Alphacool Core RTX 4080 ASUS TUF Water Block Installation & Testing

[@AlphacoolGmbH]

Nice Review ;)

[@vectornetwork]

Thanks for your comment 🙏I have noticed numerous improvements to your water blocks for the 40-series. The plan for the channel is to continue to test water blocks and build systems using those blocks. At the 4090 launch, I got the PNY 4090 because it was one of the few cards available. Then, the Alphacool Eisblock reference design was one of the first water blocks onto the market. The EKWB and HK blocks weren't going to be out for at least another month or so. When testing the Eisblock, I noticed that numerous improvements were made (chrome plating, better o-ring design) and the block tested well for temperatures. The Core water block seems to try to improve on the design aspect of the card by integrating the terminal into the cold plate and making the coldplate as large as possible. I am looking forward to what Alphacool does next. Thanks again for your comment

[@GySgt_USMC_Ret.]

Thanks for the video! I've recently purchased an Asus 4090 and am considering an Alphacool AIO. Fair winds and following seas to all.

[@vectornetwork]

Thanks for your comment 🙏Thank you for watching and congrats on your 4090! It's pure ascension 🙌

[@naserq9]

Thank you for the great content and good luck my friend I liked the video. Thank you again👍👍

[@vectornetwork]

Thanks for your comment 🙏Thank you for watching and I sincerely appreciate your feedback and thank you for liking the video 🙌🙌🙌

[@vectornetwork]

Please enjoy watching 🙏

[@CapriSonne1311]

Nice Video. I really like the Alphacool Core Waterblocks. Might get one for my next GPU.

[@vectornetwork]

Thanks for your comment 🙏Alphacool has certainly been upgrading their water blocks for the 40-series. The eisblock model was a step up from their 30-series (chrome plating, better O-ring design, less O-rings. Then the core model appears to try to improve on the terminal and adding noticeably more coldplate. Hope that helps

[@matheusmarim7844]

Yes sir! 😀 Nice vídeo, and how pretty this block actually looks. In next GPU gen, who knows I'd be doing the same with a 70/80s series card. Thanks for the needed and great content.

[@vectornetwork]

Thanks for your comment 🙏I agree that this block does look nice in person. I think it has to do with the combination of the chrome plated copper that shows the flowpath really well. It shines. Then Alphacool seems to want engineer some design aspects into their water blocks by incorporating the terminal and extending copper all the way to the edge of the block/PCB. Thanks for your comment and I do plan to continue to produce more videos as time allows. I have a Heatkiller V block for the ASUS 4080 TUF coming out next. Then I plan to put that block into a true ITX build and that would be the following episode. Thanks again and thank you for watching!

[@Div617]

@@vectornetwork Really looking forward to the ITX build video! Is there any ETA on that one? Thanks for all the amazing videos, your narration is so informative!

[@vectornetwork]

Wow thank you! 🙏 On the ITX build, there is good news and bad news. Bad news is that the Alphacool Core RTX 4080 simply did not fit. I had mismeasured and the terminal is too large. Good news is that I decided to use the Watercool Heatkiller RTX 4080 TUF block (in silver) instead. I am nearly done with the water block video and that should be out next week. Then I will finish working on the ITX build with the Heatkiller 4080. It fits well and the terminal placement is perfect. The build is AM5 ITX 7600 32GB with the 4080 using the AM5 combo block from EK in the meshlicious. EK black micro adapter fittings for every run and 13/10 heatkiller EPDM black soft tubing. 280 rad and 140 be Quiet! silent wing 4 pros. I will do a variety of tests including undervolting temps and performance across a variety of games. As for ETA, it's the episode after the next and I'm in process. Hope that helps!

[@Div617]

@@vectornetworkLooking forward to it!

[@grympy_sam]

Nice video. Juste a note : Always do a cross-pattern when securing the 4 screws of the GPU DIE to allow a better paste dispertion as well as even pressure on the die.

[@vectornetwork]

Thanks for your comment 🙏I agree. I typically do the criss-cross pattern and would narrate that during installation. For this one, the instructions did say to go in a clockwise pattern, so I did. What I didn't show (and I usually do) was that I did go slowly and apply pressure as evenly as possible. So I would go back and forth numerous times. Thanks again for your comment and I appreciate the feedback

[@minidakota318]

I don't think enough of these videos exist!

[@vectornetwork]

Thanks for your comment 🙏 Well, it has been a while since I did a water block episode. I think I've done most of them for the cards I still have on hand already. I am getting a 4080 Super Strix in, since I never did the 4090 strix. I still happen to have this Alphacool Core water block and I'm optimistic that it'll fit the 4080 super strix. If it does, would you still be interested in seeing the same block but on a different card? Thanks again for watching

[@iamdmc]

Ugliest thermal pad and TIM application I've ever seen, but the most concise and efficient video I've ever found showing how to install this block :)

[@vectornetwork]

Thanks for your comment 🙏 I recognize my TIM application can be improved. I only have one chance to get the shot right. I use the X myself because it seems to provide the best coverage (but the trade off is usually I put too a little too much). So I started with the X on this channel and just kept with it for consistency. I recently showed the contact jobs on a couple of the CPU blocks, since the results were so close, paste/contact will make a difference. As for the thermal pads. I absolutely struggle with how I should present the thermal pad section of each video as its by far the most complicated footage to try to capture. I get a lot of thermal pad comments, so I'll try my best to improve those sections in future videos. Hope that helps.

[@jonathanviborg4229]

Really enjoy your videos! I have two questions which I hope you do not take as me trying to get you as you clearly know your stuff. The thermal paste stuff with double sided peel of tape/film, would it not be easier to add it to the board/block with only 1 side peeled off to maintain some sort of rigidity and peel of the other side once on the paste is on? I could understand it would not matter for performance if it does not look perfect, but for someone with shaky hands would you suggest my method or is there a technical reason that requires you to peel both sides then install? And a second question, why would you want low conductivity in the coolant? Thanks!

[@vectornetwork]

Thanks for your comment 🙏I am glad you asked. Peeling one side off of the thermal pad, placing on the water block and then peeling the other side off of the thermal pad is exactly what I tried to do initially. It made sense, since that's how pre-applied thermal pads work on both GPUs (corsair, bitspower) and Motherboard NVME slots. So, I did try that, but I ran into a few issues. First, it would require moving the camera for a single thermal pad peel (and I may have like up to 10-15 peels to do). The camera needs to move because once its on the block, my finger will literally block the peel, unless I get it really nice and close. Another thing is when I tried that, it was difficult to get a clean grip on thermal pad (with my gloves on) and the pad would just keep moving around and tend to rip. When placed on the water block yourself, it just isn't as sticky as when its preapplied so it moves around and that really messes up the footage. The thermal pad portion of the videos is one of the harder parts to do because its actually a lot of setup and camera work for relatively little visual interest (and some people may simply not be interested, while others may be greatly interested, its a balance). So, what I have tried to do is show the pads being taken out of the bag and then show the peels and then show the placement, as best as I can. If the sections are shorts and/or not complete, its because the footage didn't turn out well. Thermal pads is one of the things I really can't redo. Well, I can, but I like to show things stock and how it comes out of the box. As for the coolant. I mention conductivity because of spills/leaks. I have had my fair share of leaks and coolant/water spraying aroudn, drops of coolant here and there and everywhere. I try to do everything perfect, but sometimes I rush for the camera and there is something expected that happens. So, when the coolant inevitably gets on the components. I just make sure I clean everything up and dry everything and I never had a failure of any kind. My understanding is if the coolant has high conductivity, it may cause damage to the PC components faster and more easily in a case of a leak/unexpected drops of coolant...etc/etc. Everything and anything happens while water cooling (at least for me). Hope that helps and thank you for watching and ask me anything, I will do my best to respond.

[@pinoyprince26]

Brother, I’d love to have a graphics card that needed a water block!! lol great vid

[@ytmaxxammo8591]

Great vid! I am looking to cool my GPu with either this or the Bykski

[@vectornetwork]

Thanks for your comment 🙏 Right on, thank you and either block should work well. This generation has been relatively easy to cool and they are objectively efficient so I haven't seen that much variation on performance. Thanks again for watching

[@zy7412]

Hi, may I ask how much is it better than Alphacool previous version water block?

[@vectornetwork]

Thanks for your comment 🙏 Good question. I'll start with the 30-series blocks and then talk about the 40-series blocks. For 30-series alphacool blocks, the coldplates were made of copper plated nickel and the coldplate and acrylic top seal used 4 black rubber o-rings for water proofing and they incorporated it into the flow-path design. For the 40-series blocks called Eisblock, the main difference was that the copper is now plated with chrome. Chrome is supposedly more durable but it is absolutely more shiny and reflective. As for the waterproof seal, they changed it to one large black rubber O-ring around the perimeter of the coldplate, so its not part of the flow path design. For the 40-series blocks called Core, they retained everything from the Eisblock, but they made two more changes. They increased the size of the coldplate, so now it covers the whole PCB, rather than just the processor/memory area. This increases weight for sure but cooling seemed the same. They also built the terminal directly into the coldplate. Normally, a terminal (where the plugs in and out go) can be mounted on separate, but for the Core, its all one single unit. That is harder to build/design, but I am unsure of the performance improvement. So, as a summary, it does seem like Alphacool made a series of improvements over their products with the 40-series. Hope that helps

[@wulfthofengaming457]

little late to this video but didnt you put the thermal pad on the right side in the wrong place? isn't the thermal pad on right side supose to be like the one on the left covering the little circuits like on the left not down the smooth area where you have all the logos?

[@vectornetwork]

Thanks for your comment 🙏 Just from reading your comment, the thermal pads do not go on the smooth area with the logos. Hope that helps

[@uchi23a]

Yo soy mas de poner los thermalpads en la pcb mas que en la placa, y de forma mas gentil... > Que ansias de dar el salto 980ti a rtx4080 tuf por agua ekwb _____ I am more of putting the thermalpads on the pcb more than on the board, and in a more gentle way... > Can't wait to make the jump from 980ti to rtx4080 tuf by water ekwb

[@Vevenwood]

Is this compatible with 4080 aero gigabyte?

[@vectornetwork]

Thanks for your comment. 🙏 This water block is only compatible with the 4080 Strix/Tuf models. Hope that helps

[@NagoyaRR]

So you don't spread your thermal paste, huh? What if it doesn't cover it fully?

[@jameycates3457]

I would avoid @alphacool products. They have the worst customer support. I've been waiting over 7 weeks for repair parts on 2 new V2 GPU waterblock for my 4090 GPUs and still nothing from Alphacool support.! 💩

[@anhcong948]

you made those pads look grosh 🙄

[@vectornetwork]

Thanks for your comment 🙏I have to agree, the frontside pads did not look good. I tried to edit it as best as possible so people wouldn't notice. The pads were 1mm thick and I had 1 chance to do it correctly for the shot. Having the gloves on doesn't help, but I am getting used to it. The pads were actually noticeably bigger than they needed to be but I only noticed that when I started the footage and I couldn't stop. Then after I noticed that some of the pads were torn. Not ideal. When I was editing the footage, I noticed it was me that tore them based on the way I applied them. Yes, they were very thin, but I could have done a better job with more planning. I will plan to do a better job next time. Thanks for your feedback and I hope you will continue to provide feedback in the future.

[@wingtungchan2715]

I5⏰4460 GPU IS COLD！AND YOU WENT TO TRYING RE-BOOTS GPU TO SIGNAL.

[@Baltilefaible]

I bought the same alphacool core for my strix 4090, but with orignal pads temperature is 80° celsius on gpu and 112° on the hotspot , i tryed 1mm gelid pad same.problem and pads are not marked and thermic paste isnt spread out ... i ll try with 0.5mm tomorrow ...

[@MasonStormSunny]

Use Upsiren putty instead of thermal pads.

[@12Burton24]

Man i have the same problem original block pads on the block full load not undervolting Asus oc mode temps in 80s and hotspot 100 to 115°c

[@12Burton24]

Mate i replaced the thermal paste from stupid alphacool to my thermal grizzly kryonaut extreme(which i use for many projects). Temps stays over time in the 60s with hot spots in the 70s sometimes 80s