EK is announcing Modular Liquid Cooling

#5381953

Cbotha15

2017-01-16 09:53

Oh boy! I've been waiting for this for a while now. It sounds very promising. I just hope they change the look of the products. The first gen radiators looked a bit weird with their mat black hoses and ugly grey QDC fittings.

#5382005

Unilythe

2017-01-16 12:56

This sounds cool! But I wonder why they discontinued the XLC series now already if the MLC series isn't available until Q2. Especially considering the fact that the 140/280mm series was only just released. It reached end-of-life after only being on the market for 3 months or so. Maybe there were some issues with the QLC series? I heard EK was pumping out new revision after new revision for the 280mm version. Edit: it indeed seems there were many complaints about the 280 leaking. I think this is why they discontinued the XLC series, honestly. Good PR move, though.

#5382008

EdInk

2017-01-16 13:28

Nothing beats the looks of a well planned loop using hard tubing, quick disconnect fittings look hideous. A modular full kit just means MOAR quick disconnect fitting. 😛uke2:

#5382020

fantaskarsef

2017-01-16 14:36

Nothing beats the looks of a well planned loop using hard tubing, quick disconnect fittings look hideous. A modular full kit just means MOAR quick disconnect fitting. 😛uke2:

I hear you, but we're not the target audience for AIO's I guess 😀 At least they're trying to bring more people towards water cooling, although I'm not really sure if declining hardware power draw (and heat loss therefor) and a decreased chance of getting better clocks with lower temps (Nvidia's capping) does make it a great move to try and bring in people easier. Would have been really cool five years ago when cards were getting hot and cooling them properly made a big difference.

#5382027

Gromuhl'Djun

2017-01-16 15:09

Nothing beats the looks of a well planned loop using hard tubing, quick disconnect fittings look hideous. A modular full kit just means MOAR quick disconnect fitting. 😛uke2:

True, but I'm not one for side windows for example. I just care about great cooling and not the fuss of making it look great. I just want it to work as well as it can with minimal fuss. At the moment I have a Define R5 (which is essentially a thick black monolith, which I like), with room to spare for some large water cooling radiators.

#5382040

FranciscoCL

2017-01-16 16:12

True, but I'm not one for side windows for example. I just care about great cooling and not the fuss of making it look great. I just want it to work as well as it can with minimal fuss. At the moment I have a Define R5 (which is essentially a thick black monolith, which I like), with room to spare for some large water cooling radiators.

Same here: I have a Thermaltake Suppressor F51 (a Define R5 clone) with no window. Currently my 4790K is cooled by a Kraken X61 AIO and my GPU is air cooled but I want to watercool my GPU too. I almost buy a Predator 360 but I decided to build my first custom loop with silence focused components (big low fpi radiator, low RPM fans).

#5382098

ScoobyDooby

2017-01-16 19:14

Nothing beats the looks of a well planned loop using hard tubing, quick disconnect fittings look hideous. A modular full kit just means MOAR quick disconnect fitting. 😛uke2:

Well thats stating the obvious, isn't it? Quick disconnect is meant of ease of use.. not everyone has the time, money, will, or desire to sit there with a heat gun bending tube for a week and refilling their loop over and over. That's the whole point of the AIO kits.. they could never possibly look as good as custom loop, so I fail to see what point you're trying to make.

True, but I'm not one for side windows for example. I just care about great cooling and not the fuss of making it look great. I just want it to work as well as it can with minimal fuss. At the moment I have a Define R5 (which is essentially a thick black monolith, which I like), with room to spare for some large water cooling radiators.

Precisely why I use the Predator 360. I actually don't mind the look of the QDC at all, think it looks nice. Obviously not as nice as hard line tubing, but nothing looks as tidy as that, and QDC is not meant to compete with that whatsoever. For functionality and ease of setup, the predator & qdc takes best prize all day. Its super easy to run, and for quiet and cool operations, its pretty exemplary.

#5382132

fry178

2017-01-16 20:51

@EdInk you gonna build mine? for free (labor)? no?? EK aio here i come....

#5382204

chispy

2017-01-17 00:30

Well thats stating the obvious, isn't it? Quick disconnect is meant of ease of use.. not everyone has the time, money, will, or desire to sit there with a heat gun bending tube for a week and refilling their loop over and over. That's the whole point of the AIO kits.. they could never possibly look as good as custom loop, so I fail to see what point you're trying to make. Precisely why I use the Predator 360. I actually don't mind the look of the QDC at all, think it looks nice. Obviously not as nice as hard line tubing, but nothing looks as tidy as that, and QDC is not meant to compete with that whatsoever. For functionality and ease of setup, the predator & qdc takes best prize all day. Its super easy to run, and for quiet and cool operations, its pretty exemplary.

^ This , well said ScoobyDooby !

#5382214

sykozis

2017-01-17 01:05

My loop is ugly....but it's effective. I considered an EK AIO, but found I could assembly a loop on my own for considerably less money.

#5382216

-Tj-

2017-01-17 01:19

And here I was thinking to get me EK-XLC Predator 240.. that 169€ looked ok now 🤓 I wonder what kind of pricing will this MLC have.. would be great if it were the same, but kind of doubt it. At their page its very mysterious atm 😀 https://www.ekwb.com/shop/aio/ek-mlc when I looked for XLC 240 it already got a status end of life

#5382238

Lavcat

2017-01-17 05:10

I've been living with my EK 360 for a year. I would go with them again in a heartbeat. Even if I had to kneel inside my case to install it as I suspect I would. Again.

#5382292

Veteran

2017-01-17 12:49

QDC's are good for changing a GPU on a custom loop, saves you loads of time draining and refilling the entire loop. That is all there good for.

#5382301

AvengerUK

2017-01-17 13:09

As someone who has a the EK-240 1.1 AIO - I've been very happy with it. No problems and cools my CPU & GPU no issue. Would certainly use them again - don't trust myself with making my own, ever since I wiped out a 6990 back in the day

#5382335

BroDragon

2017-01-17 15:31

I've been trying to get my hands on a EK-XLC 140mm for since last year and the webpage has had them listed as out of stock. Now EK says they are no longer being sold and that the EK-MLC series will be released sometime in Q2-2017 with no hard release dates provided. EK's marketing people need to understand that people don't appreciate being misinformed about their products availability. Honesty isn't just the best way, it's the only way.

#5382377

drwoodcomb

2017-01-17 17:53

@EdInk you gonna build mine? for free (labor)? no?? EK aio here i come....

Where do you live? I'll build a custom loop for you. I enjoy doing it so much I'll do it for free. You pay for the parts of course. I agree with EdInk, quick disconnects are ugly. Convenient but ugly.

#5382395

ScoobyDooby

2017-01-17 18:41

QDC's are good for changing a GPU on a custom loop, saves you loads of time draining and refilling the entire loop. That is all there good for.

They're also good for case options. Many cases are difficult to build out an entire custom loop in if they aren't big enough. You can get similar cooling performance from an AIO as a full loop and fit it in smaller cases. It also takes all the guess work out of ordering the parts to create a loop. Again, ease of use makes it way way better than a custom loop from that perspective. So no, just GPU block is not all they're good for.

I agree with EdInk, quick disconnects are ugly. Convenient but ugly.

I could say the same for many custom loops. Big silly reservoirs, half the case stuffed with tubing and radiators.. beauty is in the eye of the beholder after all 😉

#5382497

Veteran

2017-01-18 01:17

You can get similar cooling performance from an AIO as a full loop. /QUOTE] LOL similar cooling my ass.....My full loop has 3x triple rads, big thick RX360s too, i also have a monoblock covering my entire motherboard for uber cooling not to mention the finest waterblocks money can buy. Your AIO loop is inferior in every way, i could go on about flow rate, delta, temps etc. It dont really matter when running at stock but once you get some heavy overclocks the custom cooling blows an AIO away by keeping the temps way down when voltages and core clock are maxed out producing lots of heat that an AIO simply will not cope with especially on a single rad lol. When youve actually built a custom loop yourself then you will see the difference as you've never actually built one. If your case is too small buy a bigger one then. Remember you get what you pay for at the end of the day, but there is no way an AIO is just as good as a high end custom loop. Ive built and owned quite a few over the years so i know from experience and not just somebody saying it.

#5382502

yasamoka

2017-01-18 01:52

They're also good for case options. Many cases are difficult to build out an entire custom loop in if they aren't big enough. You can get similar cooling performance from an AIO as a full loop and fit it in smaller cases. It also takes all the guess work out of ordering the parts to create a loop. Again, ease of use makes it way way better than a custom loop from that perspective. So no, just GPU block is not all they're good for.

No, you cannot. Never. No way. Nada.

#5382753

ScoobyDooby

2017-01-18 19:09

You can get similar cooling performance from an AIO as a full loop. /QUOTE] LOL similar cooling my ass.....My full loop has 3x triple rads, big thick RX360s too, i also have a monoblock covering my entire motherboard for uber cooling not to mention the finest waterblocks money can buy. Your AIO loop is inferior in every way, i could go on about flow rate, delta, temps etc. It dont really matter when running at stock but once you get some heavy overclocks the custom cooling blows an AIO away by keeping the temps way down when voltages and core clock are maxed out producing lots of heat that an AIO simply will not cope with especially on a single rad lol. When youve actually built a custom loop yourself then you will see the difference as you've never actually built one. If your case is too small buy a bigger one then. Remember you get what you pay for at the end of the day, but there is no way an AIO is just as good as a high end custom loop. Ive built and owned quite a few over the years so i know from experience and not just somebody saying it.
Vet, relax. You don't gotta get all warrior on me.
No, you cannot. Never. No way. Nada.
Let me clarify, since I guess what I was getting at wasn't obvious enough. If you create a custom loop to cool a CPU and GPU and use one 240mm/360mm radiator, then yes, its similar. They are compatible with push pull, and will provide very similar cooling. Why would I suggest that it an AIO is in any way similar to a 3x rad, dual res, 10+ fan configuration that is meant to cool your ram, board, cpu, and 3 gpus? That is not what the AIOs are meant for and they can't do this anyway, nor is anyone buying them for this, so this is entirely a moot point... Cmon guys..