Liquid cooling specialist EK has announced the latest product to come out of its non-reference water block programme: a full-cover block for the Power Color, VTX3D and Club3D Radeon R9 290 and 290X graphics cards.
Similar to rival Alphacool's 3D scanning programme, EK is working on bringing its graphics card blocks to boards that deviate from AMD and Nvidia reference designs. Its latest design, the EK-FC R9-290X SE, is a full-coverage water block based on the company's existing EK-FC R9-290X design. Where it deviates is in its support: the EK-FC R9-290X works only with reference-design boards, while the SE variant supports the modified layout used by Power Color, VTX3D and Club3D boards.
Supporting both the R9 290 and 290X from all three manufacturers - who have, handily, used the same layout - the new block is a full-coverage design that flows water over the GPU, RAM and voltage regulator hardware for maximum cooling without the need for a separate fan. The base, featuring a 0.6mm-wide microchannel structure, is made from nickel-plated copper, and the top from cast POM acetal. Brass stand-offs are preinstalled to make installation as easy as possible, with an optional EK-FC Terminal allowing for four such blocks to be linked together. The inlet and outlet ports are also designed to match the layout of the reference design block, meaning reference and non-reference boards can be mixed in a single system.
UK pricing for the EK-FC R9-290X SE was not available at the time of writing, with UK setting a European recommended retail price of €109.95 while an optional black backplate - for aesthetic purposes only, the company is quick to point out - will launch before the month is out for an additional €29.95 (around £88 and £24 respectively.)
Similar to rival Alphacool's 3D scanning programme, EK is working on bringing its graphics card blocks to boards that deviate from AMD and Nvidia reference designs. Its latest design, the EK-FC R9-290X SE, is a full-coverage water block based on the company's existing EK-FC R9-290X design. Where it deviates is in its support: the EK-FC R9-290X works only with reference-design boards, while the SE variant supports the modified layout used by Power Color, VTX3D and Club3D boards.
Supporting both the R9 290 and 290X from all three manufacturers - who have, handily, used the same layout - the new block is a full-coverage design that flows water over the GPU, RAM and voltage regulator hardware for maximum cooling without the need for a separate fan. The base, featuring a 0.6mm-wide microchannel structure, is made from nickel-plated copper, and the top from cast POM acetal. Brass stand-offs are preinstalled to make installation as easy as possible, with an optional EK-FC Terminal allowing for four such blocks to be linked together. The inlet and outlet ports are also designed to match the layout of the reference design block, meaning reference and non-reference boards can be mixed in a single system.
UK pricing for the EK-FC R9-290X SE was not available at the time of writing, with UK setting a European recommended retail price of €109.95 while an optional black backplate - for aesthetic purposes only, the company is quick to point out - will launch before the month is out for an additional €29.95 (around £88 and £24 respectively.)
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