What did Alphacool do here? Water Block Roundup 2023
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- čas přidán 3. 06. 2024
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Music / Credits:
Outro:
Dylan Sitts feat. HDBeenDope - For The Record (Dylan Sitts Remix)
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Paid content in this video:
- /
Samples used in this video:
- Stealkey Customs Block, one of the two Alphacool Core 1 Blocks, EKWB Velocity 2, EKWB Flat Nickel Coldplate
Timestamps:
0:00 Intro
1:30 Test System & Methodology
4:33 Barrow Intel 1700 Acrylic RGB
7:39 stealkeycustoms SK-Desty Predator
8:35 Watercool Heatkiller IV Pro Acrylic
9:47 Corsair Hydro X XC7 RGB Pro
10:36 Excursion/Digression: Material science
12:55 Aqua Computer Cuplex Kryos NEXT RGBpx
13:31 EK Water Blocks EK-Quantum Magnitude D-RGB
15:29 Alphacool Core 1
20:30 EK Magnitude modified
21:29 Evaluation of temperatures
22:06 Summary/RANT
28:52 Update 3 Weeks later
29:57 New EK Results
32:06 Alphacool Summary - Věda a technologie
I always find EK to be the SnapOn of the watercooling industry. Big money for identical or comparable performance to lower priced products. you are mostly paying for the name just like SnapOn or Matco tools. (old mechanic here, thats the closest analogy i can relate to)
It would be interesting to test older water block generations to see the progress. I still use my ek supremacy evo
Currently using a Ek Phoenix 😅😎
I only replaced my 15 year old EK Supreme HF recently 😂
Using the same block as well!
I use EK-Supremacy EVO too and I wish to know if it's worth upgrading.
I recently swapped out my Supremacy Evo for the new velocity2+direct die conversion kit for my 12900k, but the block or direct die part was pure garbage, the old supremacy evo cooled better than after delidding and liquid metal. Safe to say I wish I could turn back time and just keep it stock with the old block.
EKs answer totally confirmed what I believe what EK does with every product. EK doesn‘t aspire to be the best, their business model is to be the first. Because they know enthusiasts who are the early adopters buy the first available water cooler!
They also will swap for the best
1-2 c difference between all blocks, lmao. Doesn't matter what block you buy. But haters gonna hate!
@@Jeff.55649 1-2c worse for a $250 block vs a $50 block, simps gonna simp.
@@pcodyssey41 haha someone's mad cuz I'm right, lmao
@@Jeff.55649 EK's gone off the rails with their over engineering that doesn't yield better performance and only increases costs. If the performance was there, which it is not, then maybe someone with deep pockets chasing the absolute best would be interested in it, otherwise why pay a $200 premium for a block with mounting and contact issues?
Why this dude doesn't have a million subscribers in beyond me. IMHO the best tech channel on YT.
Aron Ra-'s videos about atheist rants have millions of views.. About biology is just a fraction of that.
Because, sadly, most people prefer shallow goofy approach. The laziness to learn and think. Is a long curve, but worth, given the willingness and time required. But as I’ve mentioned earlier, a goofy dropping a 2k dollars GPU is funny for some.
Because other tech channels would take this result and make the thumb EK IS RIPPING YOU OFF! Then rant rant rant in the video till the fanboys are all fired up. Nobody is really interested in facts, just drama.
@@marinipersonal linus tech tips channel is proof of this! gamers nexus should have 15mil given his attention to detail and proper lab testing like debaur. Linus is quirky and annoying and people are drawn to his antics. I found him annoying.
Billet Labs definitely should have contacted you instead
@der8auer EN Pleassse do it. I know in a vacuum choosing LTT was the right business decision (assuming they wouldn't mistest it and slander it) but I would love to see Roman's opinion as an engineer. Neither Steve from GN, Jayz2cents, or any other youtube have the machining experience Roman has and that should be one of the main things to be evaluated. Aesthetic finish, fluid dynamics, craftsmanship, performance, and value. I have no clue what gives Linus the right to say it's overpriced when he knows nothing about labor and materials costs in Europe. Roman has first hand experience running a machine shop and would have the best opinion in the tech space on whether the product is priced competitively in an objective sense. I know it will never have 'value' when it's competitors have 1/8 the price, but what manufacturing costs are all things considered and what the profit margins likely are. If I can pay my local machine shop to make the same/similar for me at a more competitive price then they might have a problem.
Agreed. Although, as unfortunate as the situation was, it brought a lot of things to the surface along with the Lab's jabs at HUB and GN regarding data collection stuff.
I which Heatkiller made Ram blocks
The Barrow blocks have an add on RGB controller that plugs onto that 3 pin rgb header , there also a converter cable that changes it to a normal RGB header.
Great video! I would love to see the same type of video about radiators.
I love getting all the extra manufacturing infos on the various blocks.
Awesome video. Really appreciate the time that went into it.
Thank you so much for doing a round up like this. I remember the radiator round up about 10 years ago and that was super helpful for the community. Hope to see more coverage like this and hopefully every few years or so. Thank you again!
Great content as ever mate! Would be awesome if you could do a direct die comparison at some stage too
Amazing video. Finally someone made the test. And thanks for confirming to me that the Heatkiller is basically the best block and only at 80 euro. Im done with EKWB and this video confirms it. Also can you mind telling me what quick connect fittings you use? thanks.
EK is over engineered and overpriced for the performance
EK is not too bad. Performance average, design is good, but is waaaaaay overpriced, also quality control is poor. Shipping active backplate with longer screws that wouldn’t fit as desired, cracking the bridge between the blocks (stress), distro with over tighten or not tighten enough, same issue for GPU blocks. Let’s not forget the DOA RGB strips or the flipped jet plates. Apart from that, is fine. 😂
Im interested in those quick connect fittings too! What are those?
Ek has been shit for 10 years but they sponsor CZcamsrs so kids who are new and don’t know better think they’re good.
Great news on the Heatkillers. I just found a local (Aussie) shop that has these in. Hoping to upgrade my now aging (6.5) years system and pretty much an almost full Watercool components loop (res, cpu, gpu, rads) on my wish list spreadsheet.
Im always amazed by the quality of your testing videos. Very informative and educational. You are great teacher. Thanks for posting.
Great information. I wished I had this information two weeks ago. My loop is complete. Thanks for taking the time to create this content.
Wow! Good stuff, brother! You really know your work. I'm glad I found your channel. Keep up the excellent work!
Roman, thank you for the testing information. This really helped me understand more about these types of coolers. I know what to look for and what to do because of your hard work. Thanks again for all that you do.
Ronnie.
Thank you so much for including the EK Velocity2 in your roundup as I bought one of those a couple of months ago but have yet to mount it! 😊👍
Thank you for the roundup! Interesting results. I'm using the full nickel Heatkiller in my AM5 build, love the look and build quality.
The same. Amazing build quality and looks.
Awesome review - very systematic.
Thanks for the wonderful testing. I have two projects going on and I actually have both the barrow AND alphacool block that was in this video and it's kinda cool being able to see how both compare.
Great technical insight and content
That Barrow RGB header is compatible with standard 5V ARGB, if you make (or buy, if they exist) an adapter; looking along the wire (with the wire closer to your eye than the connector), with the pins at the bottom of the plug with the snapped/cut off plastic tabs below it, it maps to left to right 5V, Data, (no gap), Ground.
Very good point, always good to look at multiple test results, from multiple sources. Especially if you are going to be purchasing that item.
Great video, Love the details
This was very good, thank you.
derbauer on the velocity2 mounting: "really simple". Jayztwocents: *immediately breaks it* :D
Great work! Love it!!!!
Awesome work and detail on it and thank you for your time , I'm definitely Add alphacool core 1 and watercool Heatkiller IV to my next upgrade blocks :😀
I really wish you would test with higher pump speeds as well. I understand why you don’t, but it would be interesting to see the differences.
Theoretical performance vs actual real life performance, also doing max pump speed would allow manafacturers to cheat on flowrate in the blocks.
@@GhostPsi69 it is actual real life performance for me. I have two loops that I sometimes combine. Each is a MORA3 with an EK Dual D5 pump top that all run at 100%. It isn’t cheating on flowrate to have a block designed for high pressure and high flow, as that’s how you’re going to get the best heat dissipation.
I run my pump 100% all of the time. My computer sits a good distance from me and I can't hear it at all. I've never not run a pump at 100%.
@@GhostPsi69 how is it cheating though? I mean I vary my pump speed because I want to achieve a certain dT across the radiator, but other than that I see no real reason to do so. If you mount a D5 properly, you're not going to hear it, regardless of pump RPM.
My old D5 didn't even have speed control at all, it always ran at full speed. As long as you keep the same pump speed between different blocks in the test, it effectively shouldn't matter what speed your pump is running. Unless a specific block is really designed for slow flow, but then again why would it be, as that just isn't the efficient way to go about it.
You didn't mention the killer feature of the Alphacool Core line - the G1/4" threads are **metal**!
Finally some news from water cooling perspective. Nice vid as always man🤙
Very good Video! Thank you
thanks!
Damn, i wish this was available when i was building my AM5 rig...i bought the EK Velocity 2. Im using the very good Alphacool Eisblock for my 4090 which has performed much better than i expected.
thanks you ! awesome video
Hello, IT? Well, I actually own the Alphacool CORE 1 block, it sits on 14th Gen i9 in Z790 motherboad. And all I can say is, its awsome! It really is! It performs great, keeping the CPU around 60C when playing MSFS2020, which is the most demanding application I am currently using. To be fair, I must say that there is also an Alphacool GPU block on a 3090. And I have a very custom loop with 2 huge 40mm 360 radiators with legendary German Noiseblocker FANs and almost 4 liters of water in the whole loop, pumped with DDC 1T Plus pump. So, plenty of liquid + plenty of cooling capacity = cool and quite components. Great video as usual! Thank you!
This was fantastic! I'd love to see me testing like this that gives super accurate, comparative results for us to know not only what to buy, but how what we've bought should be performing.
Quite interesting. Good to know that the performance of high end blocks is so close
Such a great round up. That Alphacool block is… surprisingly great & basic.
Nice video. I bought one of the Alphacool Core 1s off the back of positive reviews, and because I liked the look of it. It replaced an EK Quantum Velocity block. The RGB, although I'm not normally a fan, looks great. Performs well, too, keeping a 7800X3D below 80 degrees with a 35 degree or so water temp.
Is this with CB23 runs or just gaming?
@@Div617 Sorry, had meant to say, CB23
Lol EK, Such a company answer: "You had something NON STOCK? Well in that case it's that thing's fault, if you tested it in a normal system it wouldnt be an issue!!!"
Refreshing to see some proper testing again.
I like how you explained how people should watch multiple points of view before making a decision! Watched and respected your thoughts for a long time. I know very little German and I honestly started watching you because it was in German. And you tell the truth as you see it.
Great and informative vid as usual!
Was the retail Core 1 also suffering from the same plating issues as your engineering part? Ty
this and techpowerup convinced me to buy the core 1, perfect timing. Thanks.
Well done, explained ser gut. Very useful data for interested costumers.
Great video, that Alphacool block did perform well.
Great video
Amazing content once again Roman so thank you very much for your hard work on this. I know there will be a million people saying 'oh can you add this' but I would like to make it a million and one! Something I think that would be invaluable to know would be where abouts are AIO in all this, so if you used the exact test bench and threw on the best AIO cooler, how much of a delta would there be between these and the dedicated blocks. Cheers.
Awesome as always!
thanks for sharing
i really like the Mounting type of double ended Screwing a Backplate to the Board and then Thumbscrew the Block onto that. it's easy to install/remove, the Backplate doesn't fall off when you take off the Cooler, Et Cetera.
it's just the easiest to use IMO. as long as the double ended Screws are large enough to operate with your Fingers, that is.
12:20 - theoretically you could restore lost performance of coldplate created by such technology by recrystallization. You could test what difference (if any) would this make - just place it in oven with protective atmosphere at 400°C for a few hours.
Fantastic job, man 👍
thanks!
It'd be cool to see another one of these roundups with more small name blocks, like Optimus PC. They make some bold claims about their performance.
The Aquacomputer RGB adapter is 3 euros from their site. At that price it should probably be included, but it's also a nominal expense.
The core 1 looks great and performs very well. I still use an alphacool nexxos xp that I modified to fit my 10850K but its tempting to upgrade. It would be nice to have good mounting pressure as my mounting bracket has a single bolt that presses down in the centre of the block.
the ARGB connector on the barrow is from commercial or DIY. I have 3 controllers and lights with that conector. you can get a adapter for the motherboard connector if you dont want to rewire.
Really nice videos to watch, I just bought an AMD 7900x3d and bought myself a Corsair Hydro X Series XC8 RGB PRO JTC Edition because it was so much cheaper than buying an EK block. and am really happy with the result. Corsair $110 vs EK $220 😃
Great video Roman. Now we need a radiator roundup 😀
Excellent review. Very surprised by EK's performance. I am going to have to reevaluate my cooling decisions. Thank you
This is a nice test you have going and would add a few blocks you could test as well. These would be the optimus foundation and the old xspc raystorm waterblack, this the raystorm with acrylic frame and I got a metal one to use instead. I got the raystorm 280 kit with a x79 board, do to fluid in the res falling below half and barfing its fluid. I have have been using it for some year, with a d5 aalpacool eisstation instead. Im moving all that to server duty and got a x299 board to replace it, going to used use a 7th gen chip and your direct die kit. I understand this x299 will have a lot more heat to deal with overclocking, so went the optimus block as a possilbe upgrade since is cnc cut.
Would like to see an Optimus block. Not many channels talk about them.
yes i second this
The alphacool core 1 is the best cpu block currently on the market, better than the optimus. I am currently using the core 1 upgraded from the sigv2 & also previously used heatkiller iv pro & ek magnitude & velocity 2 and the core 1 is the best.
Maybe because their market is almost completely in the US.
Another excellent video!! Just a quick heads-up, Corsair CPU blocks come with the 3 pin argb connector in the box. I build liquid cooled computers for a living. I currently have 2 XC7, 1 XC9, & 1 XC8 (Jayz2cents) in my inventory. All of the boxes have the argb adaptor in the box so u don't have to use icue. as a side note, I really want to know why that EKWB block is SO expensive when it doesn't seem any better than their cheaper blocks. Thank you for everything you do for our community! God Bless from the US!
Thank you roman!!
Just fitted a core 1 aurora to my loop
My favourite block is the Barrow CPU-pump-reservoir combo. Elegant way to fit watercooling into SFF.
I’ve also asked why they use a fan cable for their LEDs. The answer, it seems, is simply “it’s a better connector”. Which is true, anything would be better than the actual LED connector, but it feels like it’s only an excuse to sell adapter cables.
The fact you actually have a Heatkiller impressed me..
Impressive. I happen to be using a Cuplex w/NEXT Vision display, the acetal top version and raw copper. Fantastic performance, I actually liked the mounting system coming from my old Eisbaer. I'm using it on a z590 though, Maximus Hero with 11900k. Pulling 290w reported in Hwinfo, my max temp thus far is 76c. Pretty regular loop, it's my first. A Nexxos 360mm and 420mm. Kryonaut of course, but not Extreme. The price here in the states for this version was $104 USD so I am extremely happy with my purchase, considering it's also made in Germany and has an integrated coolant temp sensor and OLED display with a lot of functionality.
Side note: For the next version of Wireview, please make the display rotatable. I bought one and cannot use it with my Aquacomputer block w/active backplate :c Probably should have seen that coming, but I did not start my build for long after the return period so it's 100% my fault. But, a rotatable display in the future would be awesome.
I was told "a while ago" by one notorious tech youtuber famous for its water cooling builds that there was no reason to review custom liquid cooler parts for their performance and a sponsored build was a perfect way to show of the parts.
A medium one that used science in his handle also told me hey people build custom water for the way they look, no performance review is necessary.
I guess corsair is a big sponsor and a performance review of underperforming parts is always unnecessary.
BTW
Thanks for the review and for actually testing the parts!
I haven't watched the video yet, but going to after.
One of the things I've been searching for online, and others have been from my search, is a waterblock that is good for, or specifically made for the LGA 1700 socket. I know lots fit it, but they don't all do very well for the coverage. Especially since it's much bigger, as well as a rectangle. The 'best' I have been able to find is something that is good for, compatible with the LGA 2066.
I went with HeatKiller IV because it has a bracket that I (as a machinist) can change out and make to fit any hole pattern on any board. Also, it doesn't need mounted offset because the inlet is toward the chiplet side on AMD so the chiplets get the cold side and the SOC gets the outlet. Very nice feature.
Agree. And did the same. The heat killer block is wicked legit
As a "machinist" you should be able to do most of these brackets bud
And how can it help with that?
6:39 That alone shows why direct die is the way forward.
If you took a scythed design and used EDM to make it i wonder if there would be a difference in temperature.
Barrow is almost Identical to the first EK-Supremacy, i have both and i can swap tops and mounting plates.
with the chinese brands you can almost always tell what company they copied from. thats good to know in case I need more parts though, lol.
As always, excellent video. If you plan to do more testing Optimus Signature V2 is a must.
love your ideas on sound quality probably why no hi end music systems use fans for cooling in them.
Think. Im going to try a cpuwater
Loop cooling solution. Really like the look of the heat killer block
The Barrow also has an adapter like aquacomputer to change it to 'normal' argb connector
Btw thank you for this test i have ekwb velocity atm so might go for one of the other ones in the future
The Corsair blocks should come with an adapter to standard A-RGB in the box, at least the one I got did.
Yeah same here they’ve been including more and more of these adapters with hydro X products.
i ll rather just avoid all corsair rgb products instead
I would have liked to see one of the Optimus blocks included in these comparisons due to the bold claims on their website about how much better the cooling is with one of their blocks compared to the rest (un-named) of the blocks on the market
never been disappointed by alphacool, they're my first choice whenever I need any watercooling bits
Great video! Would love to see Optimus waterblocks included in the next one :3
thank you for discussing testing procedures and set ups in reference to the end result.
just because i have all the exact same components does not mean i will get the exact same results as you, even if i built the system exactly the same way as you. electronics are all built within tolerances. nothing is exactly the same at this consumer level of electrical computing components.
Please compare them with EK-Supremacy EVO! You're amazing and the content is excellent. Thank you for the huge effort you're putting into these tests!
I'm not a materials science person, but i've heat treated a few metals in my day. How about post skiving heat treat to re-grow re-fine crystal structure. Send me some revenues if you do this to some heat spreaders. Like take a made up EK block, heat treat it and sell it again. There are razor blades you can buy that are a brand name, then are cryo treated. It definitely helped them last longer, stay sharper. It was simply a slow deep freeze with steps down and up in temp.
@ 5:45, The 28C bios temp seems to be quite accurate. I think you meant it doesn't have the resolution you want.
I recognize that pink paste! Looks like the Kryonaut Extreme I put on after installing your contact frame in an attempt to make my 360mm AIO able to cool my 13900k. It helped a bit, but I'm starting to think it's impossible to actually cool that chip. Lol.
time to try undervolting
I'm running a cheap 360 AIO and it keeps my 13900K from thermal throttling. I hit a max temp in the upper 80's at all stock settings, just undervolted, which doesn't lose any performance, it actually gained performance vs not undervolting.
@@bluegizmo1983 funny you mention that, undervolting dawned on me last night as a pretty obvious thing to do. how far did you push the negative offset on yours?
@bobbyp6592 I didn't use a negative voltage offset, as I followed a guide that talks about how its better these days with modern CPU's to use Load Line Calibration to achieve an undervolt. Google "Asus Maximus Z790 Extreme and Intel i9-13900k - A tuning guide for beginners." It's a long interesting read about why this way is better, but to jump right to the information, you want the second post, then scroll down to "So let's start tuning the beast !". Basically it amounts to setting the DC_LL = 1.02 and
AC_LL = 0.2, that's it, it's undervolted. You can fine tune it more from there but as it says in the forum post, those numbers should be stable for just about all 13900K's
@@bluegizmo1983 LOL dude im literally reading guides about Load Line Calibration right now wondering if that's a way to optimize the undervolt for stability. I remembered der8auer explaining that setting in his 8700k OC video years ago, and how it affected the way the CPU handles 'voltage droops' or something. You have incredible timing, checking that out now. Thanks.
Another thing to consider is the wear and tear, durability of the nickel coating and also the acrylic part. These block are not cheap so the durability needs more attention
DerBauer, when checking mirror finishes on your waterblocks, use a TV sharpness Test! Then you can see exactly how the waterblock is shaped.
wow a 50C temperature drop between junction and spreader means that vast improvements could be had by de-lidding.
I’ve said alphacool has geniuses working on their block design and then give the mounting solution to the intern to mess up. Watercool is really good but I gotta give Koolance the win even though they don’t make blocks anymore with a 6mm thick mounting system.
G'day Shiek, Makita & Roman,
How my brain interpreted Shiek at 13:37 "🧑Simply because of the price...€250" "🐱What The!" 😂
Thanks for including the Science behind manufacturing the Fins (that HUGE Skiver making Fins) & Nickel Coating, understanding the difference between them & the finish they give is very interesting.
I wonder if annealing the copper block after skiving the fins would improve the thermal transfer. If so, it might end up being better overall and faster to produce than finely machined fins.
I think the most important part of this video is at 10:36 when the kitty shows up just to let you know that this video was worth it.
Thank you again of very interesting video. BTW do you already know what the 3 pin connector of the Barrow block is, which cannot be connected to anything.
OK I read almost all comments and it is for 5 v RGB with adapter.
Glad to see the Heatkiller IV Pro I bought in 2017 for 60€ (B-stock) still hold up. :)
They got that design just right - there still isn't a block on the market that can consistantly beat it over 7 years after it was released.
In meantime I have both EK Quantum Velocity2 and Alphacool Core1. I use EK on my 14900K and I have ended buying and using Core 1 on 7600X. Mount on my 14900K is perfect using just cheap contact frame. Full IHS contact and super thin film over the whole surface. CPU puls up to 400 Watt's maximum (Prime95 24 threads small FFT's) and my temperatures are great. On the other hand my Core 1 base is so curved that it touches only 1/4 width of the IHS right true the middle vertically. Left and right of it are thick layers of the paste. Considering that in that Livemixer mainboard AM5 socket is oriented so that the actual CCD is lower right water block is not really doing good job. So practically only like half of the CCD has good contact. In that system I use Alphacool 480 45mm thick radiator with push pull fans on it and D5 pump with Alphacool top. Stock speed and voltage it does 5,3GHz all cores and 80 degrees C in Cinebench at the full load. So despite pitiful mount it still cools OK. Still base is so curved that it can't get real good mount. Turning the Core 1 for for 90 degrees would maybe make it bit cooler but the mount would not be good still. I have checked the IHS of the CPU and outside the socket it is flat. To make it fit perfectly base should be milled. So I guess it is always just about the luck and the specific water block you get. Sometimes you one brand more curved than the other. I get that they have to introduce the curvature for the systems with the stock ILM but if the curve is to tight of the radius you just can't make it fit. In my case EK does way better job for me.
Great video! Any updates on the status of your der8auer-branded direct die block? Been a while with no news and am eagerly awaiting it!
Cool vid
Wish LTT reviews were this thorough
I would love to see a comparison between Acryl version and full copper version of both Aquacompter and Heatkiller blocks.
I plan to buy a Heatkiller IV full copper for my upcoming build.