14 DAY TRIAL // Water cooling modules come out every week or so, especially for graphics cards. With how many custom versions of every high-end board exist, there aren't any universally compatible water blocks. Thus, EK has to make one for every card that manages to stand out, and the Gigabyte Gaming G1 Series GTX 970 is getting its turn now.
EK Water Blocks is a Ljubljana-based premium computer liquid cooling gear manufacturer that seems to launch a new water block twice or three times a month.
It's a natural consequence of all the custom-PCB versions of AMD's and NVIDIA graphics adapters. Every change to the electronic parts' arrangement makes current water blocks incompatible.
The newest water block from EK is called EK-FC970 GTX WF3 and is designed for the Gigabyte Gaming G1 version of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 graphics card.
The EK-FC970 GTX WF3
WF3 is the WindForce 3X abbreviation and is meant to suggest that the water block is intended as a replacement for the WindForce 3X triple-fan cooler that is normally found on the video card.
The new water block has a base made of nickel-plated electrolytic copper, but a top that allows you some leeway, depending on whether you want to see the inner workings or not.
There's a top made of quality POM Acetal material, and an acrylic one. The price isn't affected but the difference, it's just a cosmetic customization option.
The block uses a central inlet split-flow cooling engine, which EK has specifically designed so that performance is maximized, and so that even reversed water flow will cool things just fine.
In other blocks, reversed water flow can negatively impact cooling performance, which is never a good sign. Especially when you overclock the board (which, at the end of the day, is what water cooling is supposed to make easier and safer).
Finally, as is normal for EK's full-cover water blocks, and full-cover water blocks in general, the base makes direct contact with not just the GPU but also the VRM (voltage regulation module) and the RAM (random access memory).
Availability and pricing
Sales of the EK Water Block EK-FC970 GTX WF3 should begin shortly, if they haven't already, for €109.95 / $109.95 (both in Nickel and Nickel+Acetal versions). Screw-in brass standoffs are pre-installed. You can buy a black backplate to go with it, for an extra €29.95 / $29.95, or one made of nickel for €37.95 / $37.95.
