EKWB Announces Its First Monoblock For An MSI Motherboard

News
By Kevin Carbotte
published

EK Water Blocks introduced a pair of new monoblock water blocks designed specifically for MSI's Z170A Gaming M7 motherboard. This block isn't EKWB's first attempt at a monoblock cooler. The company has a few options for Asus motherboards, but the EK-FB Z170G is the first monoblock it has created for an MSI motherboard. This is also the first monoblock announced from EKWB designed for a Skylake motherboard.

EKWB worked closely with MSI's engineers to make sure the fit of these blocks is perfect. The cooler makes direct contact with the CPU and the MOSFET module, allowing fluid to flow directly over both components. EKWB said the monoblock was designed with the same cooling engine as the company's EK-Supremacy EVO CPU block, and it implements the same high flow design as its recent GPU block releases, allowing for less powerful pumps to be used without being an issue.

In typical EKWB form, the company is releasing two variants of the EK-FB Z170G Monoblock. Both models share the same nickel-plated electrolytic copper base found in all of EKWB's current water block lineup, but one has a clear acrylic top, and the other option comes with a block POM Acetal top.

EKWB said that both blocks are readily available now, and they both share the same $136.99 price tag.

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Kevin Carbotte

 Kevin Carbotte is a contributing writer for Tom's Hardware who primarily covers VR and AR hardware. He has been writing for us for more than four years. 

7 Comments Comment from the forums
  • thundervore
    This is sexy! Mosfets and CPU in 1 block? So nice!!!

    It eliminates the needless tube runs.
    Reply
  • Blueberries
    Looks like it would fit a Z170A XPOWER if you really want to overclock.
    Reply
  • jasonelmore
    Looks like a lot of work went into this, but i gotta ask myself, how many of these will they really sell to make it worth the effort?

    Maybe they sell 50 units?

    I guess the big pc builders like digital storm might use these but i dunno. i just dont see enough market to justify it.
    Reply
  • Ebriation
    I would order it/them straight away...IF it was avaible for any of my Motherboards/boards to come.
    Reply
  • rubix_1011
    In my opinion, this is an excellent design idea, especially when you consider the ability to now safely overclock CPUs with a block that covers the CPU as well as the MOSFETs. I'm not sure that the $136 retail cost is something that many people will go for, but considering that they are the same group that will drop $130 on a full-cover GPU block and $200 on Bitspower fittings, I would expect this to go over well. I would say this needs to be a trend for CPU sockets, going forward.

    If nothing else, there needs to either be this, or an alternative like Swiftech had with their universal GPU block and the heatsink that you could purchase separately for graphic cards to make them 'full-cover'.
    Reply
  • norseman4
    I'm not sure that the $136 retail cost is something that many people will go for, but considering that they are the same group that will drop $130 on a full-cover GPU block and $200 on Bitspower fittings, I would expect this to go over well.

    How much does a waterblock for an LGA115x go for on it's own? I don't thing a CPU block from EKWB costs significantly less than this so the added benefits would be worth it to the WC crowd. The concept will be well received and die-hard water-cooling enthusiasts may now choose this MSI board over others because of it.

    I would say this needs to be a trend for CPU sockets, going forward.

    If the region and components around the motherboard can be standardized then CPU/MOSFET monoblocks could really take off. Hell even air-coolers could start to incorporate heat pipes for the MOSFETs. Creating a standard physical specification for this though would be very difficult.
    Reply
  • Antikapitalista
    Looks like a lot of work went into this, but i gotta ask myself, how many of these will they really sell to make it worth the effort?

    Maybe they sell 50 units?

    I guess the big pc builders like digital storm might use these but i dunno. i just dont see enough market to justify it.

    Well, the most likely justification is that MSI paid them for it.

    In my humble opinion, it should not be thought of as a for-profit effort, but rather as a promotional feat.

    How much does a waterblock for an LGA115x go for on it's own?
    Well, I do not know about LGA115-whatever, but CPU waterblocks generally cost 1/3 of that price.

    If the region and components around the motherboard can be standardized then CPU/MOSFET monoblocks could really take off. Hell even air-coolers could start to incorporate heat pipes for the MOSFETs. Creating a standard physical specification for this though would be very difficult.
    They cannot be "standardized" across manufacturers because the manufacturers proudly make their own designs (just think of the different positions of the ATX power connector... besides, the MOSFET configurations are different because of the different underlying requirements—one set for a cheap, basic mainboard for office chores, another set for a high-end enthusiast mainboard for overclocking).
    Full-cover waterblocks for graphic cards are feasible only because the graphic card manufacturers usually follow the reference designs supplied by the GPU makers.
    The prevalence of reference designs is mostly because of the pressure from the buyers, who would rather avoid a marginally superior contraption with a non-standard layout, on which they could hardly replace the cooler (and much less with a full-cover waterblock).

    On the other hand, mainboard manufacturers want to (and need to) include a lot of goodies and add-ons that make the mainboard much more attractive, unlike the barebones reference design, which is usually not suitable for normal deployment, but serves merely for the demonstration of a new CPU or a new chipset.

    Heck, even AMD has not issued any such "standardization guide", despite being in an ideal position for this—being a large CPU producer offering CPU + watercooling bundles as well as being a large GPU producer issuing reference graphics card designs with full-cover waterblocks.
    Reply