Coinciding with the release of Nvidia’s RTX series of graphics cards, EKWB has launched their new line of water blocks for both GPUs and CPUs . The Velocity (CPU) and Vector (GPU) lines are part of a larger premium line up called Quantum.
“It has been five years since EK initially introduced the CSQ design language, the first of its kind in the industry,” said Edvard König, EK’s Founder and CEO. “It disrupted the market and set the bar for how water blocks were designed. We knew it was time to raise that bar again, and we developed our Quantum Line to do just that.”
While we haven’t quite finished up our performance testing yet, we can give you a quick preview of the blocks.
The products we received were the Velocity water block in both Copper/Plexi and the RGB variants. Both of these are for Intel CPUs. EKWB also makes a Velocity water block for the AMD AM4 platforms.
EKWB Velocity CPU Water Blocks
EKWB’s packaging for the Velocity line is the same throughout. The front of the package clearly shows which block you are purchasing while the back of the package it gives you a bit more information on the technical details and what is included in the box. There is also a QR code on the back that directs you to an online version of the user manual as there is not one included.
After removing the outer box, you’ll be opening a second box. The inner box is designed to keep all the parts separate and safe during transport.
The inner box is separated into three compartments. The top compartment houses the installation kit while the second compartment houses the CPU block and a small tube of Thermal Grizzly thermal paste and the final compartment contains the back plate and rubber isolation gasket.
The installation kit contains all you’ll need to get the water block mounted on either the mainstream or HEDT platforms. Standoffs are included for each as well as springs, caps, washers and a second jet plate. A small hex wrench is included as well.
We are showing off two different blocks. The copper/plexi block features a copper cold plate as well as copper fins. They are not coated in nickel as we have seen in the past. The copper block does not have RGB lighting. The RGB version of the Velocity features a copper coated cold plate and has RGB lighting around the edge of the block. The plexi top on both blocks has been threaded to accept G1/4 fittings.
Flipping the blocks over, we see a highly reflective surface that has been machined flat. There are very minor machining marks present on both blocks.
The backplate and isolation gaskets are designed to be installed on the rear of the motherboard. The gasket is installed between the motherboard and the back plate. This electrically isolates the motherboard and metal backplate and prevents the motherboard shorting out against the backplate. EKWB has used this type of back plate for a while now.
The RGB on the water block is well done in my opinion. The lighting is even and hot spots are diffused well when looking at the block straight on. From a slight angle, the LEDs can be seen.
