Leading computer cooler designer EK Water Blocks has been busy at the virtual CES 2021, streaming plenty of video, blogging, and updating us with news releases – it hosts a dedicated EK Expo CES 21 microsite too. Some of the new products will be immediately familiar – when new graphics cards and motherboards come out EKWB often prepares matching waterblocks for the kit. Other obvious product releases are in the LCS fittings and accessories needed by PC DIYers. Below I'd like to highlight some less obvious new products from this company for your perusal.
Active Backplate Cooling
EK claims to have "the first proper active backplate cooling solution," with seamless integration and without any soft tubing involved. With the latest power hungry graphics cards that feature hot components on front and back of the PCB active backplate cooling is more desirable than ever. A specific example is that graphics cards like the GeForce RTX 3090 feature memory on the back of the PCB. EKWB's cooling backplate is also claimed to reduce the potential for coil whine with sturdy structural properties and thermal pad stability.
The active backplate cooler block will come in acetal or nickel-plexi variants with a terminal to split coolant flow to front and back. EKWB will make this active backplate cooling solution available for RTX 3080/3090 reference PCB designs first. Depending on the sales success we might be seeing more of these.
O11D External Cooling Unit
This external cooling unit has a rather small target market as it is designed to be paired with Lian Li's O11D Dynamic Case. Sitting beneath the chassis, sharing the same design aesthetic, the EKWB solution even adopts the screw-in feet of the O11D. Inside the unit is a built-in D5 and a small distribution plate that channels the coolant between the two radiators that can be mounted inside. That is a good solution for this case if you want to max it out with powerful components as radiator space inside the O11D is limited.
EK Concept case
Last but not least EKWB showed off an open frame modular case which can be VESA mounted to the wall or any regular monitor/TV arm/mount. Additionally, there is a (detachable) bottom mounting system that allows users to fix this case on the back of a desk.
