How Will EK's Predator Series Coolers Be Expandable And Drip Free?

[N.Broekhuijsen]

EK has said that you'll be able to expand its Predator cooler with a GPU block, without messing with any fluid, but how would that work?

How Will EK's Predator Series Coolers Be Expandable And Drip Free? : Read more

 

[getochkn]

I like it. I have a Seidon 240 for my CPU and a H50 for my GPU and would like a loop for both instead with easy to use ability.

 

[tom10167]

Cool. Would be nice to see prefilled monoblocks, too.

 

[Gam3r01]

Oh, that makes things even easier.
This product is starting to show some promise.

 

[uglyduckling81]

The big hurdle is still the stupid price for a GPU block. $100+is crazy. I would rather put that money toward a more powerful GPU option and end up with better performace.
If a GPU water block was $50 at most I would consider it. Otherwise I can not justify the expense and will continue to sit unwatercooled.

 

[JackNaylorPE]

I see the attraction for persons who've never tried water cooling but I still so no way to bleed the loop .... even pre-filled coolants outgas and snapping the QDs together has gotta introduce some air.

So while I think it will be popular with novices, the price needs to come down since ya can do a custom loop kit for about the same price.

 

[Gam3r01]

I think it will be popular for those who use it as an AIO at first, but later turn it into a custom loop. IE remove the QD ports and redo the tubing.

 

[JackNaylorPE]

I think EK did a wise thing and made a 360 since just about any mid size case will fit one.... I think Swiftech dropped the ball here. Given the pricing, my first thought was that Swiftech will maintain the lead in the dual rad space and EK will woo peeps away from Swiftech where peeps wanna "go bigger" and get the 360.

OTOH, some peeps will realize that the 2 x 140 Swiftceh unit at $150 provided 90% of the cooling capacity of the $230 EK 360. For my own and user builds, I still prefer custom loops where budget allows and it's hard to recommend the EK over a custom loop kit given the lack of price difference. One thing that both fall short on is Swiftech doesn't do a triple and EK doesn't do a 140mm wide model. And given current case preferences that all offer 140mm wide rads, and the superiority lower price in WC builds w/ 140mm fans I think this will set the tone as being favored by enthusiasts. A 420 is equal / better than a 480 while costing less and uses 2 less fans in push pull.

Just like the 980 Ti doesn't have a lot of market share, but it is the undisputed "king of the hill", that leads to a lot of sales of lower cost sales in the product line. A 420 model would likely "win the title" and therefore drive sales of the lower cost / size models accordingly. Also, I oft recommend against a 240 / 280 on open loop AIOs cause when ya add those GFX card Water blocks....you're wasting a lot of radiator space up on top oft forcing you to "miss that extra 120/140 that "cuda been there" w/ sacrificing any case space.

 

[Gam3r01]

Honestly I hate reccomending AIOs in the first place. Go big air, and if you have money for more than that, save up the extra to go custom.
My own AIO is probably the biggest regret I have in my own rig.

 

[stoned_ritual]

Honestly I hate reccomending AIOs in the first place. Go big air, and if you have money for more than that, save up the extra to go custom.
My own AIO is probably the biggest regret I have in my own rig.

I got hit by the AIO hype virus a couple years ago with an Antec Kuhler, and I'll be damned if it didn't drop my temps like a son of a gun. Then I thought "I should upgrade" so I got a corsair h80i, and my temps INCREASED by about 20 degrees, AND I had to change those jet turbine fans that came with it. After doing a whole lot of research, I found out that the corsair h80i uses a really bad pump, and was accompanied by really bad firmware. Further research showed me that AIO coolers are rarely, if ever, more efficient than a good air cooler and at a considerably higher price. This is from the small diameter tubing, low volume of coolant (i drained about a shotglass full of PG from the h80i), low volume pumps, and the radiators themselves have less surface area than a good air cooler. More surface = more dissipation.

 

[thundervore]

This is the start of the downfall of the Asetek AIO, FINALLY!!!

Now if the have predator enabled Monoblocks I will be all in. But please, kindly work on the pricing!

 

[Kylis105]

Given that normal custom loop watercooling is an ala carte system and it seems EK likes to lean this way I would love to see their AIO solutions orderable with the option of a gpu block rather than a cpu block. It would allow people who already have a cpu cooling solution to consider water cooling their gpu without having to rebuy a cpu cooling solution as well.

 

[McWhiskey]

So what's stopping EK from making prefilled everything? You could piece together exactly the components you want/need. Mono block this, gpu that... It would literally be a plug and play catalog.

 

[plasmastorm]

Look like the quick release/fit valves you get for plumbing. While those are pretty good they can indeed leak if not fitted correctly and are not meant to be fitted/taken off many times.

These are no doubt a modified design but I'd be cautious, take the hole loop out, fit new stuff and test for leaks then refit.

 

[getochkn]

Well I don't think most people discconnect and reconnect their loops 20x a day. It's usually once to set it up, another time to add something else to the loop and done.

 

[Kylis105]

So what's stopping EK from making prefilled everything? You could piece together exactly the components you want/need. Mono block this, gpu that... It would literally be a plug and play catalog.

I have emailed them asking them about exploring this very idea in the future. It essentially uses the same system they are setting up now on their site with the checkbox only they would also sell a predator system with 2 QDC and no block attached and then you could buy a "predator enabled" prefilled block to pair with it. Others should email them about exploring this idea if they are interested to show them that people are interested in this and how little they would have to change from what they are already setting up to get this idea going.

 

[JackNaylorPE]

Given that normal custom loop watercooling is an ala carte system and it seems EK likes to lean this way I would love to see their AIO solutions orderable with the option of a gpu block rather than a cpu block. It would allow people who already have a cpu cooling solution to consider water cooling their gpu without having to rebuy a cpu cooling solution as well.

This has been available from Swiftech for quite some time now.

Given that normal custom loop watercooling is an ala carte system and it seems EK likes to lean this way I would love to see their AIO solutions orderable with the option of a gpu block rather than a cpu block. It would allow people who already have a cpu cooling solution to consider water cooling their gpu without having to rebuy a cpu cooling solution as well.

The AIOs from Swiftech and EK, or what I have been calling OLCs are exactly that..... off the shelf blocks, radiators and pumps preassembled at the factory with slight modification.

I don't see the a la carte approach as I think most custom loops builders will seek the best components available for their builds. I use nothing but EK blocks, I go elsewhere for pumps and rads. I have a EK res in my build but only because the one I wanted (borosilicate glass) was 70mm diameter and wouldn't fit... the 60mm slide in with 102mm to spare.