To monoblock or not to monoblock?

[JustinThyme]

For anyone on the fence I’m going to share a little bit. When the rampage VI extreme and apex were released the anticipation to get your hands on a monoblock was mesmerizing to say the least. Very hard to come by in the beginning. To my knowledge there is only one maker, EKWB. A beautiful sight to behold with the choice of acetal or acrylic.*

Now for he less than desirable part. Most of the reason folks go this route is to cool the VRMs to get a better OC. Well a lot of good going active cooling on the VRMS does when 30% of the IHS doesn’t make contact with the block. I’m not understanding the circular machining, I’m sure it’s just easier and less labor intensive but ends up with a block that isn’t all that it can be.

Hind sight being 20/20 I’ve pulled the EKWB mono block and gone with a heatkiller pro IV and separate VRM cooler. *Rebuild with refresh is getting closer, should have it done enough to use before Christmas. A few mounting parts that everyone is out of but watercool.de so I had to order from Germany, will be here next Thursday. So another heads up, nothing made by heatkiller is ready as is. Everything is ala carte. Reservoir takes a basic mounting block for almost every type mount yet is that in the box? NOPE!! Is there any mention that it cannot be installed without ordering more stuff? NOPE!


Here is what I’m talking about with the EKWB block.

**

[davemon50]

Well their description only promises high efficiency on the CPU; with regards to the VRM they only promise to be better than stock. As it seems for most of their stuff I am guessing form over function might be part of it. Gotta be pretty! Also, I wonder if in testing they plotted a curve for heat transfer versus contact area and found a point of diminishing returns and then simply cut out some of the material needed to manufacture. Or maybe had a limitation on how the fluid could be collected.

Keep us posted on your Christmas miracle.

[G75rog]

The circular footprint of the coldplate already more than covers the area of the die beneath the IHS so squaring it up would have no appreciable effect on it's efficiency. It also allows the coldplate to be mounted in different degrees of rotation to better align the fluid ports as needed.

Personally I opt for separate coldplates than a fluffy monoblock.

[JustinThyme]

You are correct that it barely covers the die, take the measurements of a high core count die the the corners are literally right at the edges of the circle. However this is not a direct die application. There is a reason that chunk of nickel plated copper on top of the die is called a heat spreader, the heat from the die is spread out albeit more concentrated in the center.

Looks are certainly more of the marketing than function. While I’m sure it’s fine for stock, i don’t think it’s optimal for an overclocked machine. *

My concerns were not as much for the VRMs as much as the CPU. I’m more than sure that a block that makes contact with the entire IHS will so a better job and that’s the route I’ve taken using separate blocks. *

[Abaidor]

I am ditching the EK monoblock too...would have done so already if the Direct Die Frame had been shipped to me by Caseking but it is not in stock.

I bought the VRM block from Watercool.de and an EK Velocity RGB while I also have another Velocity D-RGB on the way (have other rigs to cool too)...I would have gone with Heatkiller but I prefer the looks of the Velocity (especially the D-RGB version more) and I don't think they are going to be any different in performance. I will test though.

The big gains I expect to come from Direct die cooling that would be impossible with the monoblock since even delidding causes contact problems due to lowered height of the IHS (creates an angle between the IHS and the VRMs).

Waste of money then in my case and it will become a useless decorative item.

[JustinThyme]

When you see my finished Refresh rebuild you will see why I ditched the RGB on the block. I’m figuring the shiny nickel plated surface of the heatkiller will reflect the RGB runway lights well. Another consideration was how tight the monoblock fit. There’s nothing left for space between the edge of the block and the RAM slots.*

I have an EVO laying around but wanted a change. It worked well on a 6700K and following with a 7700K. *
There is another source for the direct die. Iceman or something similar that may be more readily available if you are delidded. I’m not going to try with the 9940X. I thought hard about whether to go with a 7940 or 7960 knowing that it’s a guarantee that you have to delid or the next generation that’s soldered. In the end the deciding factor was having a 3 year warranty on an expensive chip or no warranty. *

[xarot]

The Watercool MB-X is working great on VRM and using an EK Supremacy EVO nickel block as my 7980XE is on der8auer direct-die frame.

I had trouble with my delidded 7980XE and the Watercool Heatkiller IV PRO waterblock when I still had the IHS on top of the CPU (so no direct die back then), the block wouldn't ever make good contact with the standard mounting kit. Had the use the mounting kit from my EK EVO to get it tightened down. I guess that was due to the delid so the IHS sits lower. But when I moved to direct die I switched to a nickel block anyway and went with the EK block.

But anyway would recommend the Watercool VRM block and a separate block any day.

[JustinThyme]

Thanks for the heads up. I mounted it to the stock frame but the heatkiller back plate showed up today along with the rest of my reservoir parts from watercool.de that wasn’t supposed to be here until Thursday. Great products but availability in the US is pretty poor. Performance PCs lists a good bit but always out of stock.*

[Marko911]

Omg, I use ekwb mono for my cpu, and vrm do not pass 70C,my cpu i9 7900x is oc at 4,7 1,219v, temp on prime 95 don't pass 88C on hottest core after 12 hours prime 95....so monoblock make great contact with delidded and resealed ihs. Only problem is that bad led strip that in most cases don't work. But who cares? It looks much better without that cheap led strip. xd

[EKJake]

Monoblocks are mostly aesthetics. It's rare that VRM's get so hot that they actually throttle a system. Especially on higher end boards.

I haven't seen a ton of feedback about the temperature differences between delidded monoblocks and delidded CPU only blocks, though I've heard about people having poor contact with monoblocks once delidded. It's something I'd love to be able to make a report on to provide the team with.