Introduction

The TechPowerUp GPU roundup series continues today with Alphacool, after having examined entries from EKWB and CORSAIR to date. Alphacool is high up on the list of large, established DIY watercooling brands, and the company had sent two different takes on its cooling solution for the NVIDIA RTX 3080. We take a look at both today, and this article will cover the GPX Aurora version. Thanks to Alphacool for sending both review samples to TechPowerUp!


On the product page, the name is actually "Eisblock Aurora Acryl GPX-N," before the GPU mention even enters the picture. But the product packaging and a few other references have used "Eisblock GPX Aurora," which I am going to use for convenience. As the name suggests, this is a full-cover GPU water block that uses an acrylic top throughout. Alphacool is marketing this to users who prefer a mix of function and form, with the Eisblock ES Acetal, of which a review was published alongside this article, on the other end of the spectrum with an acetal top, side-mounted ports, and no lighting support. Be sure to read both reviews as the two designs share commonalities, but also differ in enough ways to merit the existence of both. I recommend starting with the other one since it was done first and has some extra detail that is applicable here, too.

Specifications

Packaging and Accessories

Packaging for the Alphacool Eisblock GPX Aurora GPU block is shared with the Eisblock ES Acetal given the front has renders of both designs, which allows the company to save on the boxes manufactured. It is neat and attractive, employing the black and blue colors the brand loves. The corners have marketing taglines and the company logo, which continues on the back with a more generic printout of the product category in a larger font. In fact, there is no indication that the RTX 3080 block is inside thus far, so the packaging can be used with the company's other GPU blocks, too. It is a sticker on the side that confirms what we have, and a QR code leads you to Alphacool's product configurator, and a seal on either side keeps the inner box in place during transit.


This inner box is bare black and uses thicker cardboard for further protection of the contents. Opening the box, we see two items, a larger bubble-wrap envelope and a cardboard box to the side. The envelope contains the block and backplate, both of which come inside plastic wraps with a seal on the back.


A set of color-printed instructions (online copy here) has also been included in an envelope, which is nice to see. The smaller box contains the installation hardware, which comes neatly packed in separate zip-lock bags that are labeled as seen above. It consists of thermal pads for the front and back of the GPU PCB, a tube of thermal paste, mounting screws and washers, two low profile stop plugs, and a plastic tool for the installation of said plugs. The thermal pads are (mostly) cut to size, but you will have to do some trimming for the VRAM modules. This thus ends up as a middle ground between the user-friendly CORSAIR offering and generic/universal/not-so-friendly EK one. The GPX Aurora block also includes an adapter cable for the d-RGB LEDs, allowing users to control the lighting with a 3-pin, 5 V LED header on most motherboards today.