Today I'm going to be unboxing something that I uh purchased for myself. This is
an EK GTX 480 full cover block. It's an
acrylic nickel version. So, let's go
ahead and break the seals on this guy. Uh so, this is for the system upgrade
that I've been well had in progress for
quite some time. So, I just have a quick disconnect fitting in my system right
now, bridging my CPU and my radiator.
But what I'll be doing is I'll be putting this graphics card in between
and then plumbing it in. So, this is an MSI GTX 480 card that uh will be going
along with the rest of my system. So, it comes in an orange box. It also comes
with some accessories. So, the first thing we're going to find inside are some thermal pads. It's important to use
a good quality thermal pad when you're installing any kind of aftermarket cooler on your graphics card because if
you use a lousy one, it might not make contact, which may not have any
noticeable negative effects right away, but it could dramatically shorten the
lifespan of the card. It comes with two stoppers, which are Oh, looks like
they've changed the style of their stoppers. They used to not have an Allen
key. They were actually uh um
had like a top that you uh that you close with a wrench instead, but it
looks like they're using a different style now. They've got O-rings to go uh
with some spacers. So, if you have barbs or compression fittings with long
threads, you can use these spacers in order to make sure that they don't hit
the uh stopper on the other side. If you have a block that you've run into this
before with, you'll know what I mean. They have also a washer here as well as
a little spacer for it looks like it goes around the GPU as well as screws
that go into the back of the GPU to keep the block on from the back. You also get
a black and white instruction sheet that
shows you how to install the block on your card and a little reminder. Don't
forget other EK products for your water cooling system. Okay. And then we have
the nickelplated block itself. very
dramatic looking, very heavy, very, very
nice. Um, I've always been a big admirer
of EK's Pro Cover blocks. Um, they're my
personal favorite with coolants coming in as a close second. I mean, just the,
uh, the finish on these is mirror like
in quality. As you can clearly see, it's
very, very, very reflective surface. And
uh the thing about the nickel plating is that it is non oxidizing. If you get a
copper block, yeah, you might like the look of the copper block, but I
guarantee you if I touched it like this and then left it for 6 months, it would
have a disgusting fingerprint that you can only remove by polishing it. So that
means if you like touch your block or you take it apart to clean it and
accidentally leave a fingerprint in it, the only way to get it off is to take
like a toothbrush and some brasso and like clean the heck out of it. and then
and then like polish it and it it's a lot of work. Nickel looks nice, stays
looking nice. So, it's uh it's that simple. So, I'm going to go ahead install this on the card. I'll probably
do a little guide about that. But, uh why don't you come in close and get some
product shots of the FC 480 GTX and
hopefully this will allow me to keep that card nice and cool, nice and quiet.
Well, I know it will allow me to keep it cool and quiet, but uh there you go.
Here's all the machined surfaces on the back. So, these are going to make contact with the RAM. This is for the
GPU itself. I'll use thermal paste here and then pads on the rest of it. This is
for something else. And then this is for the VRM. Thank you for checking out my
unboxing. Don't forget to subscribe to Lionus Tech Tips.