Introduction

The TechPowerUp GPU roundup series continues today with Alphacool, after having examined entries from EKWB and CORSAIR. 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 ES Acetal version. Thanks to Alphacool for sending both review samples to TechPowerUp!


As the name suggests, the Eisblock ES Acetal is a full-cover GPU water block that uses an acetal (POM) top throughout paired with side-mounted inlet and outlet ports, one of the new things to come out of this generation, with active backplates being the other major addition. Alphacool is marketing this for users who prefer function over form, with no RGB lighting and the I/O on the side enabling easier tube routing in horizontal or vertical GPU mounting. The Eisblock GPX Aurora with a review published alongside this article is on the other end of the spectrum, using a full acrylic top and plenty of lighting combined with the more traditional I/O terminal up top. Be sure to read both reviews as the two designs share commonalities but also differ enough to merit the existence of both.

Specifications

Packaging and Accessories

Packaging for the Alphacool Eisblock ES Acetal GPU block is no doubt shared with the Eisblock GPX Aurora 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, though it also piqued my interest on what the Enterprise model looks like. A QR code takes you to Alphacool's product configurator, which is too late of a check if you have the product in your hands already, 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 three sets of items, a plastic zip-lock bag, larger bubble-wrap envelope, and cardboard box to the side. The plastic bag contains the included backplate, making Alphacool the second of three manufacturers to date to bundle it with the block itself. There is also a set of printed instructions (online copy here). The smaller box contains the installation hardware, which comes neatly packed in separately labeled zip-lock bags. These contain 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 installing 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 not-so-friendly EK one.


The backplate comes inside a plastic wrap of its own to keep it clean, and a seal over the folded wrap ultimately does not need to be removed since there is enough slack to slide the backplate out as-is. The block, on the other hand, ships inside what could be mistaken to be your local courier's generic bubble-wrap-lined envelope, which admittedly does the job aplenty.