12700k is:

Test table for Intel core i7 13700k is:

BA bit of note about the new platforms. We have seen AMD AM5 and Intel Alder Lake S CPUs taking more power and this time both sides have aimed at reaching the maximum clocks regardless of thermal limit. In fact, the AM5 SKUs will run into thermal limits right away depending on the cooling solution and the clocks being used. This has made testing of CPU coolers challenging because viewers/readers are not used to a new nomenclature which is what clocks are sustained under a given load using a particular cooler. That is if the cooler is capable of providing enough cooling head to sustain the high frequencies. Traditionally we are used to going the other way around that is which cooler is better in terms of thermal capacity. Despite this, we are using temperatures as a base for measuring this unit. Among other reasons is the high thermal density of these new CPUs.

The ambient temperature was in the range of 25°C to 25.5°C. Since the variation in the ambient temperature is within 1°C, we are reporting absolute temperatures in the graph. The testing is done on an open-air bench system. Once inside the chassis, the temperatures are expected to rise and would largely depend upon the optimal airflow inside the chassis.

Disclaimer: Every silicon is different hence no two same SKUs are likely to take same voltage to yield same performance at same thermals per se but margin would be close. Not every stress test run may yield the same result which could be due to various reasons like thermal paste application, ambient temperature variation, mounting pressure of the cooler etc. This is very why we have listed our variables and their settings. Let’s take a look at the results.

Result

Whoa! EK means business with their new cooler and it is delivering a solid performance punch. We can spot a minimum of 4°C and a maximum of 6°C when compared against the other 360mm AIOs in the graph.

There is no other cooler in the graph of Intel Core i7 13700k. This is because a few other units that we have tested used different thermal paste and they were tested at different ambient. We only wanted to see how this unit would behave on this platform and it has a rock-solid performance that is unparalleled.

Noise

Our sound meter shows this unit making a sound output of 50 dB(A) at an ambient of 32 dB(A). This is a good all-round performance from EK Nucleus AIO CR360 Lux D-RGB cooler.

Conclusion

Nucleus is the new name of next generation of AIO coolers from EK Water Blocks. EKWB has released two broader categories in this new generation. They are named LUX and DARK. As the name indicates, LUX series of coolers pack digital RGB lighting effects whereas the DARK series of coolers have a black color theme. LUX series also has white edition coolers. So far, 240mm and 360mm size coolers are made available. We have tested EK Nucleus AIO CR360 Lux D-RGB. Quite a long name there! Since this cooler is released after Intel’s 13th generation and AMD’s Ryzen 7000 platforms launch, we were expecting this cooler to perform better on these platforms. It is not a spoiler that this unit has met the expectations. This unit is compatible with Intel LGA115x, 1200, 1700, 2011, 2011-3, and 2066 + Next-Gen Intel sockets. On the red camp, this unit is compatible with AMD AM4 and AM5 sockets.

This cooler has an aluminum-made radiator having a dimension of 400x124x27mm (LxWxH). 27mm is height of this radiator. Since this cooler comes with 27mm thick fans, the overall height of this unit would be 56mm approximately including the heads of the Philips screws. FPI count is 20 and there are 12 coolant flow channels. There are diamond-cut brushed aluminum plates on sides of the main housing. There is a raised housing towards the near end or tube side of this radiator. This is for pure aesthetics since the fans would sit flush in line with this raised portion, it will give a uni-body design look. This is actually a neat form as it hides the tube ends. EKWB is using ultra-low evaporation rubber tubes with nylon braided mesh sleeves. These tubes have a length of 400mm including the fittings. Speaking of fittings, this generation is still using rotary fittings but this time EKWAB has reduced the gap between the tube ends so as to make this even more compatible in tight spaces.

The pump housing has an unconventional design. It is made of ABS material. The pump top is rotatable and it features a funnel-style digital RGB lighting effect. There is a 3-pin interface on the catcher side and the top cover has 3-pins under the EK logo side. You can rotate the logo side making the installation of the cooler regardless of the orientation. This unit has a copper base having dense microfins making up the copper cold plate for efficient heat transfer. EKWB has employed a PWM-controlled pump having PWM duty cycle of 20% ~ 100% rotating at 3100 RPM ±10%. EKWB is using standard RGB connectors to power the D-RGB LEDs in the pump housing.

EKWB has provided their EK-Loop FPT fans with this cooler. These fans feature a closed frame design that prevents air from escaping and it would help in maintaining the pressure. EK has also introduced an EK-Omnilink concept with this generation. Each fan has a tied-up cable of short length. One end of this cable has a female micro-fit 8-pin connector and the other end has a male 8-pin micro-fit connector. These connectors are daisy-chained to each other and then there is a single extension cable providing a 4-pin PWM connector and digital RGB connectors. Kudos to EKWB for making cable management an easier job! These fans are using fluid dynamic bearings and are rated for 550 ~ 2300 RPM ±10% speed generating a maximum of 72 CFM airflow at a static pressure of 2.7mmH₂O (figure taken from fan’s webpage). These fans are rated at 36 dB(A).

I have always found it difficult to install a thumb screw or bolt on the top left side of the near socket area for the installation of the cooler particularly on the Intel 12th generation and onward. Finally, someone has paid attention to this and has provided a simple yet effective solution. When EKWB shipped the LGA1700 kit for the previous generation of EK-AIO coolers, I found it difficult to install those long thumb screws. With the new tool, it is easy to install or remove these thumb screws without risking the capacitors sitting closer to the mounting holes. One thing that is missing is the cross-bar that could be passed through this tool and acts like a handle using which screws can be removed with relative ease. Hands down to EKWB for this simple solution and I hope others would follow it or come up with their own solution.

We have tested this cooler on Intel LGA1700 sockets. Installation is easy and involves 10 items for block installation on this socket. We did not observe any issue during installation other than a miss from QC team. The mounting holes on the backside of the radiator don’t have threads which is why we could not install this cooler in a PC Case. The issue has been conveyed to EKWB and they are looking into it. In so far follow-up, this seems a random issue as only my side and one AMAZON user have met with this issue.

The EK Nucleus AIO CR360 Lux D-RGB is listed at USD 204 at the time of this writing. This is quite a steep price, particularly in the absence of a display screen on the pump top. But current pricing as we have seen on NewEgg gives a lucky escape to EKWB with this pricing. EKWB is providing a 5-year warranty that can be further extended to 6 years by registering your unit with EKWB. That is a good number there. Speaking of the performance, this cooler packs a sucker punch as it is throwing the competition out by quite some margin at least on our test bench. I was impressed when this cooler was able to maintain 81°C on 13700 under synthetic load using 224W power with power limits removed. All other 360mm AIOs that we have tested sit in the upper 80s and lower 90s.

EK Nucleus AIO CR360 Lux D-RGB is the epitome of form and function combined to deliver the most in a single package. With impressive performance, decent noise level, ease of installation, 6-year warranty but steep pricing, this cooler is rather an easy pick for me and it has won a Must Have award from me.

Pros:

• Excellent Thermal Performance
• Rotatable Pump Top
• Funnel Style Lighting Effect on pump
• EK-FPT 120mm Fans
• Easy Cable Management using EK-OmniLink
• Intel Next gen Socket support
• Easy Installation
• Tool for screw thumbs handling
• 6-year Warranty

Cons:

• Price

EK-Quantum Vector RX 6800/6900 D-RGB – AMD Radeon Edition

The EK-Quantum Vector RX 6800/6900 D-RGB – Special Edition high-performance full-cover water block is designed for the latest generation of AMD Radeon™ graphics cards. The Special Edition block stands out thanks to the black acetal top with aesthetic side-slopes that mimic the new graphics cards’ factory cooler. The top also features an ultra-clean, screwless design because the assembly is done from the backside of the block. The water block provides active cooling to the GPU core, VRAM, and all the VRM MOSFETs, and is also in contact with the inductors to suppress any potential coil whine. The water block will be delivered with a special gray anodized backplate that provides additional passive cooling to the backside of the GPU PCB. Bringing it all together is the central AMD Radeon™ logo backed up by a dense addressable D-RGB LED strip to create smooth color transitions.

For matching aesthetics, there is also the EK-Quantum Velocity D-RGB – AMD Ryzen Edition premium quality CPU water block for AMD Ryzen processors available in the webshop. This AM4-specific water block is an evolution of the Velocity series CPU water blocks that embed the 5th generation of the award-winning EK CPU water block cooling engine.

EK-Quantum Vector RX 6800/6900

The standard lineup of our 2nd generation EK-Quantum Vector RX water blocks consists of four water blocks in various material combinations, accompanied by standard black and nickel-plated backplates.

These water blocks implement an Open Split-Flow cooling engine design, which 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 have been optimized to provide even flow distribution with minimal losses and optimal performance when used in any given coolant flow orientation, unlike some products currently available on the market.

The base of the block is CNC-machined out of nickel-plated electrolytic copper, while its top is CNC-machined either out of glass-like cast Acrylic or durable black POM acetal. To cater to the old-school liquid cooling enthusiasts, EK still offers bare copper models of these water blocks that are not equipped with any RGB effects. The watertight sealing is ensured by high-quality EPDM O-rings, while brass standoffs are pre-installed and allow for a safe and easy installation procedure.

The aesthetic end-piece houses the addressable D-RGB LED strip. This water block has a total of 6 individually addressable RGB LEDs and is compatible with popular RGB sync technologies from all major motherboard manufacturers. The arrow marking on the 3-pin D-RGB LED connector should be aligned with the +5V marking on the D-RGB (addressable) header.

Availability and Pricing

All the listed products are made and assembled in Slovenia, Europe, and are available for pre-order through the EK Webshop and dedicated reseller network. The table below shows the manufacturer’s suggested retail price (MSRP). EK-Quantum Velocity D-RGB – Special Edition is readily available for order through the EK Webshop.

EK-Quantum Vector² Trio RTX 3080/3090 D-RGB GPU Water Block
The EK-Quantum Vector² Trio RTX 3080/3090 D-RGB is a complete liquid cooling solution including a new Vector² water block, black-anodized aluminum backplate, and mounting mechanism. The new look of the next-gen water blocks is dominated by minimalistic straight lines.

The 3rd-generation Vector cooling engine combines the jet plate with a 3D machined Plexi insert to improve flow distribution and thermal performance. This new cooling engine is still based on an Open Split-Flow cooling engine design, which 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. Great care was taken to achieve a symmetrical flow domain by utilizing an internal bridge to secondary components. This was done to ensure the cooling of secondary components without sacrificing flow distribution over the GPU core.

All Vector² GPU water blocks use a thick 11mm copper coldplate with an acetal terminal attached directly and a robust single o-ring top design. This simple construction provides confidence during customization and maintenance. Two distinctive and unique D-RGB lighting options are now available to complement the material choice of the product, Nickel + Plexi and Nickel + Acetal. Both versions include a black-anodized aluminum backplate and a base that is CNC-machined out of nickel-plated electrolytic copper.

• On the Plexi version, D-RGB LED lighting is deployed on the longest edge of the water block for improved uniformity and brightness. The PCB and diodes are concealed inside a clean aluminum extrusion.
• On the Acetal version, a dense D-RGB LED strip illuminates the parting line of the stand-out element on both sides of the block. This subtle effect allows vivid displays of color while the block remains entirely black.
  Tactile magnetic covers are used to conceal the terminal screws, which allows rotating the branding when the GPU is inverted in the case.

EK-Matrix7 Standard
EK-Matrix7 standardizes the dimensions of the products, including the port position and spacing, making liquid cooling loop assembly easier and more intuitive. All Vector² products feature full EK-Matrix7 compliance in every axis, ensuring ease of integration and alignment with all other EK-Matrix7 products. This brings perfect alignment of ports in both horizontal or vertical positions, meaning less time used for planning the loop, bending tubes, and the end result will still be an epic build.

EK-Quantum Vector² Trio RTX 3080/90 ABP Set D-RGB
This ultimate cooling set consists of a high-performance GPU water block and the latest generation of Active Backplate cooling solutions as a single enclosure. The GPU backside cooling is now provided by a full-blown water block with its own copper cold plate and a full-length acrylic or acetal top. The connectivity is also taken to another level with the “Direct Link” terminals that implement a conventional 4-port layout that allows serial and parallel connections from adjacent or opposing sides of the block.

This is the ultimate combination of a Vector² water block, Active Backplate, and mounting mechanism, available in Nickel + Plexi and Nickel + Acetal. Both versions include an EK-Quantum Vector2 Trio RTX 3080/90 ABP Side Cover in the anodized-black finish. The side cover is placed between the GPU water block and active backplate to conceal the GPU PCB. This allows users to buy the all-around ultimate cooling set for their GPU, ensuring the best possible cooling and performance uplift.

The combination of the EK-Quantum Vector² Trio RTX 3080/90 water block, EK-Quantum Vector² Trio RTX 3080/90 Active Backplate, and the EK-Quantum Vector² Trio RTX 3080/90 ABP Side cover envelop the GPU from all sides.

EK-Quantum Vector² Backplate
Each Vector² water block now comes with a CNC-machined black-anodized backplate, but two alternative finishes of the backplate are also available – Nickel and Silver. Captive nickel-plated mounting screws are included with these backplates to replace the original black screws. The backplate has a new L-shaped profile that touches the base of the water block and encloses the entire GPU while increasing the cooling surface resulting in even better performance. By connecting to the water block, which is far more efficient at heat transfer, performance is further increased.

Captive backplate screws simplify installation, ensuring the correct length is always used where it is needed to avoid any user error or second-guessing.

EK-Quantum Vector² Side Cover
These separate accessories add the ability to replace the standard black part, which conceals the entire PCB, with two alternative finishes – Nickel and Silver.
The Silver variant is a great fit with EK’s products in the Satin Titanium finish.

EK-Quantum Vector2 Trio RTX 3080/90 ABP D-RGB
This is an upgrade kit with all parts required to transform the EK-Quantum Vector² Trio RTX 3080/90 water block into an Active Backplate Set (ABP set). It is available in Nickel + Plexi and Nickel + Acetal variants. Both versions incorporate unique D-RGB lighting and a black side cover. The material chosen for the ABP must correspond to the water block it will be installed with, as the D-RGB lighting integration is not cross-compatible. Nickel + Acetal ABPs require Nickel + Acetal water blocks, and the same goes for Nickel + Plexi variants.

As with the water block, when upgraded with an active backplate, the entire enclosure stays fully EK-Matrix7 compliant on every axis. This ensures ease of integration and alignment with all other EK-Matrix7 products.

These new Vector² Active Backplates feature a Direct Link flow solution – the first multiple block solution to implement a conventional 4-port terminal layout. That allows serial and parallel connections from adjacent or opposing sides of the block. This was made possible by the addition of a machined brass insert that diagonally links the water block directly to the active backplate inside the acetal terminal. Direct Link proves invaluable when incorporating an ABP with a standard distribution plate or vertical GPU mount.

Tactile magnetic covers are used to conceal the terminal screws, which allows rotating the branding when the GPU is inverted in the case.

The base of the Active Backplate is CNC-machined out of nickel-plated electrolytic copper, while the top is either CNC-machined out of glass-like cast acrylic or black POM acetal. Two distinctive and unique D-RGB lighting solutions complement the material choice of the product. A black-anodized aluminum side cover is included with every active backplate to conceal the entire PCB and create a seamless enclosure.

On the Plexi version, D-RGB LED lighting is deployed on the longest edge of the water block for improved uniformity and brightness. The PCB and diodes are concealed inside a clean aluminum extrusion. On the Acetal version, a dense D-RGB LED strip illuminates the parting line of the stand-out element on both sides of the block. This subtle effect allows vivid displays of color while the block remains entirely black.

Compatibility
EK-Quantum Vector² Trio RTX 3080/3090 water blocks, backplates, and active backplates are compatible with MSI Trio and Suprim RTX 3080, 3080 Ti, and 3090 GPUs.For a full compatibility list, please check out their Cooling Configurator.

Availability and Pricing
The EK-Quantum Vector² Trio RTX series liquid cooling products are made in Slovenia, Europe, and are already available for pre-order through the EK Online Shop. They are expected to start shipping in mid-April 2022.

EK-Quantum Vector² Strix RTX 3080/3090 D-RGB GPU Water Block
The EK-Quantum Vector² Strix RTX 3080/3090 D-RGB is a complete liquid cooling solution including a new Vector² water block, black-anodized aluminum backplate, and mounting mechanism. The new look of the next-gen water blocks is dominated by minimalistic straight lines.

The 3rd-generation Vector cooling engine combines the jet plate with a 3D machined Plexi insert to improve flow distribution and thermal performance. This new cooling engine is still based on an Open Split-Flow cooling engine design, which 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. Great care was taken to achieve a symmetrical flow domain by utilizing an internal bridge to secondary components. This was done to ensure the cooling of secondary components without sacrificing flow distribution over the GPU core.

All Vector² GPU water blocks use a thick 11mm copper coldplate with an acetal terminal attached directly and a robust single o-ring top design. This simple construction provides confidence during customization and maintenance. Two distinctive and unique D-RGB lighting options are now available to complement the material choice of the product, Nickel + Plexi and Nickel + Acetal. Both versions include a black-anodized aluminum backplate and a base that is CNC-machined out of nickel-plated electrolytic copper.

On the Plexi version, D-RGB LED lighting is deployed on the longest edge of the water block for improved uniformity and brightness. The PCB and diodes are concealed inside a clean aluminum extrusion.

On the Acetal version, a dense D-RGB LED strip illuminates the parting line of the stand-out element on both sides of the block. This subtle effect allows vivid displays of color while the block remains entirely black.

Tactile magnetic covers are used to conceal the terminal screws, which allows rotating the branding when the GPU is inverted in the case.

EK-Matrix7 Standard
EK-Matrix7 standardizes the dimensions of the products, including the port position and spacing, making liquid cooling loop assembly more intuitive and easy. All Vector² products feature full EK-Matrix7 compliance in every axis ensures ease of integration and alignment with all other EK-Matrix7 products. This brings perfect alignment of ports in both horizontal or vertical positions, meaning less time used for planning the loop, bending tubes, and the end result will still be an epic build.

EK-Quantum Vector² RE RTX 3080/90 ABP Set D-RGB
This ultimate cooling set consists of a high-performance GPU water block and the latest generation of Active Backplate cooling solutions as a single enclosure. The GPU backside cooling is now provided by a full-blown water block with its own copper cold plate and a full-length acrylic or acetal top. The connectivity is also taken to another level with the “Direct Link” terminals that implement a conventional 4-port layout, that allows serial and parallel connections from adjacent or opposing sides of the block.

This is the ultimate combination of a Vector² water block, Active Backplate, and mounting mechanism, available in Nickel + Plexi and Nickel + Acetal. Both versions have included an EK-Quantum Vector2 Strix RTX 3080/90 ABP Side Cover in the anodized-black finish. The side cover is placed between the GPU water block and active backplate to conceal the GPU PCB. This allows users to buy the all-around ultimate cooling set for their GPU, ensuring the best possible cooling and performance uplift.

The combination of the EK-Quantum Vector² Strix RTX 3080/90 water block, EK-Quantum Vector² Strix RTX 3080/90 Active Backplate, and the EK-Quantum Vector² Strix RTX 3080/90 ABP Side cover envelop the GPU from all sides.

EK-Quantum Vector² Backplate
Each Vector² water block now comes with a CNC machined black-anodized backplate, but two alternative finishes of the backplate are also available – Nickel and Silver. Captive nickel-plated mounting screws are included with these backplates to replace the original black screws. The backplate has a new L-shaped profile that touches the base of the water block and encloses the entire GPU while increasing the cooling surface leading to even better performance. By connecting to the water block, which is far more efficient at heat transfer, performance is further increased.

Captive backplate screws simplify installation, ensuring the correct length is always used where it is needed to avoid any user error or second-guessing.

EK-Quantum Vector² Side Cover
These separate accessories add the ability to replace the standard black part, which conceals the entire PCB, with two alternative finishes, Nickel and Silver.
The Silver variant is a great fit with EK’s products in the Satin Titanium finish.

EK-Quantum Vector2 Strix RTX 3080/90 ABP D-RGB
This is an upgrade kit with all parts required to transform the EK-Quantum Vector² RE RTX 3080/90 water block into an Active Backplate Set (ABP set). It is available in Nickel + Plexi and Nickel + Acetal variants. Both versions incorporate unique D-RGB lighting and a black side cover. The material chosen for the ABP must correspond to the water block it will be installed with, as the D-RGB lighting integration is not cross-compatible. Nickel + Acetal ABP’s require Nickel + Acetal water blocks, the same goes for Nickel + Plexi variants.

As with the water block, when upgraded with an active backplate, the entire enclosure stays fully EK-Matrix7 compliant on every axis. This ensures ease of integration and alignment with all other EK-Matrix7 products.

These new Vector² Active Backplates feature a Direct Link flow solution- the first multiple block solution to implement a conventional 4-port terminal layout. That allows serial and parallel connections from adjacent or opposing sides of the block. It was made possible by the addition of a machined brass insert that diagonally links the water block directly to the active backplate inside the acetal terminal. Direct Link proves invaluable when incorporating an ABP with a standard distribution plate or vertical GPU mount.

Tactile magnetic covers are used to conceal the terminal screws, which allows rotating the branding when the GPU is inverted in the case.

The base of the Active Backplate is CNC-machined out of nickel-plated electrolytic copper, while the top is either CNC-machined out of glass-like cast acrylic or black POM acetal. Two distinctive and unique D-RGB lighting solutions complement the material choice of the product.

A black-anodized aluminum side cover is included with every active backplate to conceal the entire PCB and create a seamless enclosure.

On the Plexi version, D-RGB LED lighting is deployed on the longest edge of the water block for improved uniformity and brightness. The PCB and diodes are concealed inside a clean aluminum extrusion.

On the Acetal version, a dense D-RGB LED strip illuminates the parting line of the stand-out element on both sides of the block. This subtle effect allows vivid displays of color while the block remains entirely black.

Compatibility
EK-Quantum Vector² Strix RTX 3080/3090 water blocks, backplates, and active backplates are compatible with ROG Strix RTX 3080, 3080 Ti, and 3090 GPUs. For a full compatibility list, please check the EK Cooling Configurator.

D-RGB Lighting on EK-Quantum Vector² Strix RTX 3080/3090 water blocks
The individually addressable RGB LEDs are compatible with popular RGB sync technologies from all 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) header.

Availability and Pricing
The EK-Quantum Vector² Strix RTX series liquid cooling products are made in Slovenia, Europe, and are already available for pre-order through the EK Webshop and Partner Reseller Network.

They are expected to start shipping in the middle of March 2022.

The backplate is available in the EK webshop, free of charge, and it will also be available free of charge at major partnering retailers like Performance PCs, Titan Rig and Caseking to reduce shipping costs for the end customer.

The EK-Quantum Velocity Backplate – LGA1700 is limited to one piece per order, but if any customer requires this upgrade kit for multiple PCs, please reach out directly to our customer support team.

The mounting hole pattern on LGA 1700 socket-based motherboards is 78 x 78 mm, but some motherboards are equipped with dual mounting holes, supporting also a 75 x 75 mm pattern, meaning that all LGA 115x and LGA 1200 cooling solutions are compatible.

The compatibility list for the EK-Quantum Velocity Backplate – LGA1700 goes as:

EK-Quantum Velocity – Copper + Plexi
EK-Quantum Velocity – Nickel + Plexi
EK-Quantum Velocity – Nickel + Acetal
EK-Quantum Velocity D-RGB – Nickel + Plexi
EK-Quantum Velocity D-RGB – Nickel + Acetal
EK-Quantum Velocity D-RGB – Nickel + Frosted Plexi
EK-Quantum Velocity D-RGB – Full Nickel
EK-Quantum Velocity Strike D-RGB – Black Nickel + Black
EK-Quantum Velocity Strike D-RGB – Matte Black + Silver
EK-Quantum Velocity Honor D-RGB – Black Nickel + Stars & Stripes
EK-Quantum Velocity Honor D-RGB – AMD Black Nickel + Stars & Stripes
EK-Classic CPU Water Block 115x/20xx D-RGB

Availability and Pricing
The free LGA 1700 backplate is a limited period offer and will expire on May the 1st, 2022 after which the backplate will be sold as a regular water block spare part at a symbolic retail price. The stock of free LGA 1700 backplates that can be ordered at reseller partners is also limited.

EK-Quantum Velocity Backplate – LGA1700 is available free of charge through the EK Webshop and Partner Reseller Network.

When it comes to liquid cooling, the first name that comes to one’s mind is EK Water Blocks. EK® Water Blocks, the premium liquid cooling manufacturer, bears the name of its founder Edvard König. It all started with the enthusiasm of one man and his ventures with liquid cooling back in 1999. Ever since its inception, the EK Water Blocks has become the premium brand in liquid cooling solutions and this brand is highly popular among modders, PC Builders, and water cooling enthusiasts alike. Today, the products of EK® are available in more than 30 countries worldwide and the company holds several partnerships with some of the most recognized brands. Not only their products are of high quality but their customer support is up to the bar as well and this is what really matters.

Back when I reviewed EK-AIO 240 D-RGB, I mentioned that this EK-AIO D-RGB series coolers are available in three sizes, 120mm, 240mm, and 360mm. EK has released the 280mm version as well in this lineup. The EK-AIO 280 D-RGB is a 280mm CLC that comes with 2x EK-Vardar S 140ER D-RGB High-Performance Fans and a universally compatible CPU water block with a tool-less mounting mechanism for easy installation. This product is compatible with popular RGB sync technologies from all major motherboard manufacturers. The EK-AIO 280 D-RGB is compatible with – Intel Sockets LGA: 1150, 1151, 1155, 1156, 1200, 2011, 2011-3, 2066, and AMD Socket: AM4.

Item:                                EK-AIO 280

Manufacturer:                  EK Water Blocks

Price:                               $134.99 [At the time of Review]

Specifications

Packaging and Unboxing

The cooler is shipped inside a white color cardboard packing box with the same presentation and style which we have seen on their other EK-AIO products.

There is a picture of the cooler with digital lighting on the fans and the block. The socket compatibility information is printed on the bottom. This cooler is compatible with leading sockets from Intel and AMD excluding TR4/xTR4.

EK Water Blocks has highlighted three key components of the cooler here; a powerful pump, fierce fans, and the robust radiator. There are diagrams showing the dimension of the unit.

Features of the cooler include:

• Maintenance-free
• Silent Operation
• Addressable D-RGB
• Easy Installation
• Top Class Performance

Specifications of the cooler are printed in 8 languages. The socket compatibility information is printed on the bottom

Opening the box will show the nicely packed contents in the egged carton. There is a white color Styrofoam pad on the top and a multilingual comprehensive user guide.

Accessories

Let’s take a look at what EK Water Blocks has provided in the accessory box.

EK Water Blocks has provided a comprehensive user guide on the installation and maintenance of the liquid cooler. The guide is multilingual.

The mounting hardware is included in a transparent container which is labeled for ease of identification.

We have:

• 1x Metallic Backplate
• 2x Intel Mounting Brackets
• 2x AMD Mounting Brackets

We have:

• 4x Thumb caps/nuts
• 4x Springs
• 4x Intel LGA20xx standoffs
• 4x Other sockets standoffs
• 5x screws for the mounting brackets

We have:

• 8x Philips Head Screw UNC 6-32 x30mm (5mm Thread length)
• 8x Philips Head Screw UNC 6-32 x6mm
• 8x Philips Head Screw UNC 6-32 x34mm

EK Water Blocks has provided a Y cable which allows the user to connect both fans to a single fan header on the motherboard. 1x Ectotherm thermal paste is also included.

Closer Look

It is time to take a closer look at the components. Before that here is what EK Water Blocks is saying about the cooler. “Designed with our industry-leading expertise, the EK-AIO offers all key benefits of liquid cooling in one compact and easy-to-use solution. Made of high-quality materials with our precision engineering for class-leading AIO cooling performance. Built around our custom-designed monoblock, it delivers coolant with a custom-loop grade pump, alongside powerful Vardar S fans to ensure high airflow.”

The cooler is compatible with Intel LGA20xx/1366/1200/115x sockets and AMD AM4.

RADIATOR

The EK Water Blocks EK-AIO 280 is a 280mm CLC cooling solution. It has a 280mm radiator with 2x EK-Vardar S 140ER D-RGB fans.

The dimension of the radiator is 313 x 140 x 27mm. The thickness of the radiator is 27mm. With 25mm fans, the overall thickness would be 53mm with the heads of the screws. The radiator has 18 fins per inch one (FPI). There is a gap of 105mm between any two fan mounting holes on the radiator. We have a black color housing of the radiator and the overall build quality and finishing are good. The radiator is made of aluminum hence it is lightweight. This is EK Water Blocks own design. The blocks on both ends of the radiator are rectangular. Fin stack is dense and taking into account the left and right side channels, it has a total of 12 channels for water flow.

EKWB has done a neat and clean job with the radiator.

There is no protective plating under the mounting holes on the radiator assembly much like what we have seen on the majority of AIO solutions in the market with a few exceptions.

The radiator assembly has a nice clean finish all around. There is no EKWB branding on the side of the assembly.

The far head has a rectangular design and a neat finishing.

The build quality of the cooler is top notch all around. EK Water Blocks is using straight fittings on the radiator with large size aluminum couplings/covers in matte black color finishing. This large size could increase the overall thickness of the assembled cooler. There is a sticker pasted on the far head showing the part no or serial no of the cooler.

There is what seems to be a refill port on the radiator. It is reserved only the factory use. Don’t attempt to open the port as you may lose the atmospheric pressure of the loop.

The EK AIO comes pre-installed with reinforced and sleeved rubber tubing, each fitted with an aluminum cover to ensure they’re ultra-durable. The tubing has a nylon braided sleeve on it and runs to an approximate 400mm length.

PUMP/BLOCK

Let’s take a look at the monoblock of the cooler.

The EK AIO comes with a universally compatible CPU water-block, fitting all the latest Intel & AMD CPU sockets as well as featuring a tool-less mounting mechanism for easy installation along with a pre-filled pump-res combo design. The EK AIO CPU monoblock features a full acrylic cover, acting as a light diffuser with its frosted finish, for a dynamic lighting display. There are 9 addressable RGB LEDs under the acrylic cover which illuminate the entire cover making one heck of an AURA show coming off the block.

The block has a dimension of 88x70x53mm and is made of ABS plastic housing, copper cold plate and steel mounted pump. There is a blue color cover on the EK Water Blocks brand logo. Don’t forget to peel it off after the installation to have that feeling of association with the brand.

The above picture shows the sub-components of the complete block assembly. Following are the specifications of the pump:

Looking at the left side of the block, there is no branding here. We have a thick acrylic cover running on the entire length and sides of the block. The lower section has a matte black color finish. There are two cables coming out from the mid-section of the housing. Both cables are flat.

We have a 4-pin PWM connector cable powering the pump. It has an approximate length of 465mm. The other cable is for digital lighting. It has a pinout format of 5V, D, Empty, Ground. The D-RGB cable has an approximate length of 495+60mm. There is a VDG labeled connector as well which is for the older GIGABYTE motherboards.

Taking a look at the rear of the block, we have diamond-cut rotary fittings on the block. There are aluminum covers on the fitment giving a nice and clean look. There are two screws. You can remove them to take out the RGB strip on the block and replace it with your own. Its diamond-cut rotary fittings allow for easy installation and adjustment of the rubber tubing, featuring a full range of movement to make the EK AIO suitable for installation in even the tightest spaces.

One thing to observe the angle of the fitment of the tubes on the block. Unlike the majority of the AIO cooling solutions in the market, these tubes are not in 90° fitment as they sit on the same side of the block. By design, the EK-AIO sports the top-mounted approach.

We have a copper base measuring 58x55mm. Thermal paste is pre-applied. Look at the fine finish on the ABS housing. There are two holes on each side of the housing. This is where the mounting brackets are installed.

FAN

EK Water Blocks has provided 2x EK-Vardar S 140ER D-RGB fans. Each fan is packed inside a transparent container with an EKWB seal.

Each Vardar S 140ER fan has 7 frosted blades optimized for high pressure and low noise operation. They are industrial-grade high-static pressure radiator fans primarily created for the highest-performance liquid cooling systems. The frame of the fans is in black color finish. There are no anti-vibration pads on the mounting corners. We have a large diameter center on the fans housing the addressable RGB LEDs. There is an EKWB branded sticker in the center.

There is EK Water Blocks branding on the side of the frame

The backside of the fan shows the 4-arms assembly on the mainframe with one arm having a wider area. The cables are routed on this wider arm towards the exterior of the fan. EK-AIO Vardar S is printed on the sticker. The fans are designed in Slovenia and manufactured in China.

There are two flat cables coming out of the fan. One is the 4-pin PWM fan connector having an approximate length of 490mm and the other is a dual header (male+female) cable for ARGB lighting measuring an approximate length of 395+100mm.

The specification of the fans are:

D-RGB Lighting

There is no dedicated controller provided with the cooler. You would need to have a D-RGB lighting header (5V) on the motherboard or a compatible controller to make the DRGB lighting work on the cooler. In my opinion there should have been a dedicated controller in this price tag. The EK-AIO 280 features a monoblock with top acrylic acting like a complete diffuser. This creates one heck of a beautiful light show which is also on the bundled Vardar S 140ER D-RGB fans. Here are some pictures.

Installation

We have recently upgraded our Intel test bed and are now on the Intel LGA1200 socket. Installation is as follow:

Place the backplate on the backside of the motherboard on the socket area by aligning the holes on the socket with the backplate holes.

Use the Intel LGA 115x/1200 pillars or standoffs to secure the backplate with the motherboard.

Install the fans on the radiator. You can do this step after installing the radiator in the chassis as well.

Install the Intel mounting brackets on the block.

Place the block on the CPU by passing the mounting bracket’s holes on the threaded portion of the pillars/stands. Place the springs on the pillars/standoffs.

Use the provided thumb nuts to secure the block on the CPU.

Install the radiator in the chassis. You can use the Y cable to connect both fans to the single fan header on the motherboard. Another fan header would be needed for the 4-pin PWM cable coming from the block to power the pump. This would complete the installation.

There is no clearance issue with respect to the DIMM slots and first PCIe slot. Make sure your chassis has clearance for 280mm radiator.

Testing

We have upgraded our Intel testbed recently. A few coolers have been tested on this setup. More will be added after the testing in the coming time.

Following test benches have been used: –

• Intel i7 10700k
• MSI MAG Z490 TOMAHAWK
• T-Force NightHawk RGB 16GB @ 3200MHz
• Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080 FE
• addlink S70 256GB NVMe SSD
• bequiet! Straight Power 11 850W Platinum PSU
• Open-air test bench

Here is the settings table for testing:

We are using Noctua NT-H1 thermal paste for coolers testing. Using a same thermal paste for all coolers would ensure the standardization. Delta temperatures are reported on the graphs. The testing is done on an open air bench system. Once inside the chassis, the temperatures are expected to rise and would largely depend upon the optimal airflow inside the chassis.

Not every run of the stress test may yield the same result. This could well be due to many factors like mounting pressure, thermal paste application, varying ambient temperature. Not to mention the silicon differences even among the same category of the chips. Hence, it is pertinent to mention the testing methodology along with the specifics.

The coolers are also tested using Auto PWM function. MSI is using Smart Fan mode in the UEFI/BIOS which is not pure Auto PWM but it is what is available to us. The above picture shows the MSI default fan curve for the Smart Fan mode. Since all the coolers will be tested using the same configuration and settings, the same margin of error applies to all.

Let’s take a look at the results.

3.8GHz All Cores

3.8GHz is not a tough challenge for any cooler and resultantly all coolers are in the same range.

4.7GHz All Cores

Surprisingly, the EK-AIO 280 D-RGB is behind the 240mm AIOs on the graph.

4.7GHz All Cores [Auto PWM]

The EK-AIO 280 D-RGB is offering a better performance on Auto PWM.

Fans’ Speed on Auto PWM

The above graph shows the maximum speed attained by the fans on the Auto PWM. For comparison, we have included the rated speed of the fans to have a reference in determining the Auto PWM range. The fans were operating at 78% PWM cycle.

5.1GHz All Cores

Now coming to the ultimate challenge of handling the CPU with all cores set to run at 5.1GHz using 1.345V, the EK-AIO 280 D-RGB offers the similar performance we saw on 4.7GHz all core under load.

Noise

The EK-AIO 280 D-RGB was doing 59 dBA at an ambient of 33 dBA sound level. The fans make quite some noise. I would suggest running them on Auto PWM or defining a custom fan curve for an optimal balance between the performance and the noise.

Conclusion

EK Water Blocks sent us their new EK-AIO 280 D-RGB cooler for review. The cooler features a full acrylic cover on the universal compatible monoblock, acting like a diffuser for killer lighting effects. This is an in-house design from EK Water Blocks and features 2x EK-Vardar S 140ER D-RGB high-performance fans. The EK-AIO 240 D-RGB is compatible with – Intel Sockets LGA: 1150, 1151, 1155, 1156, 1200, 2011, 2011-3, 2066, and AMD Socket: AM4.

The unit has an aluminum radiator measuring 313 x 140 x 27mm. The thickness of the radiator is 27mm. The overall thickness would be 53mm after installing the fans. The radiator has 18 FPI. The radiator has a black color housing. The EK Water Blocks is using low evaporating rubber tubes with nylon braided sleeves running to approximately 400mm in length. The tubes are installed on straight fittings on the radiator with aluminum clamps which are in matte black finish.

The cooler features a universal compatible monoblock with a dimension of 88x70x53mm. The block is made of ABS material with a copper cold plate and steel mounting pump. The top of the block has an acrylic cover with 9 ARGB LEDs underneath. The whole acrylic cover acts as a diffuser for some vivid and even light transitions and effects. There is an EKWB brand logo in silver on the corner of the block. The tubes are installed on the block using diamond-cut rotary fittings with similar aluminum clamps. The overall build quality is top-notch and speaks of what we can expect from EKWB. The cooler features a PWM pump which is rated for 500 ~ 2600 RPM ± 10%. There is no power consumption information provided in the specification. The PWM range of the pump is 20~100%. The block has copper base with cold plate. The surface of the base is flat and we have roughly 58x55mm dimension of the base. The base comes with the pre-applied thermal paste. On top of that, EKWB has also bundled their Ectotherm thermal paste.

The EK-AIO 280 D-RGB comes with two EK-Vardar S 140ER D-RGB fans. These are high-performance fans designed for liquid cooling solutions. These fans are rated for up to 2000 RPM ±10
% speed with a maximum airflow rating of 116 CFM at air pressure rating of 1.9 mmH₂O. These fans feature frosted 7 blades to ensure high pressure with low noise operations. Both fans have ARGB LEDs housed inside the center. There is no dedicated controller provided in the accessory. The installation is an easy task and the comprehensive user guide is provided to help the users in installation.

The EK Water Blocks EK-AIO 280 D-RGB is listed at $134.99 at the time of the review. EK Water Blocks is offering 5 years warranty. We have a premium price tag though I would love a dedicated lighting controller in this price range to be provided! The EK Water Block EK-AIO 280 D-RGB has performed well on our test bench though the fans are louder at full speed. I would suggest defining a custom fan curve or using the Auto PWM function for a better balance between the noise and the thermal performance.

Check Out Our Other EK AIO Reviews

When it comes to liquid cooling, the first name that comes to one’s mind is EK Water Blocks. EK® Water Blocks, the premium liquid cooling manufacturer, bears the name of its founder Edvard König. It all started with the enthusiasm of one man and his ventures with liquid cooling back in 1999. Ever since its inception, the EK Water Blocks has become the premium brand in liquid cooling solutions and this brand is highly popular among modders, PC Builders, and water cooling enthusiasts alike. Today, the products of EK® are available in more than 30 countries worldwide and the company holds several partnerships with some of the most recognized brands. Not only their products are of high quality but their customer support is up to the bar as well and this is what really matters.

Elite, Elite, Elite! Elite as in enthusiast-grade, I take it! EK Water Blocks has released their all-out 360mm AIO cooler. We have recently reviewed their EK-AIO 240/360 Basic and D-RGB editions. Now, we are taking a spin on their EK-AIO 360 Elite D-RGB version. It is a 360mm CLC cooler but with three key differences over the EK-AIO 360 D-RGB or even the 360 Basic editions. EK Water Blocks has provided 6x EK-Vardar S 120ER D-RGB fans as compared to 3x on the regular 360 D-RGB edition. They have also bundled their EK-Hub which allows the user to connect all 6 fans and the block of the cooler to the hub which in turn is connected to the motherboard’s 4-pin PWM fan header and 5V digital light header. Take a note though, there is still no ARGB controller in the box! The last difference is the re-design of the water block. We have a heavier and taller block as compared to the regular 360 D-RGB edition and we no longer have that acrylic diffuser on the top. Only the EK logo on the top is backlit. The pump is the same as we have seen on the D-RGB and Basic editions with the difference that this pump has higher RPMs with a modified PWM range. The Elite edition is available in 280mm and 360mm versions. They have recently revealed the special limited edition version of Elite coolers with the block and the fittings in Gold color. This product is compatible with popular RGB sync technologies from all major motherboard manufacturers. The EK-AIO 360 Elite D-RGB is compatible with – Intel Sockets LGA: 1150, 1151, 1155, 1156, 1200, 2011, 2011-3, 2066, and AMD Socket: AM4.

Item:                                   EK-AIO Elite 360 D-RGB

Manufacturer:                     EK Water Blocks

Price:                                  $199.99 [MSRP]

Specifications

Packaging and Unboxing

The cooler is shipped inside a white color cardboard packing box.

There is a picture of the cooler with digital lighting on the fans and the block. The socket compatibility information is printed on the bottom. This cooler is compatible with leading sockets from Intel and AMD.

EK Water Blocks has highlighted three key components of the cooler here; powerful pump, fans, and the efficient radiator. There are diagrams showing the dimension of the unit.

Specifications of the cooler are printed in 8 languages. The socket compatibility information is printed on the bottom

Features of the cooler include:

• Maintenance-free
• Silent Operation
• Addressable D-RGB
• Easy Installation
• Top Class Performance

There is a thick black color Styrofoam having the contents neatly and tightly placed in it. There is a black color Styrofoam pad cover on the top with the multilingual user manual on it.

Contents

Let’s take a look at what EK Water Blocks has provided in the accessory box.

EK Water Blocks has provided a comprehensive user guide on the installation and maintenance of the liquid cooler. The guide is multilingual. The two versions 280 and 360 have the same guide which is understandable as the mounting is the same.

The mounting hardware is included in a transparent container which is labeled for ease of identification.

We have:

• 1x Metallic Backplate
• 2x Intel Mounting Brackets
• 2x AMD Mounting Brackets

We have:

• 4x Thumb caps/nuts
• 4x Springs
• 4x Intel LGA20xx standoffs
• 4x Other sockets standoffs
• 5x screws for the mounting brackets

We have:

• 12x Philips Head Screws UNC 6-32x6mm
• 12x Philips Head Screws UNC 6-32x30mm
• 12x Philips Head Screws UNC 6-32x34mm

1x Ectotherm thermal paste is also included.

Closer Look

It is time to take a closer look at the components. Before that here is what EK Water Blocks is saying about the cooler. “The EK-AIO Elite 360 D-RGB is an all-in-one liquid cooling solution for your CPU. It offers all the benefits of a water-cooling solution in a compact, easy to install, and maintenance-free design. The EK AIO Elite comes with a universally compatible CPU water-block, along with a pre-filled pump-res combo design for a liquid cooling solution that’s ready to go straight out of the box. It’s simple, efficient, and comes with fully customizable D-RGB lighting. Cable management – To help manage the cables of EK-Vardar fans, the EK-AIO Elite unit comes with an included EK-Hub, offering multi-connection with seven sets of addressable RGB LED headers and 4-pin PWM fan headers. The EK-Hub will help you neatly organize the Push-Pull fan configuration.”

The cooler is compatible with Intel LGA20xx/1366/1200/115x sockets and AMD AM4. Every component of the cooler has an EKWB seal confirming the genuinely EK product.

RADIATOR

The EK Water Blocks EK-AIO 360 is a 360mm CLC cooling solution. It has a 360mm radiator with 6x EK-Vardar S 120ER D-RGB fans.

The dimension of the radiator is 395 x 120 x 27mm. The thickness of the radiator is 27mm. With 25mm fans on one side, the overall thickness would be 53mm with the heads of the screws. With 6 fans the overall thickness would be 80mm roughly. The radiator has 18 fins per inch (FPI). There is a gap of 105mm between any two fan mounting holes on the radiator. We have a black color housing of the radiator and the overall build quality and finishing are good.

The radiator is made of aluminum hence it is lightweight. This is EK Water Blocks’ own design. The blocks on both ends of the radiator are rectangular. The fin stack is dense and taking into account the left and right side channels, it has a total of 12 channels for water flow.

The above picture shows a close-up view of the fin assembly showing a neat and clean job done by the EKWB.

There is no protective plating under the mounting holes on the radiator assembly much like what we have seen on the majority of AIO solutions in the market with a few exceptions.

The radiator assembly has a nice clean finish all around. There is no EKWB branding on the side of the assembly.

The far head has a rectangular design and a neat finishing. The length of the head is 20.70mm.

The build quality of the cooler is top-notch all around. EK Water Blocks is using straight fittings on the radiator with large-size aluminum couplings/covers in matte black color finishing. This large size could increase the overall thickness of the assembled cooler. There is a sticker pasted on the far head showing the part no or serial no of the cooler.

There is what seems to be a refill port on the radiator. It is reserved only the factory use. Don’t attempt to open the port as you may lose the atmospheric pressure of the loop. There is a warranty void sticker pasted on the port cover.

The EK AIO comes pre-installed with reinforced and sleeved rubber tubing, each fitted with an aluminum cover to ensure they’re ultra-durable. The tubing has a nylon braided sleeve on it and runs to an approximate 400mm length which is good enough for any use.

PUMP/BLOCK

Let’s take a look at the monoblock of the cooler.

The EK AIO comes with a universally compatible CPU water-block, fitting all the latest Intel & AMD CPU sockets as well as featuring a tool-less mounting mechanism for easy installation along with a pre-filled pump-res combo design. The EK AIO Elite CPU monoblock features a full cover with only EK logo being backlit. This block is quite heavy and has more height than the monoblock on the regular D-RGB/Basic editions. The block has a dimension of 88x70x64mm and is made of Black nickel housing, copper cold plate and steel mounted pump. There is no cover on the EK Water Blocks brand logo.

Following are the specifications of the pump:

The speed of the pump and its PWM range is different than the regular D-RGB and Basic edition pumps.

The top of the block has a glossy finish on the black nickel frame. It is quite a fingerprint catcher so handle with care. There is a plastic-based frame on the side with the tubing end.

There is a two-tone color on the housing. The top and bottom sections have a silver lining in between which gives cool looks to the overall block. There is no branding on the sides.

Taking a look at the rear of the block, we have diamond-cut rotary fittings on the block. There are aluminum covers on the fitment giving a nice and clean look. There are two screws. You can remove them to take out the RGB strip on the block and replace it with your own. Its diamond-cut rotary fittings allow for easy installation and adjustment of the rubber tubing, featuring a full range of movement to make the EK AIO suitable for installation in even the tightest spaces.

One thing to observe is the angle of the fitment of the tubes on the block. Unlike the majority of the AIO cooling solutions in the market, these tubes are not in 90° fitment as they sit on the same side of the block. By design, the EK-AIO sports the top-mounted approach.

There are two cables coming out from the mid-section of the housing. Both cables are flat.

We have a 4-pin PWM connector cable powering the pump. It has an approximate length of 465mm. The other cable is for digital lighting. It has a pin-out format of 5V, D, Empty, Ground. The D-RGB cable has an approximate length of 460+60mm. There is a VDG labeled connector as well which is for the GIGABYTE motherboards.

We have a copper base measuring 58x55mm. Thermal paste is pre-applied. Look at the fine finish on the housing. There are two holes on each side of the housing. This is where the mounting brackets are installed.

FAN

EK Water Blocks has provided 6x EK-Vardar S 120ER D-RGB fans. Each fan is packed inside a transparent container with an EKWB seal.

Each Vardar S 120ER fan has 7 frosted blades optimized for high pressure and low noise operation. They are industrial-grade high-static pressure radiator fans primarily created for the highest-performance liquid cooling systems. The frame of the fans is in the black color finish. There are no anti-vibration pads on the mounting corners. We have a large diameter center on the fans housing the addressable RGB LEDs. There is an EKWB branded sticker in the center.

There is EK Water Blocks branding on the side of the frame

The backside of the fan shows the 4-arms assembly on the mainframe with one arm having a wider area. The cables are routed on this wider arm towards the exterior of the fan. EK-AIO Vardar S is printed on the sticker. The fans are designed in Slovenia and manufactured in China.

There are two flat cables coming out of the fan. One is the 4-pin PWM fan connector having an approximate length of 490mm and the other is a dual header (male+female) cable for ARGB lighting measuring an approximate length of 395+100mm.

The specification of the fans are:

EK-HUB

EKWB has provided a hub with the Elite version of the EK-AIO cooler which was not present in the regular D-RGB and Basic edition coolers. This hub is simply a splitter without a controller.

The EK-HUB is a 14x port hub that allows seamless connectivity of up to 7x ARGB devices and 7x 4-pin PWN fans. The hub has a transparent top cover. Each dual-port is clearly labeled starting from ARGB-Fan 01 to ARGB-Fan 07. There is a backlit EK brand in the center.

The power specification of the hub is printed on the back. There are 4x small mounting holes that are provided to install the Hub in the chassis. The hub is SATA powered.

Here is a side view of the hub. Notice that each dual-port has a 3-pin ARGB port followed by a 4-pin PWM port. The red color 4-pin PWM fan port designates that the PWM signal of the fan connected to this port will be read in the UEFI/BIOS and its duty cycle will be followed by all other ports. This means that we can’t control the speed of the individual fans/pump for that matter so if you are connecting the pump’s 4-pin connector to the EK-HUB as well then the fan speed on the red port will also apply to the pump port. There is no way you can have the pump set at 100% duty cycle and fans at different duty cycles. If that is the case then simply connect the pump’s power cable directly to the motherboard’s 4-pin PWM header or designated pump header. There is a 3-pin port on the right that connects the provided cable to the 4-pin PWM header on the motherboard.

The other side of the hub has a similar layout except that there is a 2-pin port here which is for connectivity with the 5v digital light header on the motherboard.

We have an ARGB and Fan port here.

The EK-Hub is SATA powered. You will have to connect the SATA connector of the PSU cable to the hub.

EK has provided screws and cables with the hub. The screws are to be used to install the hub in the chassis.

We have:

• 3-pin to 4-pin PWM fan cable
• 2-pin to 3-pin ARGB Sync cable

The above picture shows the EK-Vardar S 120ER fans connected to 12x ports on the EK-Hub. Hub’s own cables are also connected to the 2-pin and 3-pin ports.

D-RGB Lighting

There is no dedicated controller provided with the cooler. You would need to have an ARGB lighting header on the motherboard or a compatible controller to make the ARGB lighting work on the cooler. In my opinion, there should have been a dedicated controller in this price tag as well.

Installation

We have recently upgraded our Intel testbed and are now on the Intel LGA1200 socket. Installation is as follow:

Place the Intel backplate on the backside of the motherboard.

Use the Intel LGA115x standoffs to secure the backplate with the motherboard.

Install the fans on the radiator.

Install the Intel brackets on the base.

Place the block on the CPU by aligning the holes on the mounting brackets with the threaded sides of the standoffs. Place the springs on the standoffs.

Secure the block on the CPU using the thumbscrews on each standoff.

Connect the fans of the block to the EK-HUB and connect the hub’s 4-pin PWM connector to the motherboard’s 4-pin PWM header and 3-pin ARGB cable to the 5v header on the motherboard. Connect the PSU’s SATA cable to the EK-HUB.

There is no clearance issue with respect to the DIMM slots and first PCIe slot. Make sure your chassis has clearance for a 360mm radiator in terms of length and thickness (80mm roughly). The top mounting would have consideration for the RAM clearance. Make sure you do proper homework in this regard.

Testing

We have upgraded our Intel testbed recently. A few coolers have been tested on this setup. More will be added after the testing in the coming time.

Following test benches have been used: –

• Intel i7 10700k
• MSI MAG Z490 TOMAHAWK
• T-Force Nighthawk RGB 16GB @ 3200MHz
• Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080 FE
• addlink S70 256GB NVMe SSD
• bequiet! Straight Power 11 850W Platinum PSU
• Open-air test bench

Here is the settings table for testing:

We are using Noctua NT-H1 thermal paste for coolers testing. Using the same thermal paste for all coolers would ensure standardization. Delta temperatures are reported on the graphs. The testing is done on an open-air bench system. Once inside the chassis, the temperatures are expected to rise and would largely depend upon the optimal airflow inside the chassis.

Not every run of the stress test may yield the same result. This could well be due to many factors like mounting pressure, thermal paste application, varying ambient temperature. Not to mention the silicon differences even among the same category of the chips. Hence, it is pertinent to mention the testing methodology along with the specifics.

The coolers are also tested using the Auto PWM function. MSI is using Smart Fan mode in the UEFI/BIOS which is not pure Auto PWM but it is what is available to us. The above picture shows the MSI default fan curve for the Smart Fan mode. Since all the coolers will be tested using the same configuration and settings, the same margin of error applies to all.

Let’s take a look at the results.

3.8GHz All Cores

All top 4x coolers are within the 1°C margin of error.

4.7GHz All Cores

All top 3 coolers are with the margin of error, though the EK-AIO 360 Elite D-RGB is on the top.

4.7GHz All Cores [Auto PWM]

The EK-AIO 360 Elite D-RGB is on the top with a 1°C difference over the second contender. Despite having lower RPMs on Auto PWM the 6x fan when combined are doing the magic.

Fans’ Speed on Auto PWM

The fans were doing 1288RPM on Auto PWM configuration. The fans are rated to spin at 2200 RPM at a 100% duty cycle. Despite being decent on the RPMs the number of fans makes up for the loss if any.

5.1GHz All Cores

The ultimate test of the coolers is to handle the 100% synthetic load at 5.1GHz all cores on 1.344V VCore. The EK-AIO 360 Elite D-RGB has a solid lead in the graph.

Acoustic

The fans are loud at full speed and we measured them to making 62 dBA with an ambient sound level of 33 dB(A).

Conclusion

EK Water Blocks sent us their EK-AIO 360 Elite D-RGB cooler for review. The elite edition of the EK-AIO coolers differs from the other coolers in this lineup by having a different block, 3x more fans, and an EK-Hub. The elite edition comes with 6x EK-Vardar S 120ER D-RGB high-performance fans. The EK-AIO 360 Elite D-RGB is compatible with – Intel Sockets LGA: 1150, 1151, 1155, 1156, 1200, 2011, 2011-3, 2066, and AMD Socket: AM4.

The unit has an aluminum radiator measuring 395 x 120 x 27mm. The thickness of the radiator is 27mm. The overall thickness would be 53mm after installing 3x fans. With 6x fans, the thickness of the assembled radiator would be around 80mm. The radiator has 18 FPI. The radiator has a black color housing. The EK Water Blocks is using low evaporating rubber tubes with nylon braided sleeves running to approximately 400mm in length. The tubes are installed on straight fittings on the radiator with aluminum clamps which are in matte black finish.

The cooler features a universal compatible monoblock with a dimension of 88x70x64mm. The block is made of Black Nickel material with a copper cold plate and steel mounting pump. The top of the block has a solid nickel cover with a backlit EK logo. The tubes are installed on the block using diamond-cut rotary fittings with similar aluminum clamps. The overall build quality is top-notch and speaks of what we can expect from EKWB. The cooler features a PWM pump which is rated for 1000 ~ 3300 RPM ± 10%. There is no power consumption information provided in the specification. The PWM range of the pump is 25~100%. These specifications are different than the other coolers in this line up suggesting the pump has more RPMs with a modified PWM range. The block has a copper base with a cold plate. The surface of the base is flat and we have roughly 58x55mm dimension of the base. The base comes with the pre-applied thermal paste. On top of that, EKWB has also bundled their Ectotherm thermal paste.

The EK-AIO 360 Elite D-RGB comes with 6x EK-Vardar S 120ER D-RGB fans. These are high-performance fans designed for liquid cooling solutions. These fans are rated for up to 2200 RPM ±10
% speed with a maximum airflow rating of 66.04 CFM at air pressure rating of 2.89 mmH₂O. These fans feature frosted 7 blades to ensure high pressure with low noise operations. These fans have ARGB LEDs housed inside the center. There is no dedicated controller provided in the accessory. The installation is an easy task and a comprehensive user guide is provided to help the users in installation.

EKWB has bundled an EK-HUB in the box. This is a 7x ARGB and 7x PWM fan ports hub which allows the user to connect up to 7x ARGB devices and 7x 4-pin PWM fans to it. The hub is SATA powered. The hub does not have any controller as it is only a splitter hub allowing to connect up to 7x devices to a single 4-pin PWM fan header and 3-pin 5V header on the motherboard. There is a backlit EK logo in the center. Good point is that all the fans and the block are using standard 3-pin ARGB connectors for universal compatibility with any standard 3-pin 5V controller. I would suggest EKWB increase the thickness of the radiator to like 38mm or so or more to take full advantage of the powerful pump and push/pull configuration though this would definitely increase the overall thickness of the assembly which may have compatibility considerations with respect to the chassis.

The EK Water Blocks EK-AIO 360 Elite D-RGB is listed at $199.99 at the time of the review. EK Water Blocks is offering 5 years warranty. We have a premium price tag for 3x more fans, a hub, and probably a modified pump. There is still no controller in the box. The EK Water Blocks EK-AIO 360 Elite D-RGB has lived up to its name on our test bench and with 5 years warranty and good build quality; it has won our Performance Award.

Check Out Our Other EK AIO Reviews

When it comes to the liquid cooling, the first name that comes to one’s mind is EK Water Blocks. EK® Water Blocks, the premium liquid cooling manufacturer, bears the name of its founder Edvard König. It all started with the enthusiasm of one man and his ventures with liquid cooling back in 1999. Ever since its inception the EK Water Blocks has become the premium brand in liquid cooling solutions and this brand is highly popular among the modders, PC Builders, and water cooling enthusiasts alike. Today, the products of EK® are available in more than 30 countries worldwide and the company holds several partnerships with some of the most recognized brands. Not only their products are of high quality but their customer support is up to the bar as well and this is what really matters.

We have recently reviewed EK-AIO 360 D-RGB cooler. EK Water Blocks has released their new AIO coolers introduced in Online Expo 2021. EK Water Blocks has sent us their new EK-AIO Basic 360 for the review. The idea behind Basic series is simple. EK Water Blocks has removed the digital lighting from the fans and the block resulting in all black cooler which will definitely come in handy for the neutral/stealth builds. This is coming at a good price point now. The EK-AIO Basic 360 has an MSRP of $119.99 as compared to the MSRP of $159.99 on the D-RGB version.

The EK-AIO Basic 360 is a 360mm CLC which comes with 3x EK-Vardar S120 Dark Edition High Performance Fans and a universally compatible CPU water block with tool-less mounting mechanism for easy installation. This AIO does not have a quick disconnect so these are not expandable coolers like their XLC-Predator or Phantom series coolers which were built around modularity and expandability. This product is compatible with popular RGB sync technologies from all major motherboard manufacturers. The EK-AIO Basic 360 is compatible with – Intel Sockets LGA: 1150, 1151, 1155, 1156, 1200, 2011, 2011-3, 2066 and AMD Socket: AM4.

Item:                                EK-AIO Basic 360

Manufacturer:                  EK Water Blocks

Price:                               $119.99 [MSRP on EKWB Shop]

Specifications

Packaging and Unboxing

The cooler is shipped inside a white color cardboard packing box.

There is a picture of the cooler. The picture is evident of all black theme behind the Basic series coolers. The socket compatibility information is printed on the bottom. This cooler is compatible with leading sockets from Intel and AMD excluding TR4/xTR4 sockets.

EK Water Blocks has highlighted three key components of the cooler here; powerful pump, fans, and the efficient radiator. There are diagrams showing the dimension of the unit. The cooler is designed in Slovenia and made in China. There are block diagrams showing the dimension of the unit.

Specifications of the cooler are printed in 8 languages. The socket compatibility information is printed on the bottom

Opening the box will show the nicely packed contents in the egged carton. There is a white color Styrofoam pad on the top and a multilingual comprehensive user guide.

Accessories

Let’s take a look at what EK Water Blocks has provided in the accessory box.

EK Water Blocks has provided a comprehensive user guide on the installation and maintenance of the liquid cooler. The guide is multilingual.

The mounting hardware is included in a transparent container which is labeled for ease of identification. I have communicated with EK Water Blocks for the correction on the label text.

We have:

• 1x Metallic Backplate
• 2x Intel Mounting Brackets
• 2x AMD Mounting Brackets

We have:

• 4x Thumb caps/nuts
• 4x Springs
• 4x Intel LGA20xx standoffs
• 4x Other sockets standoffs
• 5x screws for the mounting brackets

We have:

• 12x Philips Head Screws UNC 6-32 x 30mm
• 12x Philips Head Screws UNC 6-32 x 6mm
• 12x Philips Head Screws UNC 6-32 x 34mm

EK Water Blocks has provided a 3-way PWM splitter cable which allows the user to connect three fans to a single fan header on the motherboard.

1x Ectotherm thermal paste is also included.

Closer Look

It is time to take a closer look at the components. Before that here is what EK Water Blocks is saying about the cooler. “The EK-AIO Basic 360 is a non-RGB, price-conscious all-in-one liquid cooling solution for your CPU. It offers all the water cooling benefits in a compact, easy to install, and maintenance-free design. This EK AIO comes with a universally compatible CPU water-block, along with a pre-filled pump-reservoir combo. It is ready to go straight out of the box. Less fuss, more cooling!”

The cooler is compatible with Intel LGA20xx/1366/1200/115x sockets and AMD AM4 socket.

RADIATOR

The EK Water Blocks EK-AIO Basic 360 is a 360mm CLC cooling solution. It has a 360mm radiator with 3x EK-Vardar S120 Dark edition fans.

The dimension of the radiator is 395 x 120 x 27mm. The thickness of the radiator is 27mm. With 25mm fans the overall thickness would be 53mm with the screws heads. The radiator has a 20 fins per inch (FPI). There is a gap of 105mm between any two fan mounting holes on the radiator. We have a black color housing of the radiator and the overall build quality and finishing is good. The dimension on the packing box shows the length of the radiator to be 393.40mm whereas the specifications on the website is showing this figure to be 395mm.

Radiator is made of aluminum hence it is light weight. This is EK Water Blocks own design. The blocks on both ends of the radiator are rectangular. Fin stack is dense and taking into account the left and right side channels, it has total 12 channels for water flow. There is no protective plating under the mounting holes on the radiator assembly much like what we have seen on the majority of AIO solutions in the market with a few exceptions.

The radiator assembly has a nice clean finish all around. There is no EKWB branding on the side of the assembly.

The above picture shows a close up view on the fin stack. EK Water Blocks has done a neat and clean job on the radiator.

The far head has a rectangular design and a neat finishing. You can also take a close up look on the fins. We have a few bend fins but the overall finishing is good enough. The length of the far head is 20.70mm.

The build quality of the cooler is top notch all around. EK Water Blocks is using straight fittings on the radiator with large size aluminum couplings/covers in matte black color finishing. This large size could increase the overall thickness of the assembled cooler. There is a sticker pasted on the far head showing the part no or serial no of the cooler.

There is what seems to be a refill port on the radiator. It is reserved only the factory use. Don’t attempt to open the port as you may lose the atmospheric pressure of the loop.

The EK AIO comes pre-installed with reinforced and sleeved rubber tubing, each fitted with an aluminum cover to ensure they’re ultra-durable. The tubing has a nylon braided sleeve on it and runs to an approximate 4000mm length which is good enough for any requirement.

PUMP/BLOCK

Let’s take a look at the Monoblock of the cooler.

The EK AIO comes with a universally compatible CPU water-block, fitting all the latest Intel & AMD CPU sockets as well as featuring a tool-less mounting mechanism for easy installation along with a pre-filled pump-res combo design. The EK AIO Basic CPU Monoblock features a brushed aluminum cover on the top in the black color. This is another difference between the Basic and D-RGB coolers as we have backlit acrylic cover on top.

The block has a dimension of 88x70x53mm and is made of ABS plastic housing, copper cold plate and steel mounted pump. There is a blue color cover on the EK Water Blocks brand logo. Don’t forget to peel it off after the installation to have that feeling of association with the brand. The dimension after installing the mounting bracket would be 94.50x70x53mm.

The above picture shows the sub-components of the complete block assembly. Following are the specifications of the pump:

All sides except the tubing end of the block are identical. We have a splendid brushed aluminum finish on the top section and matte black color on the lower housing.

There is a single 4-pin flat cable coming out of the pump to power its motor. It has an approximate length of 495mm.

Taking a look at the rear of the block, we have diamond-cut rotary fittings on the block. There are aluminum covers on the fitment giving a nice and clean look. We are still finding two screws. These were there on the D-RGB version to access the RGB strip on the block and replace it with your own. I am not sure what purpose do they serve here. Its diamond-cut rotary fittings allow for easy installation and adjustment of the rubber tubing, featuring a full range of movement to make the EK AIO suitable for installation in even the tightest spaces.

One thing to observe the angle of fitment of the tubes on the block. Unlike the majority of the AIO cooling solutions in the market, these tubes are not in 90° fitment as they sit in the same side of the block. By design, the EK-AIO sports the top mounted approach.

We have a copper base measuring 58x55mm. Thermal paste is pre-applied.

The above picture is showing the copper base after removing the pre-applied thermal paste. There are two holes on each side of the housing. This is where the mounting brackets are installed.

FAN

EK Water Blocks has bundle three Dark Edition of Vardar S120 fans. Each fan has 7 blades which optimized for high pressure and low noise operation. They are industrial-grade high-static pressure radiator fans primarily created for the highest-performance liquid cooling systems. There are not anti-vibration pads on the mounting corners. We have a large diameter center on the fans. There is an EKWB branded sticker on the center.

There is EK Water Blocks branding on the side of the frame. There are no arrow symbols to guide the novice users in determining the direction of airflow and blades’ spin.

The backside of the fan shows the 4-arms assembly on the main frame with one arm having a wider area. The cables are routed on this wider arm towards the exterior of the fan. EK-AIO Vardar S are printed on the sticker. The fans are designed in Slovenia and manufactured in China.

Each fan has a 4-pin PWM fan connector having an approximate length of 485mm. The cable is flat in design.

The specification of the fans are:

Installation

We have recently upgraded our Intel test bed and are now on Intel LGA1200 socket. Installation is as follow:

Place the backplate on the backside of the motherboard on the socket area by aligning the holes on the socket with the backplate holes. User should pay attention on the orientation of the backplate for the Basic and the D-RGB versions as orientation is different for both series of the coolers. I also observed during the testing of EK-AIO 240 D-RGB that the orientation of the backplate on the Intel LGA1200 socket was same as is on the Basic series coolers but it was not same for the LGA1151 socket. By that time I did not check the manual. The manual indeed mentioned the different orientation than the one on the Basic series coolers.

Use the Intel LGA 115x/1200 pillars or standoffs to secure the backplate with the motherboard.

Install the fans on the radiator. You can do this step after installing the radiator in the chassis as well.

Install the Intel mounting brackets on the block.

Place the block on the CPU by passing the mounting bracket’s holes on the threaded portion of the pillars/stands. Place the springs on the pillars/standoffs.

Use the provided thumb nuts to secure the block on the CPU.

Install the radiator in the chassis. You can use the 3-way splitter cable to connect both fans to the single fan header on the motherboard. Another fan header would be needed for the 4-pin PWM cable coming from the block to power the pump. This would complete the installation.

There is no clearance issue with respect to the DIMM slots and first PCIe slot. Make sure your chassis has clearance for 360mm radiator.

Testing

We have upgraded our Intel test bed recently. A few coolers have been tested on this setup. More will be added after the testing in coming time.

Following test benches have been used: –

• Intel i7 10700k
• MSI MAG Z490 TOMAHWAK
• T-Force NightHawk RGB 16GB @ 3200MHz
• Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080 FE
• addlink S70 256GB NVMe SSD
• bequiet! Straight Power 11 850W Platinum PSU
• Open-air test bench

Here is the settings table for testing:

We are using Noctua NT-H1 thermal paste for coolers testing. Using a same thermal paste for all coolers would ensure the standardization. Delta temperatures are reported on the graphs. The testing is done on an open air bench system. Once inside the chassis, the temperatures are expected to rise and would largely depend upon the optimal airflow inside the chassis.

Not every run of the stress test may yield the same result. This could well be due to many factors like mounting pressure, thermal paste application, varying ambient temperature. Not to mention the silicon differences even among the same category of the chips. Hence, it is pertinent to mention the testing methodology along with the specifics.

The coolers are also tested using Auto PWM function. MSI is using Smart Fan mode in the UEFI/BIOS which is not pure Auto PWM but it is what is available to us. The above picture shows the MSI default fan curve for the Smart Fan mode. Since all the coolers will be tested using the same configuration and settings, same margin of error applies to all.

Let’s take a look at the results.

3.8GHz All Cores

The EK-AIO Basic 360 is sitting on top with minimum of 1.6°C difference over the other coolers.

4.7GHz All Cores

The EK-AIO Basic 360 is sitting on top with minimum of 1.2°C difference over the other coolers.

4.7GHz All Cores [Auto PWM]

The EK-AIO Basic 360 is sitting on top with minimum of 3.1°C difference over the other coolers. The large size surface area is coming in the equation to play its role.

Fans’ Speed on Auto PWM

The above graph shows the maximum speed attained by the fans on the Auto PWM. For comparison, we have included the rated speed of the fans to have reference in determining the Auto PWM range.

5.1GHz All Cores

Now coming to the ultimate challenge of handling the CPU with all cores set to run at 5.1GHz using 1.345V, the EK-AIO Basic 360 shows its true cooling potential as it is sitting on the top with a minimum of 2.9°C difference over the other coolers. This is impressive performance in this price range.

Conclusion

EK Water Blocks has introduced their new coolers during the Online Expo 2021 in January, 21. They have released the EK-AIO Basic series coolers in 240mm and 360mm size. The term Basic here shows some differences over the D-RGB series coolers. The Basic series coolers are black from head to toe in literal meaning. Fans are Dark Edition of Vardar S 120. The radiator itself is black much like the D-RGB series coolers. The block does not have acrylic top with backlit D-RGB LEDs. Instead we have a brushed aluminum top cover on the block.

EK Water Blocks has sent us their EK-AIO Basic 360 cooler for the review. The cooler features a brushed aluminum cover on the universal compatible Monoblock. This is in-house design from EK Water Blocks and features 3x EK-Vardar S 120 Dark Edition high performance fans. The EK-AIO Basic 360 is compatible with – Intel Sockets LGA: 1150, 1151, 1155, 1156, 1200, 2011, 2011-3, 2066 and AMD Socket: AM4.

The unit has an aluminum radiator measuring 395 x 120 x 27mm. The thickness of the radiator is 27mm. The overall thickness would be 53mm after installing the fans. The radiator has 20 FPI. The radiator has a black color housing. The EK Water Blocks is using low evaporating rubber tubes with nylon braided sleeves running to approximately 400mm in length. The tubes are installed on straight fittings on the radiator with aluminum clamps which are in matte black finish.

The cooler features a universal compatible Monoblock with a dimension of 88x70x53mm. The block is made of ABS material with copper cold plate and steel mounting pump. There is an EKWB brand logo in silver on the corner of the block. The tubes are installed on the block using diamond-cut rotary fittings with similar aluminum clamps. The overall build quality is top notch and speaks of what we can expect from EKWB. The cooler features a PWM pump which is rated for 450 ~ 2600 RPM ± 10%. There is no power consumption information provided in the specification. The PWM range of the pump is 20~100%. The block has copper base with cold plate. The surface of the base is flat and we have roughly 58x55mm dimension of the base. The base comes with the pre-applied thermal paste. On top of that, EKWB has also bundled their Ectotherm thermal paste.

The EK-AIO Basic 360 comes with the three EK-Vardar S 120 Dark Edition fans. These are high-performance fans designed for liquid cooling solutions. These fans are rated for up to 2200 RPM ±10
% speed with a maximum airflow rating of 77 CFM at air pressure rating of 2.89 mmH₂O. These fans feature 7 blades to ensure high pressure with low noise operations. The installation is an easy task and the comprehensive user guide is provided to help the users in installation.

The EK Water Blocks EK-AIO Basic 360 is listed at $119.99 at the time of the review. This is the same price on which the EK-AIO 240 D-RGB version retails. The price cut makes sense as EKWB is providing value option with no frills but pure performance. EK Water Blocks is offering 5 years warranty. The performance of this cooler is superb on our test bed though at present there are not enough coolers tested on our newly upgraded Intel test bed and it has won our Must Have Award.

Check Out Our Other EK AIO Reviews

When it comes to the liquid cooling, the first name that comes to one’s mind is EK Water Blocks. EK® Water Blocks, the premium liquid cooling manufacturer, bears the name of its founder Edvard König. It all started with the enthusiasm of one man and his ventures with liquid cooling back in 1999. Ever since its inception the EK Water Blocks has become the premium brand in liquid cooling solutions and this brand is highly popular among the modders, PC Builders, and water cooling enthusiasts alike. Today, the products of EK® are available in more than 30 countries worldwide and the company holds several partnerships with some of the most recognized brands. Not only their products are of high quality but their customer support is up to the bar as well and this is what really matters.

We have recently reviewed EK-AIO 240 D-RGB cooler. EK Water Blocks has released their new AIO coolers introduced in Online Expo 2021. EK Water Blocks has sent us their new EK-AIO Basic 240 for the review. The idea behind Basic series is simple. EK Water Blocks has removed the digital lighting from the fans and the block resulting in all black cooler which will definitely come in handy for the neutral/stealth builds. This is coming at a good price point now. The EK-AIO Basic 240 has an MSRP of $89.99 as compared to the MSRP of $119.99 on the D-RGB version.

The EK-AIO Basic 240 is a 240mm CLC which comes with 2x EK-Vardar S120 Dark Edition High Performance Fans and a universally compatible CPU water block with tool-less mounting mechanism for easy installation. This AIO does not have a quick disconnect so these are not expandable coolers like their XLC-Predator or Phantom series coolers which were built around modularity and expandability. This product is compatible with popular RGB sync technologies from all major motherboard manufacturers. The EK-AIO Basic 240 is compatible with – Intel Sockets LGA: 1150, 1151, 1155, 1156, 1200, 2011, 2011-3, 2066 and AMD Socket: AM4.

Item:                                     EK-AIO Basic 240

Manufacturer:                      EK Water Blocks

Price:                                    $89.99 [MSRP on EKWB Shop]

Specifications

Packaging and Unboxing

The cooler is shipped inside a white color cardboard packing box.

There is a picture of the cooler. The picture is evident of all black theme behind the Basic series coolers. The socket compatibility information is printed on the bottom. This cooler is compatible with leading sockets from Intel and AMD excluding TR4/xTR4 sockets.

Features of the cooler include:

• Maintenance free
• Silent Operation
• Addressable D-RGB
• Easy Installation
• Top Class Performance

EK Water Blocks has highlighted three key components of the cooler here; powerful pump, fans, and the efficient radiator. There are diagrams showing the dimension of the unit. The cooler is designed in Slovenia and made in China.

Specifications of the cooler are printed in 6 languages. The socket compatibility information is printed on the bottom

Opening the box will show the nicely packed contents in the egged carton. There is a white color Styrofoam pad on the top and a multilingual comprehensive user guide.

Accessories

Let’s take a look at what EK Water Blocks has provided in the accessory box.

EK Water Blocks has provided a comprehensive user guide on the installation and maintenance of the liquid cooler. The guide is multilingual.

The mounting hardware is included in a transparent container which is labeled for ease of identification. I have sent the picture to their marketing for correction on the label.

We have:

• 1x Metallic Backplate
• 2x Intel Mounting Brackets
• 2x AMD Mounting Brackets

We have:

• 4x Thumb caps/nuts
• 4x Springs
• 4x Intel LGA20xx standoffs
• 4x Other sockets standoffs
• 5x screws for the mounting brackets

We have:

• 4x small screws for the radiator
• 16x screws for the fans (2 sizes)

EK Water Blocks has provided a Y cable which allows the user to connect both fans to a single fan header on the motherboard. 1x Ectotherm thermal paste is also included.

Closer Look

It is time to take a closer look at the components. Before that here is what EK Water Blocks is saying about the cooler. “The EK-AIO Basic 240 is a non-RGB, price-conscious all-in-one liquid cooling solution for your CPU. It offers all the water cooling benefits in a compact, easy to install, and maintenance-free design. This EK AIO comes with a universally compatible CPU water-block, along with a pre-filled pump-reservoir combo. It is ready to go straight out of the box. Less fuss, more cooling!”

The cooler is compatible with Intel LGA20xx/1366/1200/115x sockets and AMD AM4 socket.

RADIATOR

The EK Water Blocks EK-AIO Basic 240 is a 240mm CLC cooling solution. It has a 240mm radiator with 2x EK-Vardar S120 Dark edition fans.

The dimension of the radiator is 275 x 120 x 27mm. The thickness of the radiator is 27mm. With 25mm fans the overall thickness would be 53mm with the screws heads. The radiator has a 22 fins per inch (FPI). There is a gap of 105mm between any two fan mounting holes on the radiator. We have a black color housing of the radiator and the overall build quality and finishing is good. The dimension on the packing box shows the length of the radiator to be 273.9mm whereas the specifications on the website is showing this figure to be 275mm.

Radiator is made of aluminum hence it is light weight. This is EK Water Blocks own design. The blocks on both ends of the radiator are rectangular. Fin stack is dense and taking into account the left and right side channels, it has total 12 channels for water flow. There is no protective plating under the mounting holes on the radiator assembly much like what we have seen on the majority of AIO solutions in the market with a few exceptions.

The radiator assembly has a nice clean finish all around. There is no EKWB branding on the side of the assembly.

The above picture shows a close up view on the fin stack. EK Water Blocks has done a neat and clean job on the radiator.

The far head has a rectangular design and a neat finishing. You can also take a close up look on the fins. We have a few bend fins but the overall finishing is good enough. The length of the far head is 20.70mm.

The build quality of the cooler is top notch all around. EK Water Blocks is using straight fittings on the radiator with large size aluminum couplings/covers in matte black color finishing. This large size could increase the overall thickness of the assembled cooler. There is a sticker pasted on the far head showing the part no or serial no of the cooler.

There is what seems to be a refill port on the radiator. It is reserved only the factory use. Don’t attempt to open the port as you may lose the atmospheric pressure of the loop.

The EK AIO comes pre-installed with reinforced and sleeved rubber tubing, each fitted with an aluminum cover to ensure they’re ultra-durable. The tubing has a nylon braided sleeve on it and runs to an approximate 350mm length which is kinda short length and should have been 400m or so in my opinion.

PUMP/BLOCK

Let’s take a look at the Monoblock of the cooler.

The EK AIO comes with a universally compatible CPU water-block, fitting all the latest Intel & AMD CPU sockets as well as featuring a tool-less mounting mechanism for easy installation along with a pre-filled pump-res combo design. The EK AIO Basic CPU Monoblock features a brushed aluminum cover on the top in the black color. This is another difference between the Basic and D-RGB coolers as we have backlit acrylic cover on top.

The block has a dimension of 88x70x53mm and is made of ABS plastic housing, copper cold plate and steel mounted pump. There is a blue color cover on the EK Water Blocks brand logo. Don’t forget to peel it off after the installation to have that feeling of association with the brand. The dimension after installing the mounting bracket would be 94.50x70x53mm.

The above picture shows the sub-components of the complete block assembly. Following are the specifications of the pump:

All sides except the tubing end of the block are identical. We have a splendid brushed aluminum finish on the top section and matte black color on the lower housing.

There is a single 4-pin flat cable coming out of the pump to power its motor. It has an approximate length of 495mm.

Taking a look at the rear of the block, we have diamond-cut rotary fittings on the block. There are aluminum covers on the fitment giving a nice and clean look. We are still finding two screws. These were there on the D-RGB version to access the RGB strip on the block and replace it with your own. I am not sure what purpose do they serve here. Its diamond-cut rotary fittings allow for easy installation and adjustment of the rubber tubing, featuring a full range of movement to make the EK AIO suitable for installation in even the tightest spaces.

One thing to observe the angle of fitment of the tubes on the block. Unlike the majority of the AIO cooling solutions in the market, these tubes are not in 90° fitment as they sit in the same side of the block. By design, the EK-AIO sports the top mounted approach.

We have a copper base measuring 58x55mm. Thermal paste is pre-applied.

The above picture is showing the copper base after removing the pre-applied thermal paste. There are two holes on each side of the housing. This is where the mounting brackets are installed.

The above picture shows the EK-AIO 240 D-RGB and EK-AIO Basic 240 side by side for the comparison. The Basic series cooler does not have digital RGB lighting on it and it is all black.

FAN

EK Water Blocks has bundle two Dar Edition of Vardar S120 fans. Each fan has 7 blades which optimized for high pressure and low noise operation. They are industrial-grade high-static pressure radiator fans primarily created for the highest-performance liquid cooling systems. There are not anti-vibration pads on the mounting corners. We have a large diameter center on the fans. There is an EKWB branded sticker on the center.

There is EK Water Blocks branding on the side of the frame. There are no arrow symbols to guide the novice users in determining the direction of airflow and blades’ spin.

The backside of the fan shows the 4-arms assembly on the main frame with one arm having a wider area. The cables are routed on this wider arm towards the exterior of the fan. EK-AIO Vardar S are printed on the sticker. The fans are designed in Slovenia and manufactured in China.

Each fan has a 4-pin PWM fan connector having an approximate length of 485mm. The cable is flat in design.

The specification of the fans are:

Installation

We have recently upgraded our Intel test bed  and are now on Intel LGA1200 socket. Installation is as follow:

Place the backplate on the backside of the motherboard on the socket area by aligning the holes on the socket with the backplate holes. User should pay attention on the orientation of the backplate for the Basic and the D-RGB versions as orientation is different for both series of the coolers. I also observed during the testing of EK-AIO 240 D-RGB that the orientation of the backplate on the Intel LGA1200 socket was same as is on the Basic series coolers but it was not same for the LGA1151 socket. By that time I did not check the manual. The manual indeed mentioned the different orientation than the one on the Basic series coolers.

Use the Intel LGA 115x/1200 pillars or standoffs to secure the backplate with the motherboard.

Install the fans on the radiator. You can do this step after installing the radiator in the chassis as well.

Install the Intel mounting brackets on the block.

Place the block on the CPU by passing the mounting bracket’s holes on the threaded portion of the pillars/stands. Place the springs on the pillars/standoffs.

Use the provided thumb nuts to secure the block on the CPU.

Install the radiator in the chassis. You can use the Y cable to connect both fans to the single fan header on the motherboard. Another fan header would be needed for the 4-pin PWM cable coming from the block to power the pump. This would complete the installation.

There is no clearance issue with respect to the DIMM slots and first PCIe slot. Make sure your chassis has clearance for 240mm radiator.

Testing

We have upgraded our Intel test bed recently. A few coolers have been tested on this setup. More will be added after the testing in coming time.

Following test benches have been used: –

• Intel i7 10700k
• MSI MAG Z490 TOMAHWAK
• T-Force NightHawk RGB 16GB @ 3200MHz
• Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080 FE
• addlink S70 256GB NVMe SSD
• bequiet! Straight Power 11 850W Platinum PSU
• Open-air test bench

Here is the settings table for testing:

We are using Noctua NT-H1 thermal paste for coolers testing. Using a same thermal paste for all coolers would ensure the standardization. Delta temperatures are reported on the graphs. The testing is done on an open air bench system. Once inside the chassis, the temperatures are expected to rise and would largely depend upon the optimal airflow inside the chassis.

Not every run of the stress test may yield the same result. This could well be due to many factors like mounting pressure, thermal paste application, varying ambient temperature. Not to mention the silicon differences even among the same category of the chips. Hence, it is pertinent to mention the testing methodology along with the specifics.

The coolers are also tested using Auto PWM function. MSI is using Smart Fan mode in the UEFI/BIOS which is not pure Auto PWM but it is what is available to us. The above picture shows the MSI default fan curve for the Smart Fan mode. Since all the coolers will be tested using the same configuration and settings, same margin of error applies to all.

Let’s take a look at the results.

3.8GHz All Cores

3.8GHz is not a tough challenge for any cooler and resultantly all coolers are in the same range. Needless to say that EK-AIO Basic 240 is on the top with only 0.1°C difference.

4.7GHz All Cores

EK-AIO Basic 240 is again on top with a difference of 1.9°C over the Antec Neptune 240.

4.7GHz All Cores [Auto PWM]

The EK-AIO is trailing by 0.5°C difference which is marginal.

Fans’ Speed on Auto PWM

The above graph shows the maximum speed attained by the fans on the Auto PWM. For comparison, we have included the rated speed of the fans to have reference in determining the Auto PWM range.

5.1GHz All Cores

Now coming to the ultimate challenge of handling the CPU with all cores set to run at 5.1GHz using 1.345V, the EK-AIO Basic 240 shows its true cooling potential as it is sitting on the top with a minimum of 2°C difference over the other coolers.

Conclusion

EK Water Blocks has introduced their new coolers during the Online Expo 2021 in January, 21. They have released the EK-AIO Basic series coolers in 240mm and 360mm size. The term Basic here shows some differences over the D-RGB series coolers. The Basic series coolers are black from head to toe in literal meaning. Fans are Dark Edition of Vardar S 120. The radiator itself is black much like the D-RGB series coolers. The block does not have acrylic top with backlit D-RGB LEDs. Instead we have a brushed aluminum top cover on the block.

EK Water Blocks has sent us their EK-AIO Basic 240 and 360 coolers for the review. The cooler features a brushed aluminum cover on the universal compatible Monoblock. This is in-house design from EK Water Blocks and features 2x EK-Vardar S 120 Dark Edition high performance fans. The EK-AIO Basic 240 is compatible with – Intel Sockets LGA: 1150, 1151, 1155, 1156, 1200, 2011, 2011-3, 2066 and AMD Socket: AM4.

The unit has an aluminum radiator measuring 275 x 120 x 27mm. The thickness of the radiator is 27mm. The overall thickness would be 53mm after installing the fans. The radiator has 22 FPI. The radiator has a black color housing. The EK Water Blocks is using low evaporating rubber tubes with nylon braided sleeves running to approximately 350mm in length. The tubes are installed on straight fittings on the radiator with aluminum clamps which are in matte black finish.

The cooler features a universal compatible Monoblock with a dimension of 88x70x53mm. The block is made of ABS material with copper cold plate and steel mounting pump. There is an EKWB brand logo in silver on the corner of the block. The tubes are installed on the block using diamond-cut rotary fittings with similar aluminum clamps. The overall build quality is top notch and speaks of what we can expect from EKWB. The cooler features a PWM pump which is rated for 450 ~ 2600 RPM ± 10%. There is no power consumption information provided in the specification. The PWM range of the pump is 20~100%. The block has copper base with cold plate. The surface of the base is flat and we have roughly 58x55mm dimension of the base. The base comes with the pre-applied thermal paste. On top of that, EKWB has also bundled their Ectotherm thermal paste.

The EK-AIO Basic 240 comes with the two EK-Vardar S 120 Dark Edition fans. These are high-performance fans designed for liquid cooling solutions. These fans are rated for up to 2200 RPM ±10
% speed with a maximum airflow rating of 77 CFM at air pressure rating of 2.89 mmH₂O. These fans feature 7 blades to ensure high pressure with low noise operations. The installation is an easy task and the comprehensive user guide is provided to help the users in installation.

The EK Water Blocks EK-AIO Basic 240 is listed at $89.99 at the time of the review. The price cut makes sense as EKWB is targeting the budget segment with no frills but pure performance. EK Water Blocks is offering 5 years warranty. The performance of this cooler is excellent on our test bed though at present there are not enough coolers tested on our newly upgraded Intel test bed but it is a good indicator of a healthy competition and it has won our Performance Award.

Many thanks to our friends at EKWB for sending in a sample of their 240mm EK-AIO Basic.

Check Out Our Other EK AIO Reviews

When it comes to liquid cooling, the first name that comes to one’s mind is EK Water Blocks. EK® Water Blocks, the premium liquid cooling manufacturer, bears the name of its founder Edvard König. It all started with the enthusiasm of one man and his ventures with liquid cooling back in 1999. Ever since its inception, the EK Water Blocks has become the premium brand in liquid cooling solutions and this brand is highly popular among modders, PC Builders, and water cooling enthusiasts alike. Today, the products of EK® are available in more than 30 countries worldwide and the company holds several partnerships with some of the most recognized brands. Not only their products are of high quality, but their customer support is up to the bar as well and this is what really matters.

We have recently reviewed EK-AIO 240 D-RGB and found it to be performing very well so much so that we have actually used it on the new Intel Z490 based testbed. EK Water Blocks has sent us their 360mm version as well for review and use on the AMD test bench. EK has just released its EL Elite AIO-360 D-RGB as well. The EK-AIO 360 D-RGB is a 360mm CLC that comes with 3x EK-Vardar S 120ER D-RGB High-Performance Fans and a universally compatible CPU water block with a tool-less mounting mechanism for easy installation. No, you would still need a screwdriver! This AIO does not have a quick disconnect so these are not expandable coolers like their XLC-Predator or Phantom series coolers which were built around modularity and expandability. This product is compatible with popular RGB sync technologies from all major motherboard manufacturers. The EK-AIO 240 D-RGB is compatible with – Intel Sockets LGA: 1150, 1151, 1155, 1156, 1200, 2011, 2011-3, 2066 and AMD Socket: AM4.

Item:                                     EK-AIO 360 D-RGB

Manufacturer:                   EK Water Blocks

Price:

Specifications

Packaging and Unboxing

The cooler is shipped inside a white color cardboard packing box.

There is a picture of the cooler with digital lighting on the fans and the block. The socket compatibility information is printed on the bottom. This cooler is compatible with leading sockets from Intel and AMD.

EK Water Blocks has highlighted three key components of the cooler here; powerful pump, fans, and efficient radiator. There are diagrams showing the dimension of the unit.

Features of the cooler include:

• Maintenance-free
• Silent Operation
• Addressable D-RGB
• Easy Installation
• Top Class Performance

Specifications of the cooler are printed in 8 languages. The socket compatibility information is printed on the bottom

Opening the box will show the nicely packed contents in the egged carton. There is a white color Styrofoam pad on the top and a multilingual comprehensive user guide.

Accessories

Let’s take a look at what EK Water Blocks has provided in the accessory box.

EK Water Blocks has provided a comprehensive, multilingual user guide on the installation and maintenance of the liquid cooler.

The mounting hardware is included in a transparent container which is labeled for ease of identification.

We have:

• 1x Metallic Backplate
• 2x Intel Mounting Brackets
• 2x AMD Mounting Brackets

We have:

• 4x Thumb caps/nuts
• 4x Springs
• 4x Intel LGA20xx standoffs
• 4x Other sockets standoffs
• 5x screws for the mounting brackets

We have:

• 12x small screws for the radiator
• 24x screws for the fans (2 sizes)

EK Water Blocks has provided a Y cable which allows the user to connect both fans to a single fan header on the motherboard. I would suggest EK Water Blocks to consider using flat cable for better handling.

1x Ectotherm thermal paste is also included.

Closer Look

It is time to take a closer look at the components. Before that here is what EK Water Blocks is saying about the cooler. “Designed with our industry-leading expertise, the EK-AIO offers all key benefits of liquid cooling in one compact and easy-to-use solution. Made of high-quality materials with our precision engineering for class-leading AIO cooling performance. Built around our custom-designed monoblock, it delivers coolant with a custom-loop grade pump, alongside powerful Vardar S fans to ensure high airflow.” The cooler is compatible with Intel LGA20xx/1366/1200/115x sockets and AMD AM4. Every component of the cooler has an EKWB seal confirming the genuinely EK product.

RADIATOR

The EK Water Blocks EK-AIO 360 D-RGB is a 360mm CLC cooling solution. It has a 360mm radiator with 3x EK-Vardar S 120ER D-RGB fans.

The dimension of the radiator is 395 x 120 x 27mm. The thickness of the radiator is 27mm. With 25mm fans, the overall thickness would be 52-53mm with the heads of the screws. The radiator has a 21 fins per inch one (FPI). There is a gap of 105mm between any two fan mounting holes on the radiator. We have a black color housing of the radiator and the overall build quality and finishing is good.

The radiator is made of aluminum hence it is lightweight. This is EK Water Blocks’ own design. The blocks on both ends of the radiator are rectangular. The fin stack is dense and taking into account the left and right side channels, it has a total of 12 channels for water flow.

Here is a close up look at the fins. EK Water Blocks has done a fine and neat job with the fin stack.

There is no protective plating under the mounting holes on the radiator assembly much like what we have seen on the majority of AIO solutions in the market with a few exceptions though there is a restrictive sort of ending under each mounting hole to restrict the movement of the screw head further down.

The radiator assembly has a nice clean finish all around. There is no EKWB branding on the side of the assembly.

The far head has a rectangular design and a neat finishing. You can also take a close up look at the fins.

The build quality of the cooler is top-notch all around. EK Water Blocks is using straight fittings on the radiator with large size aluminum couplings/covers in matte black color finishing. This large size could increase the overall thickness of the assembled cooler. There is a sticker pasted on the far head showing the part no or serial no of the cooler.

There is what seems to be a refill port on the radiator. It is reserved only the factory use. Don’t attempt to open the port as you may lose the atmospheric pressure of the loop.

The EK AIO comes pre-installed with reinforced and sleeved rubber tubing, each fitted with an aluminum cover to ensure they’re ultra-durable. The tubing has a nylon braided sleeve on it and runs to an approximate 400mm length.

PUMP/BLOCK

Let’s take a look at the monoblock of the cooler.

The EK AIO comes with a universally compatible CPU water-block, fitting all the latest Intel & AMD CPU sockets as well as featuring a tool-less mounting mechanism for easy installation along with a pre-filled pump-res combo design. The EK AIO CPU monoblock features a full acrylic cover, acting as a light diffuser with its frosted finish, for a dynamic lighting display. There are 9 addressable RGB LEDs under the acrylic cover which illuminate the entire cover making one heck of an AURA show coming off the block.

The block has a dimension of 88x70x53mm and is made of ABS plastic housing, copper cold plate and steel mounted pump. There is a blue color cover on the EK Water Blocks brand logo. Don’t forget to peel it off after the installation to have that feeling of association with the brand.

The above picture shows the sub-components of the complete block assembly. Following are the specifications of the pump:

Looking at the left side of the block, there is no branding here. We have a thick acrylic cover running on the entire length and sides of the block. The lower section has a matte black color finish.

There are two cables coming out from the mid-section of the housing. Both cables are flat.

We have a 4-pin PWM connector cable powering the pump. It has an approximate length of 490mm. The other cable is for digital lighting. It has a pinout format of 5V, D, Empty, Ground. The D-RGB cable has an approximate length of 500+100mm. There is a VDG labeled connector as well which is for the older GIGABYTE motherboards.

Taking a look at the rear of the block, we have diamond-cut rotary fittings on the block. There are aluminum covers on the fitment giving a nice and clean look. There are two screws. You can remove them to take out the RGB strip on the block and replace it with your own. Its diamond-cut rotary fittings allow for easy installation and adjustment of the rubber tubing, featuring a full range of movement to make the EK AIO suitable for installation in even the tightest spaces.

One thing to observe is the angle of the fitment of the tubes on the block. Unlike the majority of the AIO cooling solutions in the market, these tubes are not at 90° fitment as they sit on the same side of the block. By design, the EK-AIO sports the top-mounted approach.

We have a copper base measuring 58x55mm. Thermal paste is pre-applied. Look at the fine finish on the ABS housing. There are two holes on each side of the housing. This is where the mounting brackets are installed.

FAN

EK Water Blocks has provided 3x EK-Vardar S 120ER D-RGB fans. Each fan is packed inside a transparent container with an EKWB seal. Each Vardar S 120ER fan has 7 frosted blades optimized for high pressure and low noise operation. They are industrial-grade high-static pressure radiator fans primarily created for the highest-performance liquid cooling systems. The frame of the fans is in the black color finish. There are no anti-vibration pads on the mounting corners. We have a large diameter center on the fans housing the addressable RGB LEDs. There is an EKWB branded sticker in the center.

There is EK Water Blocks branding on the side of the frame

The backside of the fan shows the 4-arms assembly on the mainframe with one arm having a wider area. The cables are routed on this wider arm towards the exterior of the fan. EK-AIO Vardar S is printed on the sticker. The fans are designed in Slovenia and manufactured in China.

There are two flat cables coming out of the fan. One is the 4-pin PWM fan connector having an approximate length of 490mm and the other is a dual header (male+female) cable for ARGB lighting measuring an approximate length of 395+100mm.

The specification of the fans are:

D-RGB Lighting

There is no dedicated controller provided with the cooler. You would need to have an ARGB lighting header on the motherboard or a compatible controller to make the ARGB lighting work on the cooler. In my opinion, there should have been a dedicated controller in this price tag. I have tested the cooler on ASUS ROG Rampage V Edition 10 motherboard which does not have a 5V header. I ended up using a controller from another cooler. The EK-AIO 360 features a monoblock with top acrylic acting like a complete diffuser. This creates one heck of a beautiful light show which is also on the bundled Vardar S 120ER D-RGB fans. Here are some pictures.

Installation

We have tested the cooler on the X99 platform using Intel LGA 2011-3 socket. Installation is simple and as under:

Install the Intel LGA20xx standoffs.

Install the fans on the radiators.

Install the Intel Mounting Brackets on the block using 4x screws.

Place the block on the CPU by aligning the holes on the mounting brackets with the threaded sides of the standoffs. Place the springs on the standoffs.

Place 4x thumb covers/nuts on the standoffs and screws them in to secure the block on the CPU.

You can use the Y cable to connect both fans to the single fan header on the motherboard. Another fan header would be needed for the 4-pin PWM cable coming from the block to power the pump. Similarly, daisy chain the ARGB cables on the block and the fans to connect them to a single controller for synchronized lighting control.

There is no clearance issue with respect to the DIMM slots and first PCIe slot. Make sure your chassis has clearance for a 360mm radiator.

Testing Methodology

Following test benches have been used: –

• Asus Rampage V Edition 10
• Intel i7 6850k
• CORSAIR VENGEANCE RED 16GB @ 2666MHz
• Colorful GeForce GTX 1050Ti Vulkan
• Samsung 840 EVO 250GB SSD
• Cooler Master MWE 650W Gold
• Custom open-air test bench

The software used for testing and monitoring include:

• Asus Real Bench v 2.56 (Intel)
• Real Temp GT v 3.70 (Intel)

Here is the settings table for testing:

We are using Noctua NT-H1 thermal paste for coolers testing. Using the same thermal paste for all coolers would ensure standardization. Delta temperatures are reported on the graphs. The testing is done on an open-air bench system. Once inside the chassis, the temperatures are expected to rise and would largely depend upon the optimal airflow inside the chassis.

Not every run of the stress test may yield the same result. This could well be due to many factors like mounting pressure, thermal paste application, varying ambient temperature. Not to mention the silicon differences even among the same category of the chips. Hence, it is pertinent to mention the testing methodology along with the specifics.

Let’s take a look at the results.

100% PWM Duty Cycle

Auto PWM

We have a good performance here from the EK-AIO 360. Unlike the EK-AIO 240 D-RGB, no fan on the EK-AIO 360 D-RGB was whining.

Acoustic

The fans are loud at full speed and we measured them to making 54 dBA with an ambient sound level of 32 dB(A).

Conclusion

EK Water Blocks sent us their EK-AIO 360 D-RGB cooler for review. The cooler features a full acrylic cover on the universal compatible monoblock, acting as a diffuser for killer lighting effects. This is an in-house design from EK Water Blocks and features 3x EK-Vardar S 120ER D-RGB high-performance fans. The EK-AIO 360 D-RGB is compatible with – Intel Sockets LGA: 1150, 1151, 1155, 1156, 1200, 2011, 2011-3, 2066, and AMD Socket: AM4.

The unit has an aluminum radiator measuring 395 x 120 x 27mm. The thickness of the radiator is 27mm. The overall thickness would be 52-53mm after installing the fans. The radiator has 21 FPI. The radiator has black color housing. The EK Water Blocks is using low evaporating rubber tubes with nylon braided sleeves running to approximately 400mm in length. The tubes are installed on straight fittings on the radiator with aluminum clamps which are in matte black finish.

The cooler features a universal compatible monoblock with a dimension of 88x70x53mm. The block is made of ABS material with a copper cold plate and steel mounting pump. The top of the block has an acrylic cover with 9 ARGB LEDs underneath. The whole acrylic cover acts as a diffuser for some vivid and even light transitions and effects. To be honest, I love the looks on the block when it is lighted up. There is an EKWB brand logo in silver on the corner of the block. The tubes are installed on the block using diamond-cut rotary fittings with similar aluminum clamps. The overall build quality is top-notch and speaks of what we can expect from EKWB. The cooler features a PWM pump which is rated for 450 ~ 2600 RPM ± 10%. There is no power consumption information provided in the specification. The PWM range of the pump is 20~100%. The block has a copper base with a cold plate. The surface of the base is flat and we have roughly 58x55mm dimension of the base. The base comes with the pre-applied thermal paste. On top of that, EKWB has also bundled its Ectotherm thermal paste.

The EK-AIO 360 D-RGB comes with the three EK-Vardar S 120ER D-RGB fans. These are high-performance fans designed for liquid cooling solutions. These fans are rated for up to 2200 RPM ±10
% speed with a maximum airflow rating of 66.04 CFM at an air pressure rating of 2.89 mmH₂O. These fans feature frosted 7 blades to ensure high pressure with low noise operations. Both fans have ARGB LEDs housed inside the center. There is no dedicated controller provided in the accessory. The installation is an easy task and a comprehensive user guide is provided to help the users in installation.

The EK Water Blocks EK-AIO 360 D-RGB is listed at $154.99 at the time of the review. EK Water Blocks is offering 5 years warranty. We have a premium price tag and I would love a dedicated lighting controller in this price range to be provided! 5 years warranty is showing the confidence of the manufacturer in the product and I have nothing but praise for the EKWB customer service from my personal experience. The EK Water Block EK-AIO 360 D-RGB has performed well on our test bench. It is on the top with a 1°C difference comparing to the Arctic Liquid Freezer – II 240mm AIO cooler. I would love to see how the Elite version stacks up against this cooler and other 360s.

Many thanks to EK Water Blocks for sending in their EK-AIO 360 D-RGB cooler for the review.

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