Hi to all Xtremehardware.com friends, especially to liquid cooling fans! Today, we’ll talk about full-covers again, starting the reviews of these products for Nvidia GeForce GTX 980 video cards.After several reviews published about Nvidia GeForce GTX 780 and AMD Radeon R9 290 waterblocks, it is now time to move on to the next series. The first full-cover for Maxwell (GM204) was offered by Aquacomputer, who sent us an amazing Kryographics GTX 980 acrylic glass edition, nickel plated version. Here the Italian Review [Italian Version].
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Founded in 2001, Aquacomputer is a German company, who have been operating in the field of Liquid cooling for over ten years. Over the years, they have always kept abreast and to the fore, supplying a number of excellent products, such as waterblock pumps and radiators, both for the “consumer” and the professional markets.
The German company is particularly famous for introducing definitely advanced controllers for liquid cooling, such as Aquaero supplemented with Aquasuite software, which has now reached version 6 and are the top in their field.
Today, as I have already hinted, we’ll talk about the latest arrival into the lucky Kryographics family, namely the model dedicated to Nvidia GeForce GTX 980 video cards, supplied in the 4 different versions we are illustrating hereafter.
Aquacomputer Kryographics GTX 980 Acrylic Glass Edition, Package and Bundle
The package supplied by Aquacomputer is typically a fine package. The blue and yellow Aquacomputer logo stands out on the glossy black background. The package is very well made, although there are no photos of the product, which is mentioned only on a small sticker on one side of the package.
Once we open the package, we find plenty of wrapping protecting the fullcover and the remainder of the bundle.
It is absolutely impossible for the contents to be damaged during shipping. When we take out the fullcover, tightly sealed in a vacuum plastic pack, we find a small bag containing the bundle.
The bundle contains:
- Instructions in German and English
- A stainless steel backplate
- Screws and material for installation
- Thermal pads
- Two G1/4” threaded caps
Following the manual with installation instructions and technical specifications of the product:
Aquacomputer Kryographics GTX 980 Acrylic Glass Edition, a detailed analysis
When we take out the wrapping containing Kryographics GTX 980 Acrylic Edition, we observe that Aquacomputer have actually sealed the fullcover hermetically.
Once we take the fullcover out of its protective wrapping, we are really impressed with the excellent manufacture and amazing aspect of the Aquacomputer product.
The top is made of acrylic glass with a stainless steel frame, secured to the waterblock by means of stainless steel screws.
The large acrylic glass window gives a good view of the nickel-plated waterblock, with a sensational effect when coloured liquid is used. A truly winning combination, as already seen on the Watercool GTX 780 fullcover.
The frame has a small enriching laser cut particularity, namely the brand Maxwell referring to the new NVIDIA graphic chip.
The overall aspect of Kryographics is really impressive.
Technically speaking, we observe that the water block has two distinct areas, one for the inflow and one for the outflow of the liquid, which cools directly the areas in contact with voltage regulators, VRAM chips and the GM204 GPU.
For the GPU, a microcanal structure has been adopted to optimize the heat dissipation.
The terminal for the 4 G1/4”connections is made of delrin and displays the Aquacomputer logo and the phrase “made in Germany”; two hexagon socket head screws secure the terminal to the rest of the item.
As you can see from the photos, manufacture is top level and threading is perfect.
Let’s move on and take a close look at the waterblock basis, which will be in contact with our Nvidia GTX 980: as said, the waterblock body is made of copper and is nickeled.
It is faultlessly made, the lapping of the basis is perfect and we can see that the areas in direct contact with VRM, VRAM and GPU are embossed and polished for excellent heat transferled.
The conclusion of our analysis can only be full praise for the Aquacomputer product, which can rightly boast top quality material and a perfect manufacture.
Aquacomputer Kryographics GTX 980 Acrylic Glass Edition: assembling instructions
Let’s now take the instruction manual and assemble the fullcover.
For the test, we will use an EVGA GTX 980 and obviously we will disassemble it by taking out the backplate and the reference heat-sink
We remove the pre-applied thermal paste and we clean thoroughly the VRAM chips and voltage regulators in order to eliminate any trace of paste.
Once the PCB is ready, we can move on to preparing our video card.
Following the instructions, we will use thermal paste (NOT included in the bundle) spreading a thin layer on the GPU and VRAM chips (marked in red).
We fit the voltage regulators with the thermal pad included in the bundle; then we cut out the thermal pad and we apply it on the areas specified in the manual and marked in green.
When our reference PCB EVGA GTX 980 is ready, we can start assembling the Aquacomputger Kryographics; we lay it on our card and we start tightening the first 5 M3X4mm screws into the holes identified with red circles on the instruction manual.
Now, we place the two rubber strips (marked in yellow) to isolate the backplate from the video card PCB to prevent contact.
Then, we place the black spacers included in the bundle following the green indications on the instruction manual.
We can now place the backplate, which makes possible to optimize the contact between the waterblock and the VRMs, and we secure it with the six M3X10mm screws, after putting a plastic washer between the backplate and each screw.
Finally we complete the assembly by securing the fullcover to the PCI panel and to the output connections with the two M3x6mm screws and the two bolts in the places identified in blue.
And here we are! The Aquacomputer Kryophapichs GTX 980 Acrylic Glass Edition is perfectly mounted on our EVGA GTX 980, which is now ready to be inserted into the test loop
Aquacomputer Kryographics GTX 980 Acrylic Glass Edition, trial system and test methods
Test Methods
The Aquacomputer Kryographics GTX 980 fullcover will be tested to assess its flow rate value, first on its own, then in the test loop and then its restrictiveness will be assessed in complex loops.
Then, we will carry out performance tests to assess the cooling capacity, using different software to produce the load on the video card at two different clock settings for our EVGA GeForce GTX 980.
- DEFAULT SETTING (1127/1216/1753), with boost clock during the tests at 1266MHz on the core.
- OVERCLOCK SETTING (1287/1376/2000), with boost clock during the test at 1438MHz on the core, with a voltage increase of +87 mV and a power target increase of 125%. To carry out the air test, we have manually set the rotation speed of the fan at 100%.
To monitor the temperatures of the card and of the system we have used the following software:
- MSI AFTERBURNER 4.1.0
- GPU-Z 0.8.1
- AQUASUITE 2015 – 2
Since this is the first fullcover that we test for the NVIDIA GTX 980, the results will be compared to those obtained for the stock heat sink of the video card. Further comparisons will be shown in the next reviews.
Test Results
Flow rate and restrictiveness test
As regards the flow rate test, we have made several measurements. We have considered the “Empty Loop” to be a circuit made of pump, top, flowmeter and tray; we gave the pump 12V, which yielded an average value of 404 L/h (the average between minimum and maximum value). We have then added each fullcover to the loop, right after the flowmeter and before the re-entry into the tray and obtained the following results.
Let’s now consider our test circuit, that is the circuit we use to cool our workstation, configured as reported in the above table.
We have made measurements with each fullcover reviewed alternating them in the test system.
We have obtained the following flowrate measures:
The recorded data lead us to say that Aquacomputer Kryographics GTX 980 does not stand out of its competitors as regards restrictiveness; nevertheless, it shows good flowrates. Therefore, this fullcover can be used without problems in systems that do not have very powerful pumps.
Performance Test
The following software has been used to carry out the tests::
- UnigineValley Benchmark 1.0
- Battlefield 4
For each test we have recorded the data with Aquasuite before, after and during each test; then we have constructed graphs; we have taken room temperature and the temperature inside our Enthoo Primo case into account and adjusted the maximum temperatures that were recorded.
We run a Unigine Valley test for 30 minutes and in the following graphs you can see the highest temperatures recorded both with the default clock frequency and with the overclocked profile, with a GPU core clock at 1287 MHz (with a boost clock during the test at 1438MHz); this has brought an increase in voltage of about 87mV and of 125% for the power limit; this test has been conducted to stress especially the video card VRMs.
It is useful to remember that for the second overclock test, we have set manually the fan of our reference GTX 980 VGA at 100%.
As can be seen from the tests, Aquacomputer Kryographics GTX 980 yields excellent performances! In particular, with the overclock profile, the GPU core temperature does not increase, still leaving wide margins. As a matter of fact, we pushed even further the card and we managed to close several benchmarks and even play for a few hours under a 1551Hz Kepler-Boost profile without exceeding 50 °C!
Obviously, we cannot make comparisons with air cooling systems, especially stock coolers. However, we can point out that there is a difference of 25°Ceven with the manual setting of the stock heat sink fan at 100% (with obvious consequences on the noise),whereas obviously Kryographics GTX 980 operates in complete silence.
Finally, we have tested the card in a 90 minute session with Battlefield 4, aiming at simulating a daily scenario as close as possible to that of the average user, who clearly does not spend his days performing heavy stress tests or benchmarks. For this reason, we have also decreased the fan rotation speed to 1000 RPM and the pump speed down to 75%, in order to reduce noise, although experiencing a small fall in the performance of the cooling system.
In this test too, as in the previous ones, Aquacomputer fullcover performs greatly even with a lower flowrate. Obviously, the comparison with air stock can only give an idea of the general power of liquid cooling. However, in the near future, as we have already done for Nvidia GTX 780 and AMD Radeon R9 290, we will test other fullcovers, in order to make a comparative analysis of liquid cooling systems only for this GPU. Stay tuned!
VRM Temperature
During the UNIGINE VALLEY BENCHMARK 1.0 test, VRM temperature was recorded by placing a probe under the fullcover backplate and at the back of the VRM; temperatures were recorded with Aquasuite and, subsequently, maximum temperatures were entered into the graph. This is clearly an approximate measurement, which can , nevertheless, give some indications.
The fullcover produced by the German Aquacomputer has given proof of excellent performances as regards the cooling of the EVGA GTX 980 voltage regulators; the very good temperatures recorded allow skillful users to play around with the overclock without any risk.
Conclusions
Packaging and Bundle |
An excellent packaging and a complete bundle with clear instructions. A small backplate is included for the VRM strip. Unfortunately, the thermal paste is not included. |
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Performance |
Excellent performances even at low flowrates. |
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Aspect | Truly amazing. The laser engraving and acrylic window make this item worthy of being proudly displayed. | |
Materials | As always happens when Aquacomputer gets down to things, the result is top quality. | |
Price | This version costs 109.99 euro, due to the acrylic window and nickel plating. Other versions are available from 99 euro. The price is however fully justified by the high quality and the performances. | |
Overall |
In so far, we have done our best to describe and show you the new Aquacomputer Kryographics GTX 980 and we have now reached the final page, which will sum up our conclusions.
We will start by saying that the rating is undeniably positive, thanks to a number of factors.
Packaging and bundle are fully satisfactory. The box is nice and elegant and the inside wrapping is thoroughly adequate, just remember that the water block is kept in a tightly sealed vacuum pack. The bundle is thorough and of good quality (nice screws and caps); it’s a pity that the thermal paste is not included, although this will not be a problem for the users, who generally use their “favorite” paste. We should point out that a small backplate is included to improve contact between the full cover and the VRM area.
Assembling was fairly quick and instructions are definitely clear. We would have preferred to use thermal pads instead of the thermal paste on the VRAM, but since Aquacomputer usually chooses this solution, they obviously have their own good reasons for performance sake.
We must give Kryographics full marks both for aspect and material! The waterblock is truly amazing and particularly slim. Nickel plating is perfect and manufacture is top quality, as always when Aquacomputer is concerned. We stress once again that laser engravings are a real treat, which will please the fans of this Nvidia Maxwell series.
The acrylic window is a special enhancement. It allows a view of the waterblock and of the microcanals on the GPU; if you use a colored liquid, for sure the effect will be extraordinary.
As regards performance, Aquacomputer have done a great job. In particular the fullcover we have tested today yields excellent temperatures on the GPU core while keeping the VRM under control (in part thanks to the small backplate included in the bundle), allowing voltage and power limit to be pushed to maximum, confidently reaching 1551 MHz.
The fullcover is available at the official Aquacomputer shop at 109,99€. The price is aligned with the competitors and it is fully justified by the quality of materials and the excellent performances. Aquacomputer should make soon its Active Backplate available for this Kryographics version, which will allow a further reduction of temperature on the VRMs.
Remember that other versions of Kryographics GTX 980 are available: the price is 89,99€ for the version with copper waterblock (without nickel plating) and stainless steel top; 99,99€ for the version with copper waterblock and tinted acrylic glass top.
For all these reasons, we feel that Aquacomputer Kryographics GTX 980 acrylic glass edition, nickel plated version deserves a Gold Award because of the excellent ratings as well as a Design Award for the great aesthetic impact and the excellent manufacture of the German company’s fullcover.
Pro
- Top quality aspect and materials
- Excellent performances
- Made in Germany guarantee
- Detailed instructions; simple quick assembling
Contro
- Restrictiveness is higher than other competitors’
- Thermal paste not included
Thanks to Aquacomputer for sample supplied
Liberato De Vincenzo