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EK Unveils the EK-Ascendancy Water Cooling Control Board

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EK Water Blocks, Ljubljana based premium water cooling gear manufacturer, is excited to give you first glimpse of the upcoming EK-Ascendancy water cooling system control board which has been in development for the past 12 months. The unit is design to work in conjuction with EK-Ascendacy software interface for Microsoft Windows but can also operate in standalone mode.

With three integrated presets and plethora of customized profiles this unit is capable of controlling your computer cooling system exactly as you want it. Powered by world renown CPUID monitoring library the EK-Ascendacy and it's Microsoft Windows based application is the ultimate solution for any avid computer water cooling enthusiast.





Hardware features:
  • direct drain FET water cooled voltage regulation module (VRM)
  • up to 150 W sustained power capable VRM
  • standard 6-pin PCI-Express power connector ensures
  • control a 4-pin molex / 3-pin DC (up to 40W) or 4-pin PWM capable water pump
  • control up to 8 4-pin PWM or 3-pin DC fans (15W each)
  • connect any industry standard flow meter (pulse sensing)
  • monitor up to 10 thermal probes (NTC thermistor)

Software features:
  • Microsoft Windows based application
  • Modern, easy and intuitive user interface
  • Custom profile creation, editing and management - from fan hysteresis to flow meter pulse tuning
  • CPUID SDK support allows monitoring of all vital parameters of your computer
  • Logging function of all parameters



The unit is now in validation phase where all potential flaws will be ironed out. EK will offer both full- as well as light 5.25" drive bay version without the front facing LCD and interface.

The light version without the front facing LCD will be available by early March 2014, pricing is yet to be announced.

It is worth noting this product is - like most EK Water Blocks products - completely designed and manufactured in Slovenia, Europe!

View at TechPowerUp Main Site
 
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If I was as enthusiastic now about water cooling as I was 5 years ago, I'd be all over this.

My current solution is simple:
  1. An old Koolance controller showing the temperature of the waterblock (the most critical component), it will also shut the system down if the block reaches 95F.
  2. An EK reservoir so I can see the flow via the whirlpool
  3. A manual fan controller and my ears to hear how loud the fans are :)
 
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So basically it's a PWM for a water cooling loop? You just plug everything into it and add it into the loop, and blam'o, total control?!?
Sounds awesome, especially for those who demand silence.
 
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So basically it's a PWM for a water cooling loop? You just plug everything into it and add it into the loop, and blam'o, total control?!?
Sounds awesome, especially for those who demand silence.

And simplicity... measure temp, flow, controls fans (presumably pump too?) and looks cool. I wonder what the version with an LCD display will look like.

Oh... and, it cools the IC power regulators on the board itself! Clever...
 
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Most people will probably hide it somewhere, but I would like to see a version with mat black PCB, black connectors and nickel plated block.
 
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If this thing is capable of supplying up to 150W, should it not have at least a 8-pin or 2x 6 pin PCI-e power inputs?

Also, they should switch out those Jamicon 85c electrolytics for some some Panasonic or Nichicon 105c rated caps.
 
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I hope people realize that if you're using the PWM features of the board, then the water block (or any cooling) is pointless. This board is ridiculously overdesigned for its function.

PWM devices control their speeds at the device themselves and are only sent a low energy pulse signal to tell it what speed to run at. All this board needs to do is provide that pulse signal. The cooling would be only for standard fans and pumps are controlled by varying voltage (using very wasteful resistors, potentiometers, or VRMs). As far as the power supply to the board, all the PWM pumps I've seen don't even draw power from their 4-pin connector; it is supplied by a separate 4-pin Molex connector, and 8 fans aren't going to draw 150W.

For the past few years I have wanted something that can software control lots of PWM devices. This would work, but I'd estimate it will be over $200 which is well over an acceptable price to me. I'll stick to soldering together $10 worth of electronic components to make my own manual PWM controllers.

 
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