Alphacool Eiswolf 2 AIO GPU Cooler

[Blast Beat]

Very intresting, but i can't undestand, can i divide the pump and the waterblock? so in case of upgrade of vga i can buy just the block

 

[BoboOOZ]

Most likely, yes.

 

[Nater]

For me $200 is worth the performance, silence and the increased longevity of the gpu as it will last longer at lower temps. So I would have no issue dropping that on a $500 gpu I consider it an investment.

You'd be money well spent to just get a better class GPU and downclock/undervolt to get your silence...? What you're saying only makes sense on a 5700XT, and that doesn't make sense. Undervolt/downclock that 5% and you're silent. You'll never notice the performance difference outside of benchmarks. But you do you.

 

[VSG]

Very intresting, but i can't undestand, can i divide the pump and the waterblock? so in case of upgrade of vga i can buy just the block

That is the current plan from Alphacool, yes.

 

[carb1de]

This looks exciting. I'm currently running a 2080 FE with a Kraken G12 bracket securing a Kraken X62. Whilst the core never has more than a ~30°C delta, it always nags me in the back of my mind what kind of temps the VRM and VRAM are experiencing, despite running a Noctua NF-A9 on full chat.

I wonder what kind of lead time there will be for design/development of blocks for next gen cards?

 

[BoboOOZ]

For the founder's edition, I would imagine a month.
For the others, I imagine it depends on their popularity.
But usually, many manufacturers launch cards with the reference PCB.

 

[carb1de]

I wonder, this time round, whether 3rd party cards will gain more support for custom blocks, seeing as the FE cards appear to have a VRM PCB physically separated from the main core/mem.

That is, me assuming 3rd party cards will take the more traditional approach of a single PCB

 

[kapone32]

they need to sell the GPU block by itself, people will likely want to pick better components for the rest of the loop.

also those fans are seriously disgusting, they gimped 120mms to practically 92mm just for the sake of overblown LEDs. plenty of companies have managed to add LEDs without this degree of compromise, wtf is alphacool thinking?

I am confident that you will be able to buy everything separately anyway. The fans have always been the Achilles heel of Alphacool's AIO solutions but for what you get the value is excellent. I am actually thinking of getting a 280MM rad (as of right now they are somewhere for $85) and the Aurora EIsbaer CPU block to see if it can tame TR4 (If not my Nepton 280 . In reference to this my Big Navi card will have one of these variants for sure.

 

[Makaveli]

You'd be money well spent to just get a better class GPU and downclock/undervolt to get your silence...? What you're saying only makes sense on a 5700XT, and that doesn't make sense. Undervolt/downclock that 5% and you're silent. You'll never notice the performance difference outside of benchmarks. But you do you.

Even undervolted/downclocked you will still hear that GPU fan ramping up during load. When the rest of your rig is very quiet it is noticeable. No amount of tweaking will equal the same level of quiet and performance as going water.

And I will do me $200 on a cooler isn't going to break the bank that is peanuts to spend on my hobby.

 

[xkm1948]

Hey @VSG any chance of you covering the 2080Ti block as well? Very interested in getting one of that. So you think most of the back plates fit just fine?

 

[VSG]

Hey @VSG any chance of you covering the 2080Ti block as well? Very interested in getting one of that. So you think most of the back plates fit just fine?

No 2080Ti here, and I am still in Taiwan halfway away from all of my gear haha. Most stock backplates are considered by block makers for compatibility these days, but it's a simple change of screws if not.

 

[xkm1948]

No 2080Ti here, and I am still in Taiwan halfway away from all of my gear haha. Most stock backplates are considered by block makers for compatibility these days, but it's a simple change of screws if not.

Good to know! Thx again for the nice review

 

[Vya Domus]

Whilst the core never has more than a ~30°C delta, it always nags me in the back of my mind what kind of temps the VRM and VRAM are experiencing, despite running a Noctua NF-A9 on full chat.

Probably much lower, direct airflow over exposed VRMs is very effective. The VRMs might have had a heatsink on them but the airflow was obstructed and hot from the cooler.

 

[Waldorf]

@carb1de
just get the GPX solo.
fits universal, add some heatsinks to vrm/vram, and worst case add a 6dBa Arctic case fan (read inaudible) to blow over the card.


@wickerman
almost zero maintenance if setup properly.
usually a sys prep (primochill or others) is a good idea, otherwise i fill it with distilled water and run for a couple of hours (also good for leak check, after initial build of the loop).

empty and refill with distilled water, run for a bit, and empty it out, if sysprep was used, i repeat 2 times.

refill with de-ionized water, run for about 1h, empty out.
refill again with de-ionized water, but this time i add biocide solution to it (for 5% solution means 1 drop per quart of water/coolant).

never had to empty my loop (clear tubing/res), but can only speak for up to 2y of usage (sold the loop),
and it even "cleaned" a dirty loop (used Resorator was not completely dried before shipping/had used dye)
that kept growing stuff while (initially) using alphacool's ready to use coolant.

and i virtually have seen every coolant from any known name brand grow some type of bio crap while in (unopened) bottle,
but have yet to see it happening with de-ionized water + silver solution.

dead water



@anyone
if you have/plan on using an Eisbaer as well, just buy a gpu with full block and you only need to add the QC hoses (~20$) to add it to the AIO.
usually cheaper, and easier to sell/upgrade (gpu) later.
just make sure to dial up pump curve a bit...

 

[sprach]

Are the QC hoses of the Eiswolf 2 compatible with those of the Eisbaer LT? They seem to look a bit different color wise, thus I'm not sure if the quick disconnects would properly match each other.

 

[Waldorf]

@sprach
seems to be the same (haven physically compared them), they seem to have only changed the tubing to rubberized.

 

[mosterholt]

Little late to the game on this one, but I see they now support 3090 cards. Does the Eiswolf 2 have a full active backplate to help cool the vram?

 

[VSG]

Little late to the game on this one, but I see they now support 3090 cards. Does the Eiswolf 2 have a full active backplate to help cool the vram?

I have the RTX 3080 version here being tested, but it's the same as their standalone GPU blocks with thermal pads between the back of the PCB and the backplate itself. Not fully active, but somewhat active