Cooling GPUs Graphics Reviews Watercooling

Alphacool Eiswolf 2 in a test against a Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Ti with 300 and 380 watts – with a little initiative an (almost) perfect solution

The market for all-in-one water cooling solutions for graphics cards is still abundantly manageable compared to CPU coolers, although the potential gain over air cooling is significantly higher. Higher boost steps and lower operating noise are only part of the reward, because all other components of the graphics card board also benefit from such cooling. Why is this (still) the case with the market? I have no idea, but perhaps for many users the mental hurdle of the alleged conversion problem is (still) a little too high. Somehow it was no different with the first AiO coolers for the CPUs.

The Alphacool Eiswolf 2 is a real all-copper solution without aluminum in the circuit, in my case the one for a GeForce RTX 2080 Ti, and offers everything you need for a stress- and worry-free conversion from the box. Well, almost everything, because in the course of the rebuilding I found one or the other small improvement possibility, including several stumbling blocks. With which the coward of the world might feel confirmed at first sight, but which would still be a far too short hop. Because if you get the right information in relevant reviews beforehand and do not switch off your brain completely, you should be able to expect a result that you can really be satisfied with. And if things don’t quite work out: don’t panic, there are reasons for everything, the community and in an emergency even support.

Scope of delivery and unboxing

Before you start packing, there is always the unpacking. So it’s kind of like Christmas, but with graphics cards and cooling. And what do we find in the box? The completely pre-assembled and filled water block including pump and the 30 mm thick 240 mm radiator (Alphacool NexXxoS), two PWM-controlled aRGB fans from Alphacool (max. 2000 rpm), thermal grease and pads, screws for the cooling block, fans and for fixing the radiator, an Y-splitter for the fan connections and the SATA connection cable for the pump.

So it is also clear that the pump remains unregulated, which is good. Because the DC-LT 2 can be heard despite or because of the approx. 2600 rpm is not and the flow rate is really optimal in the current interpretation. The two quick connectors would allow the integration of further cooling blocks or a second radiator. The TPV tube is somewhat rigid but thus protected against kinking and, due to the material, not particularly susceptible to diffusion effects. The two rotatable 90° fittings then help to find the correct position.

If you want to refill the radiator because of a modification or for other reasons, you will find a plug at the end of the radiator that closes the inlet. The screwdriver is also included. If you want to change the fluid after 1-2 years, this can be done quite easily. The inlet is also an outlet. To release the pressure, you can also force the pressure equalization by loosening one of the quick connectors and pressing the spigot inwards. By the way, there is also this during filling to get the air out.

From a technical point of view, all this is absolutely usable so far and, moreover, completely sufficient to realize a conversion including a proper result. The nickel-plated copper block of the cooler is quite cleanly processed, there are no dangerous burrs, nor are the formerly so unloved tool marks. The spacers (threaded sleeves) are tight enough and the fit is absolutely correct.

I won’t go into detail about the technical data now and in the following, which are available at the end of this page as a full data sheet for reference anyway. At least I haven’t noticed anything negative so far that should have been mentioned. The radiator is a so-called slim radiator and with its 3 cm thickness it is not a real obstacle for the installation of the housing. The aRGB fans labelled on Alphacool are just about ok, even if a bit cheeky. Here I later made heat flow measurements for certain speeds to allow for optimization. The RGB fraction will make it glow by connecting the adapter to the 5V Preci-Dip connector on the motherboard. All current Alphacool components with aRGB can also be easily connected (cascaded) with each other.

 

So whoever wants to, here is finally the data sheet for detail lovers:

DE_Eiswolf2_Datasheet

 

Danke für die Spende



Du fandest, der Beitrag war interessant und möchtest uns unterstützen? Klasse!

Hier erfährst Du, wie: Hier spenden.

Hier kannst Du per PayPal spenden.

About the author

Igor Wallossek

Editor-in-chief and name-giver of igor'sLAB as the content successor of Tom's Hardware Germany, whose license was returned in June 2019 in order to better meet the qualitative demands of web content and challenges of new media such as YouTube with its own channel.

Computer nerd since 1983, audio freak since 1979 and pretty much open to anything with a plug or battery for over 50 years.

Follow Igor:
YouTube Facebook Instagram Twitter

Werbung

Werbung