In the world of custom water cooling, just when you thought no new trends could be summoned, the latest craze appears to be distribution plates. Now, Fractal Design's cases are getting the distribution plate treatment, offering a welcome addition to EKWB's lineup. Meet the EK-Quantum Reflection Fractal ATX D5 PWM D-RGB.
That mouthful of a product name also offers a handful of features. Distribution plates are essentially fancy reservoirs, except with one key difference: they have all the inlets and outlets ideally placed for very easy hard-tube runs, and they look great. This particular version also has a D5 pump built-in along with addressable-RGB lighting.
The unit is compatible with a host of Fractal Design's cases, including the Define 7, Define 7 XL, Define R6, Define S2, Vector RS, and the Meshify S2. EKWB has also tested the units with various radiators and set up a compatibility list, which you can find here.
The D5 pump in the unit is known to be one of the best-performing and most reliable pumps in the industry, operating at 12wV and consuming up to 23 W. It will push up to 1500 L/h of water, and allows a PWM duty cycle between 20 and 100%
To no surprise though, this custom part does not come cheap. EKWB's Fractal Design distribution plate costs a hefty $353.79, which is more expensive than any of the cases it fits in. If you're still interested, you can preorder it immediately from EKWB with shipping planned for the 23rd of March.
