This is how you make a 4090 even more expensive... 4090 Strix EK Waterblock Install

Im finally upgrading the 10th gen Intel rig in my system, but before I can start my build I need to get my Strix 4090 ready for install! Today we install the EKWB Strix 4080/4090 Block!
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[@CadeCraze]

Impossible, now I have to sell the other kidney.

[@carbon_no6]

Or, you can start your stripping business again. Don’t charge 2 cents. You’ll need to reduce it to 1 cent.

[@CadeCraze]

@@carbon_no6 with this economy? Inflation put me out of business in the first place

[@arride4590]

Do you live in US or Zimbabwe?

[@digizilla164]

Just make sure its not your kidney youre selling.

[@Reflectivityy]

​@digizilla164 sell blood, sperm, or eggs (don't know your gender) valuable and replaceable

[@xxJOKeR75xx]

I'd like to see a comparison on how the temps change between the normal and the active backplate blocks. Just so we know if it's worth the extra price and effort.

[@RGBeanie]

It will lower VRM temps, which will definitely help in demanding scenarios

[@AKTechIT]

@@RGBeanie how would it lower vrm temps if there is no memory on the back?

[@joeldiramon8538]

@@RGBeanie i think someone already posted this in the r/watercool subreddit. very minimal gains for the price

[@stansz]

@@AKTechIT VRM = voltage regulator module

[@AKTechIT]

@@stansz ah my bad

[@B13ro]

Haha Doug's surprise appearance was hilarious! Thanks Jay for showing us all of the water cooling quirks and features

[@sipher3516]

Doug popping up out of Jay's box of goodies made me spit water on my desk. Thankfully I missed my keyboard lol.

[@NJerseyBoy]

Straight up legendary.

[@biLLy-op5pr]

Shit made me smile

[@Buddy63631]

Surprise appearance foiled 😢

[@MaheerKibria]

I am glad you are getting back to water cooling and hopefully custom builds. I am really hoping you do some really nice custom stuff now that you guys have a 3D printer and I mean stuff other than brackets for a sensor panel display.

[@raven4k998]

well if he's doing it atleast he's doing it with something that will utilize the liquid cooling like a 4090 that things a nuclear reactor in and of it's own

[@bepbep7418]

FINALLY builds are starting back! 🙌

[@bs11100010]

Excited to see the quirks and features

[@kalapanas]

Tomorrow he's going to review it and then he's going to give it a Jay score.

[@ImranIsak]

THISSSSS

[@JetsetDruid]

He's gotta look in the glovebox for the owners manual

[@Gruffdonut]

That EK waterblock looks really sick! As much as I like the 3080 Strix air cooler design, that water block design is so chill and understated. Wish I could do a custom loop in my system

[@JezyYT]

Great hanging out with you today Jay! Love these more in depth more detailed hands on water cooling videos

[@KentBurgess]

I've put Mystic Fog in several builds. The loop really needs to be flushed thoroughly with distilled water before using the Mystic Fog or the reflecting particles will fall out. I've also found that diluting the recommended mixture with about 50% more distilled water leads to much better longevity. The system I built for my wife has been running Mystic Fog for a year and a half with no fallout.

[@warpedphreak]

no reason to dilute if done right the first time around, and maintain flushing per manufacturer specs (def less than 1yr... hint hint)

[@KentBurgess]

@@warpedphreak If there is no color fallout, temperatures are identical to new, and there is no chemical breakdown in the system, then there is no reason to flush the system.

[@anivicuno9473]

@@KentBurgess You know that particles in suspension can still react and clump with other particles over time right? Especially in systems with more tham zero energy....

[@chubbysumo2230]

I had the premix drop out after just 6 months. The loop had EK cryofuel clear in it beforehand, and was not flushed with distilled water or any cleaners, just some clean cryofuel clear(literally used 2 liters of clear premix to flush the loop to even remove the possibility of water contamination). still failed after 6 months. didn't stain the tubes or stuff tho, and was able to be flushed out in 1 go by using the pump to pull from a new bottle of clear and just sucking the old crap out of the loop.

[@ms3862]

I've used premix for a year and a half and the mystic fog still looked new. Eventually drained it anyway and the tubes had some discolouration

[@adamlittle9177]

Doug DeMuro @3:50 !!! Made me laugh, thanks Phil!

[@mczulian603]

I love the detail of the tool to take the cable off. That's so toughtful from EK. I love it

[@jonathanvoris6016]

I originally found your videos when building my first water cooled rig in 2019. It's nice to see you getting back into it. I've missed your water cooled builds.

[@miketwist6536]

Just about died when I saw Doug! Literally just finished one of his vids

[@SpecialCheeseWaffle]

More watercooling videos!! YES! Would love to see an updated how-to on watercooling loops for PC's :)

[@BeheadedKamikaze]

It's literally no different. The way you prep, flush, fit, fill, drain, etc. is all exactly the same as it always was. This is good because it means all the old content is still relevant

[@TheBurnsStuff]

Its soooo nice to see you doing a water cooling system again! I know they are a lot of work and very time consuming, but its great to see it. I've been watching you water cool PCs since you had 20k-ish subs. I too, have been running plain jane distilled water in all of my loops. I've been holding out for some low maintenance, sweet looking, but functional fluid additives.

[@surly_mel]

I installed a 3080 version of this not too long ago, so nice. Love the active backplate, minimal RGB, and no fuss no leak build. I've tried other water cooling products in the past and ALWAYS come back to EK.

[@arztje]

Their manuals (EKWB) are easy to find and well done. I just did a 2080 OC Strix with an EKWB GPU Water Block - took maybe 20 minutes total between the ASUS being easy to take apart, and the EKWB documentation being well written.

[@hypnotiq]

Instructions arent worth how overpriced they are imo. It's getting insane how much they charge for their parts when there are other companies that have better cooling performance for almost half the price for some things.

[@baoquoc3710]

@@hypnotiq uhm, aren't you kidding? This is EK water blocks, their cooling solution is always end to end, if there's cheaper ones, it's either just noctua which hardly comes close

[@hypnotiq]

@@baoquoc3710 are you drunk? Watercool/Heatkiller waterblocks just to name one, have been a few degrees cooler at almost half the price for YEARS. EK is just a well known pay for the brand overpriced.

[@hypnotiq]

@@baoquoc3710 The only reason EK is considered "end game" is because its expensive and way more popular than other brands. Their waterblocks are good, but for the price there are countless other brands, even aliexpress waterblocks hold up to EK blocks within a few degrees.

[@arztje]

@@hypnotiq Part of it for me was on availability. I wanted a Corsair model, but it wasn't restocked. I went with this as an alternative and wasn't disappointed. It's a good point to say there are plenty of options, and I agree that shopping around is best. I appreciate that this channel is big on that recommendation because as Jay has mentioned before - it can get really expensive very quickly to spec out a custom cooled build (esp if you use a lot of fittings).

[@hellraserfleshlight]

Everyone knows what EK is putting out... I'd love to see coverage of like... ANY other brand. What about stuff like Optimus, Heatkiller, Aquacomputer, or any other reputable but almost un-covered company?

[@mikemoore5270]

Optimus has supply issues

[@hellraserfleshlight]

@@mikemoore5270 everyone has supply issues right now. I had trouble getting EK, HWLabs, and Aquacomputer parts over the last couple of months, not to mention actual computer components. I'd still like to see a mainstream content creator feature anything other than literally the single biggest name in the water cooling space.

[@AlMustaqin]

Optimus is just a joke to be honest. They are WAY to pricey. Alphacool Waterblocks fpr 4000 series blow almost everything out ofthe water, quality and performance wise AND the nickel plating won´t come off like in every EK product because they use chrome

[@Slavolko]

Heatkiller is nice. I've got a res and CPU block from them. I was suprised to hear Linus recently say on the WAN Show that Heatkiller was known as being lesser-performing, and maybe that was true when they started out, but they certainly perform great these days.

[@Primafaveo]

@@Slavolko had heatkiller on my last build and it performed 4-6 degrees hotter than my EK

[@kekked1584]

I think it would be really cool to see how this compares to an Alphacool Eiswolf 2 4090.

[@cfrozen6210]

Yes, I would like to see the performance of different blocks. I think Igors Lab once did it with CPU blocks some years ago, and many cheaper brands were cooler than EKWB.

[@B0B_BELCHER]

He did a review of the 4090 alphacool cooler two weeks ago 😊 you can find it on his site

[@krisfahnz]

Thank you Jay and Phil !! and Nick as well ! :D Looking forward to the full build !

[@BlueMetal]

That Doug cameo caught me off guard lol.

[@BeheadedKamikaze]

I got pretty much the same block but for the Gigabyte Gaming OC 4090 upon launch (I think it arrived in Nov). There's one extra thing you didn't show - the metal plate with "GEFORCE RTX" is magnetic and detaches easily so you can rotate it either direction so it can be read properly when used in vertical mounting :)

[@ilovehotdogs125790]

I love the watercooling videos jay! You're the best at it. I wanna see more of these

[@K1Crawford]

I have REALLY enjoyed this video. Great content, Great Jay being Jay and the Editing..... Just so good!

[@TotallyNotRoadkiill]

The Daddy Doug "This" 😂

[@AusSkiller]

I'm probably going to do this with the TUF instead of the Strix, the performance difference is going to be negligible but the price difference will cover the cost of the water block.

[@Dumdcrap8120]

Just got mine today and can't wait to install it

[@ygordreyer]

I wanted to see this installed so badly. Now I'm anxious for the continuation.

[@TheGigglingChicken]

jay the type of guy to put a doug demuro cameo in his videos

[@SirChaosS]

i love watching these types of videos. I wanna liquid-cool my system, but i wanna run 2 separate loops (1 for CPU, 1 for GPU--i know there really isn't a "need" to, but for the design i have in mind, it's what i want) so i am always inspired watching what you come up with. Now i'm thinking AIO for CPU and a custom loop for graphics. i can still make that work with the theme of the build.

[@grievesy83]

I’m here to say build whatever custom loop you like! Don’t let convention dictate how you want your system to look. 😁 I very nearly intertwined/crossed tubes on my loop just because I knew it would trigger custom loop snobs. 😆 Chickened out in the end because it was going to be too difficult to bend. But my system is massively over-cooled (2 x 360 rads for a 5600X & RTX 3070), just because I wanted the loop a certain way & for reduced fan speeds/noise. It was fun, & that’s the whole point.

[@hellraserfleshlight]

Not only is it not necessary, it will perform worse. With a single loop, all components have access to the full cooling potential of the system. In a dual loop, each component is limited to the cooling capacity of its respective radiator. Since there are almost no scenarios where both will be operating full tilt, you are basically throwing away the unused capacity of one of the loops. The *only* reason to do a dual loop is aesthetics, and it costs you performance.

[@jimflagg4009]

The main advantage to liquid cooling is it moves the heat sink over your CPU and GPU to the edge of the case. This makes it look much cleaner inside. The second advantage is you can then use larger fans. The larger your fan the quieter it is. Still might get a noise from the pump depending on the pump you go with. Also I would start with soft tubing. Hard tubing is such a pain if one of you components quits working.

[@hellraserfleshlight]

@@grievesy83 congrats on spending enough to upgrade to a 3090 and maybe 5800X3D on your loop, I guess? Your also triggering this value-enthusiast.

[@grievesy83]

@@hellraserfleshlight spending money on a hobby doesn’t need to be a value proposition. If it did, we wouldn’t have hobbies. The actual benefit in the end was in noise reduction vs air cooling - my fans are all running super slow and quiet because i have so much thermal headroom.

[@rustler08]

Blocks like these are where I love using TG-PP10. No need to cut up specific thickness pads, just ball it up using your fingers or use a syringe to apply to all areas, put on your thermal paste, put it together, done. The best part is if there are any tolerance differences, you don't have to worry about thermal pads that are too thick or too thin. And with a thermal conductivity of 10.00W/m-K, it's up there with some of the better pads.

[@prophecy66]

Always love more watercooling builds from you!

[@peterpeter5666]

nice to see water cooling stuff again feels like a long time. but like most have mentioned i would love to see the temps , im sure performance will be marginal

[@Silverhks]

My gigabyte card never goes above 50c and generally is between 40-45c while gaming. I am not able to talk about performance gains but it seems to keep higher clocks.

[@peterpeter5666]

@@Silverhks is it water cooled?

[@Silverhks]

@@peterpeter5666 yep, that's why I mention it. I have no comparison data because it actually wouldn't fit in my case without the waterblock 🤣

[@EagleEye8208]

Man, that is one sleek water block. Never seen a 4090 so small. Just bought a MSI 4090 Suprim X, but was offered the AIO, tempted to exchange now given the space saving.

[@jjlw2378]

Swap the AIO for a cheap Byski block. It worked wonders for me. The AIO is too small for the power draw on these cards. Get the Byski, flash the Galax 666w bios, and enjoy your card.

[@jesuschristiscallingyou953]

I have the 4090 Liquid Suprim X and it's such a blessing to not have a humongous card. Cooler works nicely too, because the radiator fans push out literal hot air and the card's temps themselves stay cool.

[@Thunderdkfox]

These videos are the reason that i have gotten myself to try do watercooling :D im quite happy with the result :)

[@rosssmith7414]

Hay I’m so happy to see big builds again

[@inoob26]

On today's episode of "Jay lives out the dream of building expensive PCs in place for the the viewers"

[@zzygyy]

Facts

[@cardsfanbj]

Living vicariously through this man lol

[@tyson3758]

I like watching waterblock installs. It's ironic how the best ek wb videos are not made by them. they are made by Snaxan and others like these.

[@Jim-yr9zl]

I wish she would only do pc stuff, it's a same she doesn't do more her pc content is really good.

[@tyson3758]

@@Jim-yr9zl 100%. Today I learned how to electroplate ek radiators from her channel lol. I didn't even know it was possible.

[@petertaylor5830]

Good stuff. Take us through the process. Be great to see this in your rig

[@randomhobbies5796]

We love Phil's editing skillz. And yes show us more watercooling pads choices and all that

[@ers-tj4to]

The WB for the 4090 Strix is so tiny! If I'm going to a WB for this one it will go into an O11 Mini.

[@estikenal3078]

Ah yes, the utimate WK waterblock.

[@Distracted_Easily]

Seems to be a small company. They don't have a website.

[@bobbysinks6085]

LOL

[@JujutsuJesus]

Is the WK on purpose or did they forget to read the title before uploading

[@joelrainwaterful]

So excited to see you building more

[@user-ko1qo7qw8r]

Super excited to see the 7950x3d build. Thanks for the content!

[@cpbpilot]

WK water block? Lol

[@ChillMasterDave]

Nice block, but the edible filling blew my mind today :O

[@shey_clone]

I feel dumb for asking this but, is it actually edible?

[@xBrandonJx]

Jay packing material better than what most of us eat today. Man... America land of dream. One day.

[@ChillMasterDave]

@@shey_clone I googled it quickly and apparantly biodegradable packing peanuts are indeed ingestible. But it's not recommended to eat them, because they have no nutrients and aren't manufactured under food-safe conditions.

[@xBrandonJx]

@@ChillMasterDave I bet you could add pack of mama noodle season to the foam. Wouldn't be too bad maybe?

[@nagranoth_]

@@shey_clone depends. The old type stuff is some chemical crap, but newer are based on starch.

[@neonpulse49]

Love this waterblock. looks awesome. glad to see u back to watercooling awesomeness.

[@HlspwnsWorld]

Watching this really made me want to upgrade my pc. Looking forward to the rest of your build.

[@philliptorres6850]

Jay thank you so much for this video. It is the first video that i really liked water cooling and would even possible maybe even consider doing one for myself.

[@josephmabanag6254]

I installed an Ek waterblock on a Suprim X liquid. I removed the AIO and installed the block. The connector is also recessed. Thank for the video!

[@chasewalker3924]

Yep, I want one! Been looking at EK and Optimus components for my first build. Love the modern, minimalist look!

[@chris81983]

That's probably the cleanest gpu water I have ever seen. It's like a full case that totally surrounds the pcb. AWESOME 😎👍

[@adamlefevre2040]

Love watercooling videos. Keep em coming!

[@jasonprestonATX2140]

I got a water cooled PC from EK a few years back it’s been a great rig love EK

[@KevinBein]

Yay! a JTC water cooling project! I have missed these

[@TheZoenGaming]

Last month I picked up the ABP set for my 3080 and it's massive. Also, I bought three triple fan X-Flow rads from EK and I'm very impressed with the build quality. They look okay, but I don't care for the satin detailing. I would have preferred either a choice of color that matches the color rings of their fittings, or a choice of black. I'm still waiting for the rest of the parts that I ordered to come in.

[@rueggly2367]

Got the EK block with active backplate on my 4090 TUF OC, love it 🤙🏻

[@jrizz43]

Looks nice and sleek. Can't wait to see it in a build!

[@livlive2919]

this is the unpacking video i needed in my life

[@OlimacKuma]

I’m so excited to see this build. I just finished doing a complete clean up of my loop. But the itch to build a pc ain’t fully scratched yet.

[@opoxious1592]

Nice JAYz, doing a good job removing the cooling paste residu. I do it exactly the same way. Friends of my always say i always "overkilling" when i'm cleaning my cpu when i replace my cooler. And now i can show this video to them that i don't.

[@cronopoly344]

Just picked up a TUF '90 for "15" pre Tax so this vid is perfect timing. Love the perfect wrapping of the 4090 by the EK enclosure. Shocked it's so well designed.

[@tsunami6253]

It has been a while, but I really like the direction EK waterblocks are going. Very clean.

[@jamesgordon2289]

great video, thanks Jay

[@ThatFreikugel]

That looks so clean

[@kbgamestation]

Would love to see a comparison of temps between waterblock with and without active backplate!

[@ytmaxxammo8591]

I have 3 PCs with the mystic fog. Absolutely nothing that you can’t clean. No gunk just a lil bit of milky dusting. Easy to clean with sys prep.

[@Soordhin]

Never did a watercooled system myself, but stuff like really gives me an interest in doing that with my next build.

[@robertcochran7103]

I too would like to see additional watercooling videos featuring EKWB products.

[@Drsokol01]

Would love to see a video on active backplate vs non active backplate on a 3080/3080ti or 4080/4090 without ram on the back side of the board. I have an EK Velocity TUF on my 3080ti and their passive backplate. The backplate gets so hot that you cannot hold your hand on it for more than a few seconds. GPU temps are low 50s so normal, but I would have to imagine sucking all that heat that is still coming off the board on the backside may help cool the ram/board overall to make a difference that is greater than margin of error.

[@jeremybarber2837]

Super good looking card and I like how reasonably sized the GPU becomes once it is blocked.

[@blaked7532]

I agree, captive screws are a nice touch.

[@rickysreviewsandhowtos]

I’ve used the mystic fog coolant in my loop for the last several years with no issues, I like the color in my system.

[@HiiiCee]

great video and i can't wait to see the rest of the build once the 7950X3D comes out.

[@Chef_-xv7ms]

can't wait for the full build! 😍

[@mikey2111]

Kinda interested how it will look in your system. Great video 👍

[@kahvozeinsfang6953]

Im going to order everything from EK from now on. I like the fact they send you a snack you can eat while you build your PC.

[@lost_lt9736]

Jay, thanks for making a point in videos like this to explain putting the dark side of the TIM down on the components and making an outline. I always find a video you make to double check. EK instructions should include that. Way to be better than the manufacturers yet again!!!!

[@veyron984]

That pump looks SICK! wauw

[@manxome65]

Based on this and the singularity computers video it looks like you are building almost exactly what I was thinking about putting together. Maybe I will wait until I see your build and the benchmarks

[@britonhutchison1437]

Jay just throwing a packing peanut in his mouth with 100% confidence got me on the floor crying 😂😂

[@abritabroadinthephilippines]

I was looking at this block a few days ago and couldn't make my mind up over the different ones so this video is good timing Jay thanks. I still haven't made up my mind though lolz. Peace out.

[@macmagus1981]

😍 Vintage Jay! Love it!

[@alpenfoxvideo7255]

i loved the old acrylic blocks where you would see most of the PCB trough

[@-CLASSIFIED-]

12:55 , my experience with EK "quality control" summed up right there.

[@majorpain71]

@Jayztwocents I have ran Mystic fog in my system since I built it in August of 2021, I just did my first coolant change back in november when I upgraded my CPU and GPU. I did not any issues with it guming up my system and the coolant was in the system for over a year. I also ran their clear coolant for amonth before i swtiched over. It dose look awsome thou with the lighting on.

[@pakobello]

MAN you literally cracked me up when you put Doug de Muro's "THIS" XD

[@GamerVicoN]

I can't believe I am now just stumbling across your channel!!!! - great content, its informative, funny, and my speed! plus it makes me thirsty for all this good stuff!

[@sloreo8278]

That cooling pad note is why I started using putty over pads. I had a Dell G15 I repasted 6 times in a week because the pads kept being too thick or too stiff and giving bad contact. Went to K5 and later TGPP10 and never had another issue. The K5 admittedly left a residue when cleaned off but the TGPP10 has been great and cleans off well all things considered.

[@liamtilliam5866]

Imagine you drop a screw down the fins 7:30 and all you hear is that tinking sound when you drop a coin down a turbine engine, you lift it up and its just gone. Im loving this

[@hj-redravenheng3822]

I have this same block and the active backplate for the evgs 3090 FTW... the blocks add a TON of weight - but its sooooo quiet afterwards... couldn't care less about the price because I can't hear it. Except for a tiny bit of coil whine, sometimes. Well worth it if you're not scared of the cost.

[@MancunianManxman]

I love this. In detail, simplistic, part focused content. I really like this. Edit: Holy shit, you're actually happy doing this. Please do more things that make you happy.

[@I_Crit_My_Pants]

I love how your reaction to that weird paper packing is exactly the same as mine when I get it lol.... Also the Doug reference was unexpected but appreciated

[@henrikhartmann7125]

Would love if you could also give us a look at how the ABP installs, and particularly how EKWB's crossover connector works to allow different kinds of plumbing configurations.

[@Ambivadox]

That is a really good looking block. Wish more places would go that clean with just a touch of accent RGB.

[@theOneDeh]

This is beautiful!

[@MrKkaeder]

Love my EK block on my Tuf 4090, I didnt do the back side active cooling, but mine has the clear bottom which lights up very nice.

[@kingcrackedhen3572]

Love the videos keep it up jay nic and Phil :)

[@luisquintero8806]

Bykski are awesome, their anti-off fittings are just so crazy good !!! their distro plates and gpu plates are just awesome

[@ZeilLibertas]

I was watching your vid from 02/15/23 (the next day after this one) and I was thinking to myself, I wonder if Jay has a vid installing a waterblock on a video card. Lo and behold this vid was on the right side. (Guess I missed it yesterday.) I've never done any kind of custom water cooling and I just got a Red Devil 7900xtx that I plan putting EK's water block on it for an upcoming build I'm doing. So THANK YOU for this!!! Helped me soooooooo much.