Premium cooling manufacturer EK Water Blocks is all about the nickel-plated copper, but Tom’s Hardware staff has always been split on the cost of premium cooling components. EK even attempted to reconcile our differences with an all-aluminum cooling system last year, but such discussions of value likely appear as complete peasantry to buyers of $1,800 motherboards and $3,000-plus processors. That market is where the upcoming EK-Velocity WS and EK-VRM Asus ROG Dominus Extreme take over.
The ~$280 (249.90€) EK-Velocity WS announced this week seems like cheap insurance when compared to the price of a $3,000-$9,000 processor, even if your current configuration was already so good that the improvement only lets it run greater loads without thermal throttling.
Meanwhile, the ~$250 (249.90€) EK-VRM Asus ROG Dominus Extreme seems equally viable to protect the ROG Dominus Extreme motherboard's voltage regulator. Both parts are compatible with Asus’ RGB software, of course, but that only impacts the color of its logo lighting.
While many readers may be thinking that the CPU block costs as much as their CPU and the VR block costs as much as their board, it’s easy to understand how someone with 10 times the average PC budget could find value in the parts that make these machines perform better or work more reliably while producing less noise. Buyers hoping to minimize noise further will still need to figure out a quiet method to keep the liquid cool: Might we also recommend a geothermal system?
The EK-Velocity WS and EK-VRM Asus ROG Dominus Extreme are both available for pre-order now, with shipping starting on April 5.
Image credits: EK
