EK GTX 480 Full Cover Water Block Unboxing & First Look Linus Tech Tips
Linus Tech Tips
·Linus Tech Tips
·2011-05-08
·
748 words · ~3 min read
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Today I'm going to be unboxing something that I uh purchased for myself. This is
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an EK GTX 480 full cover block. It's an
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acrylic nickel version. So, let's go
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ahead and break the seals on this guy. Uh so, this is for the system upgrade
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that I've been well had in progress for
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quite some time. So, I just have a quick disconnect fitting in my system right
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now, bridging my CPU and my radiator.
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But what I'll be doing is I'll be putting this graphics card in between
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and then plumbing it in. So, this is an MSI GTX 480 card that uh will be going
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along with the rest of my system. So, it comes in an orange box. It also comes
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with some accessories. So, the first thing we're going to find inside are some thermal pads. It's important to use
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a good quality thermal pad when you're installing any kind of aftermarket cooler on your graphics card because if
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you use a lousy one, it might not make contact, which may not have any
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noticeable negative effects right away, but it could dramatically shorten the
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lifespan of the card. It comes with two stoppers, which are Oh, looks like
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they've changed the style of their stoppers. They used to not have an Allen
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key. They were actually uh um
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had like a top that you uh that you close with a wrench instead, but it
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looks like they're using a different style now. They've got O-rings to go uh
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with some spacers. So, if you have barbs or compression fittings with long
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threads, you can use these spacers in order to make sure that they don't hit
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the uh stopper on the other side. If you have a block that you've run into this
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before with, you'll know what I mean. They have also a washer here as well as
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a little spacer for it looks like it goes around the GPU as well as screws
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that go into the back of the GPU to keep the block on from the back. You also get
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a black and white instruction sheet that
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shows you how to install the block on your card and a little reminder. Don't
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forget other EK products for your water cooling system. Okay. And then we have
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the nickelplated block itself. very
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dramatic looking, very heavy, very, very
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nice. Um, I've always been a big admirer
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of EK's Pro Cover blocks. Um, they're my
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personal favorite with coolants coming in as a close second. I mean, just the,
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uh, the finish on these is mirror like
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in quality. As you can clearly see, it's
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very, very, very reflective surface. And
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uh the thing about the nickel plating is that it is non oxidizing. If you get a
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copper block, yeah, you might like the look of the copper block, but I
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guarantee you if I touched it like this and then left it for 6 months, it would
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have a disgusting fingerprint that you can only remove by polishing it. So that
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means if you like touch your block or you take it apart to clean it and
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accidentally leave a fingerprint in it, the only way to get it off is to take
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like a toothbrush and some brasso and like clean the heck out of it. and then
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and then like polish it and it it's a lot of work. Nickel looks nice, stays
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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
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do a little guide about that. But, uh why don't you come in close and get some
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product shots of the FC 480 GTX and
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hopefully this will allow me to keep that card nice and cool, nice and quiet.
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Well, I know it will allow me to keep it cool and quiet, but uh there you go.
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Here's all the machined surfaces on the back. So, these are going to make contact with the RAM. This is for the
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GPU itself. I'll use thermal paste here and then pads on the rest of it. This is
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for something else. And then this is for the VRM. Thank you for checking out my
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unboxing. Don't forget to subscribe to Lionus Tech Tips.