Introduction

Welcome to round 2 of our 2021 GPU water block roundup series. Round 1 saw entries from EK (thrice!), Alphacool (twice), and CORSAIR, and we now get to Watercool, Aqua Computer, Bitspower, and Bykski. We begin with Watercool, which had recently updated its radiator lineup to put out some very impressively performing and looking cooling solutions, especially as far as the Heatkiller Rad L series is concerned. But even before these were announced, the company was teasing its long-awaited GPU block update. For those unaware, Watercool is quite a small company compared to the likes of EK, CORSAIR, Bitspower, and Alphacool. As such, it takes longer between CPU and GPU block generations, so much so that the latest in the GPU block series for the NVIDIA RTX 30-series is the so-called Heatkiller V, as in the fifth-generation Heatkiller GPU block. A lot of promises are made by the marketing section, so thanks to Watercool for sending a review sample to TechPowerUp as we aim to test all of those ourselves!


The Heatkiller V GPU water block comes in a few different options even for the same PCB, including a copper or nickel-plated copper cold plate, acetal/acrylic/black+acrylic tops, or even an XL variant to cater to some PCBs that adopt the reference design but are slightly longer. At the time of this review, Watercool has the Heatkiller V available for the NVIDIA RTX 3080/3090 reference PCB, the XL reference PCB, and the EVGA XC3 as far as the green camp goes. AMD gets some love also with newly released/releasing blocks for the RX 6800/6900 XT reference PCBs. I have the ACRYL NI-BL ARGB version for the RTX 3080 reference PCB here, seen above with its acrylic top and the black anodized aluminium cover plate along with the nickel-plated copper cold plate, and the respective backplate. Let's go over all this in detail as we begin with a look at the specifications below.

Specifications

Packaging and Accessories

As with the radiators, the packaging for my samples hadn't been completed when they shipped. Expect to see a banderole for aesthetics and some more specifications added, but the lack thereof won't keep us from this review! We see that it is indeed made in Germany, where the company is based out of, and has a seal on this version in the form of a thick, long piece of tape. The box itself is thick cardboard, and opening it, we see a color-printed booklet of assembly instructions in German and English (online copy here), which is a nice change from some of the competition that has completely gone the online route. Underneath, a very thick foam sheet protects the rest of the contents inside.


We see the block and included accessories right away. Watercool includes a tube of the excellent Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut thermal paste, which is a nice surprise, one that works really well for water cooling under heat. It isn't the easiest to apply and spread, but the larger mass and uniform pressure with a GPU block will alleviate that concern. The other accessories come inside a sealed plastic bag with two compartments—one each for the thermal pads and the screws and washers. It's not the easiest to use, or rather re-use, which customers will not have to worry about.


I am glad some things have not changed from the Heatkiller IV, with Watercool still including CNC pre-cut thermal pads for the PCB down to the length and breadth, let alone the thickness. The thermal pads come with a plastic cover on either side you need to peel off prior to installation. Installation hardware consists of M2.5x8 TORX head screws and plastic washers, which unfortunately means you will need the respective screwdriver to install the block since Watercool does not include one. Rounding off the packaging section is a plastic seal over the GPU block to keep it clean out of the box.