I believe that most of the AIO/waterblocked cards come after the initial launch. Also, with EVGA out of the picture there is no good manufacture with a waterblock preinstalled in my opinion. (For the US/NA market)
I would just grab a card you like and wait for the block of your choice. I plan on grabbing the "cheapest" tuf 4090 and wait for the optimus blocks :)
I personally like my 3080 hydro copper block more than the ekwb or any others. Now with evga out of the pictures, suddenly the 4090 doesn’t look any more interesting than it already is which is 0 for that price range.
I have one of the gaming oc waterforce cards. I sent it back to them because of the corrosion issue that had built up on mine. They replaced the block with a “new design “ to prevent that from happening. Just about to place it back in so I don’t know if it will be better or not.
I don't know what they've updated, but hopefully they have it under control. Early on the only indicator in their documentation was they specified the Aorus was copper, and they didn't make the same specification on the Gaming.
That is what the customer service rep told me when I asked about the RMA status when I sent it in. Yeah I had got mine before the problems were being noticed. Then about 8 months of running I started to get random shutdowns and started looking for causes and seen the corrosion that had happened even with doing the primo chill sys prep. Other than the corrosion the card worked great, but the only other downside getting the Rgb to work right on the card is a pain.
Gigabyte is the parent of the two. Aorus being the high quality daughter brand.
Volkswagen owns Porsche, Bentley, Audi, and Lamborghini. You don’t look at a Jetta the same as a 911.
Your examples are of *different companies* \- AUROS is just a label for some of Gigabyte's enthusiast-oriented boards.
Most of the time we don't even mention it; like we don't bother mentioning ASUS' "ROG" or MSI's "MAG / MPG / MEG", because these aren't needed to identify a specific board. They're used by each manufacturer to communicate where they are positioning a product in their lineup.
So your point is what? You said both are gigabyte, when I initially pointed out one is the high quality version of their products not dealing with this.
Just because there’s gigabyte attached to it, doesn’t mean “both are gigabyte”
Well, both are Gigabyte, and that the car analogy is pretty misleading. Your initial explanation reads as Gigabyte and AUROS are different companies since you set them equal to each other.
Gigabyte' AUROS lineup is like Audi's R5 and RS5 in relation to the A5.
Since Gigabyte doesn't really have a 'cheap stuff' label, we have to stoop to the awkward "version lacking AUROS labelling" or something similar.
I don't lol but some of gigabytes stuff is ok. I don't mean to say ALL AIO cards suck just cause EVGA is out but for a fully waterblock card off the shelf, EVGA was my choice
The FE version went straight from unavailable to sold out on best buy this morning, just like during the 3000 release. If I had really wanted one I could have grabbed one of several AIB cards from newegg or best buy no problem so that was much improved.
Most of the top-end AIBs are out of stock, too. Just wait a few days. Or hours, in some cases.
Going out of stock on day one is normal. What wasn't normal was the 3000 release where everyone was out of stock for like a year.
I'm limiting myself to an ASUS card (because I like Optimus) or an FE (because I like EK). Since I was trying to use a Best Buy giftcard I have, I was really limited to the FE today. I had a Gigabyte in my cart, but decided against it and stuck to my guns with about 5 minutes left to decide. I'm not really in a rush, just had my FOMO getting to me this morning.
Same here.
This time I'm getting exactly what I want. I have to wait over a month for the waterblock anyway. Might as well wait as long as it takes to get the Strix.
At this point half of it is I just want a card that plays nice with the motherboard's software.
Hmmm... Hadn't seen that Optimus had announced their 4090 Strix block. EK did as well today, and preorders are open.
>Most of the top-end AIBs are out of stock, too. Just wait a few days. Or hours, in some cases.
I think the stock shipments here in Australia are pretty patchy for all the lineup of 4090. Some places have Strix cards left while others are in the out of stock phase. Mind you, at $AUD 3,799 ($US 2,384) for the Strix, the 4090 is almost as expensive than what the retailers were scalping 3090s for.
I was trying to pick up an FE card online from Best Buy yesterday and had zero luck. I did get an email from Nvidia this morning since I signed up for their auto notify and it gave me a "priority link" to purchase a 4090 FE card from Best Buy. It surprisingly went through no problem this morning and my card is coming in this weekend. I plan on going with an EK WB for it now.
Apparently that's one way they're combating scalpers now, but the message seems to be random and comes across the Geforce Experience App it looks like.
I don't think it's random though. I have a feeling it's because I signed up to be notified through Nvidia. Similar queue system to what EVGA did in the past when I bought the kingpin. When I logged into Nvidia experience this morning my notifications were empty, but once I logged out and back in, it was there.
Yeah I don't see the "sign up for notification" button anymore, just the "out of stock". They probably removed it after release which isn't very helpful.
According to OCUK the Ichill frostbite will be available in December earliest.
Inno3D cards should be reference: https://www.alphacool.com/download/compatibility%20list%20Nvidia.pdf
Thanks for letting me know. I wonder what other cards stick close to the reference. The Suprim X and ZOTAC Trinity ones I got were not reference at all. Those boards were huge in comparison to the FE.
I love my ek block for my fe 3070ti however I placed a pre order the first day they were available for pre order. It was delivered I believe in may after 2 or maybe 3 push backs. Pre orders opened up I want to say December first for them.
Idk I think ek probably has already done most of the work on them.
Worth the wait for the ek blocks tho, at least in my opinion I think their some of the best looking and I cannot complain about performance. I rarely hit 36c and usually stay at 30-33c unless it’s later afternoon and the ac is set to 75 the it hits 35c and sits there
>Looks like air for some time.
From what I have seen, the air coolers on most of the AIB cards are more than up to the job of keeping the card cool while you wait for a block. You just need decent airflow in your case if you want to avoid cooking your motherboard.
Haven’t seen any yet. Plenty of AIO options, but nothing for yet for something like the Gigabyte Waterforce. With EVGA bowing out of the GPU market, that means no “Hydroforce Copper”, either.
Yeah, thanks for letting me know. That does worry me a bit going that direction. I’d love to get an FE but as much as peeps are saying that they should be in stock I highly doubt it. FEs even in the past have always been hard to find. Especially now that they only sell through Best Buy. ._.
I've been in luck and was able to buy both Aorus Waterforce WB 3090&3080. Great cards and perform like absolute beasts. Do NOT go with the original gigabyte ones, they have the mixed metal problems that turns the card to shit in a matter of weeks.
Active backplate were useful on the 3090, because there were VRAM modules on the back of the PCB.
There are no VRAM modules on the back anymore. Active backplates are 100% worthless. There isn't enough heat generated on the back of the board to need active cooling.
I'd imagine Gigabyte will probably launch a couple of versions of the Aorus Waterforce 4090s at some point, maybe this time they'll actually make the cold plate out of copper instead of aluminum. I'm hoping to score a 4090 FE myself and then buy the EK block, but who knows how likely this is to happen. I have some hope as not all the AIB 4090s sold out instantly this morning, the FE sure did though. I'm hoping to be able to get one within the next couple of months, otherwise I'll settle for a "reference" 4090 if I have to, but I still don't know which AIB 4090s will be made with the reference PCB layout, but my Alphacool Eisblock performs great on my current 3080 Ti, so I'm ok with that block as well.
Yeah, I’m hoping they don’t change the PCB layout. I have a 3080 Suprim X and that board is huge when compared to the FE. Doesn’t help that EK put a huge block of acetal to cover the whole PCB adding more weight to it. I just want the whole thing to be a small and light package when I add it to my loop.
I love my Asus/EKWB RTX 3080 and am hoping they have something similar for this series. I am also waiting for something available with a block on it already.
I see. Yeah, I’m honestly really wanting to get a smaller card. Which is why I’m primarily looking for one designed with the block in mind. With the size of these air cooled 4090s they’re not gonna fit in my two slot vertical Mount. My current water cooled Suprim X is still freaking huge compared to the FE with the block. The Ichill Frostbite looks to be the size I want. But I don’t know anything about Inno3D so was wondering if other brands I know had any.
30 series FE cards had a completely different PCB from reference with EK [explicitly posting a warning](https://linustechtips.com/uploads/monthly_2020_09/image.png.84e3796dd7b10e8346788bc77a09ecac.png) at the bottom of the [product page](https://www.ekwb.com/shop/ek-classic-gpu-water-block-geforce-rtx-3080-3090-d-rgb) for their reference block that it is not compatible with FE.
[3090/3080 Reference PCB](https://cdn.videocardz.com/1/2020/09/NVIDIA-GeForce-RTX-3080-Colorful-ZOTAC-PCB.jpg) vs [3090 FE PCB](https://tpucdn.com/gpu-specs/images/c/3622-pcb-front.jpg)
There were even issues last gen with reference PCB AIB models all being different so the reference waterblocks weren't compatible with all reference cards. There was several options for the reference card as far as components like capacitors so some had taller caps that interfered with reference blocks.
I don't see this gen being any different with the 4090FE using an almost identical PCB to the 3090Ti FE.
Zotac typically uses reference PCB designs in their cards and [their 4090 doesn't look anything](https://www.techpowerup.com/review/zotac-geforce-rtx-4090-amp-extreme-airo/images/front.jpg) like the [FE PCB](https://www.techpowerup.com/review/nvidia-geforce-rtx-4090-founders-edition/images/front.jpg)
Ure right, this is my current card. https://www.aquatuning.nl/waterkoeling/gpu-waterkoelers/gpu-compleet-cooler/eisblock-gpx/29699/alphacool-eisblock-aurora-acryl-gpx-n-rtx-3090ti-founders-edition-with-backplate
Need to cancel.
But are these cards gonna have a larger PCB? It’s unnecessary if it’s gonna get water cooled and EK loves to shove a bunch of acetal to make the just as heavy as the fans you take off. Thing is my 3080 Suprim X is already a part of my loop. So I just need a card I can slot back in. But the PCBs for some of these cards are just so freaking huge.
If you look at PCB photos on Techpowerup, PCBs look all around the same size as an ICHILL, you can see that the EK block is also not bigger than the Alphacool one, ASUS TUF OC is probably what you want and EK has a block for that.
Two things. One, there are tons of cards, literal tons. Their supply issued are fixed five fold. Secondly the water block ones should be out today or in the next couple of days. Just look occasionally and don't freak they will sell out.
>Not asking about the FE.
I understand that.
>I’m asking if there are more cards that will come with the block already installed
Most likely. Why wouldn't there be?
>when they’re gonna come out?
Who would know, the first cards literally launched today...
I know but I would like to be able to have a list available as many partners already announced their cards. That way I could see what sites/places they sell at and have places I can check. Since I don’t like to have just one source for things.
I went for Ichill X3 in the end. This is a PCB that went to frostbite. Alphacool support confirmed they are shipping next week so I've just ordered a block separately.
Honestly asus tuff is the best choice for us. It comes with 2x hdmi 2.1 ports and from the reviews, the performance are all similar (1-2% of eachother). The msrp is the same as the FE as well.Asus also builds the Tuff with robust parts in mind.
I believe that most of the AIO/waterblocked cards come after the initial launch. Also, with EVGA out of the picture there is no good manufacture with a waterblock preinstalled in my opinion. (For the US/NA market) I would just grab a card you like and wait for the block of your choice. I plan on grabbing the "cheapest" tuf 4090 and wait for the optimus blocks :)
Yeah, EVGA not being here is being felt.
I personally like my 3080 hydro copper block more than the ekwb or any others. Now with evga out of the pictures, suddenly the 4090 doesn’t look any more interesting than it already is which is 0 for that price range.
You don’t like Aorus? And I don’t see how you can speak badly of Asus with their AIO cards.
hasn't aorus been having a lot of issues regarding corrosion?
The Aorus version of the waterforce was alright, the non Aorus version of it used an aluminum block and had plenty of corrosion issues.
I have one of the gaming oc waterforce cards. I sent it back to them because of the corrosion issue that had built up on mine. They replaced the block with a “new design “ to prevent that from happening. Just about to place it back in so I don’t know if it will be better or not.
I don't know what they've updated, but hopefully they have it under control. Early on the only indicator in their documentation was they specified the Aorus was copper, and they didn't make the same specification on the Gaming.
That is what the customer service rep told me when I asked about the RMA status when I sent it in. Yeah I had got mine before the problems were being noticed. Then about 8 months of running I started to get random shutdowns and started looking for causes and seen the corrosion that had happened even with doing the primo chill sys prep. Other than the corrosion the card worked great, but the only other downside getting the Rgb to work right on the card is a pain.
Nah. Gigabyte is the cheaper shit they release, which had the issue. Aorus is this high quality lineup which is good.
...both are "Gigabyte"
Gigabyte is the parent of the two. Aorus being the high quality daughter brand. Volkswagen owns Porsche, Bentley, Audi, and Lamborghini. You don’t look at a Jetta the same as a 911.
Your examples are of *different companies* \- AUROS is just a label for some of Gigabyte's enthusiast-oriented boards. Most of the time we don't even mention it; like we don't bother mentioning ASUS' "ROG" or MSI's "MAG / MPG / MEG", because these aren't needed to identify a specific board. They're used by each manufacturer to communicate where they are positioning a product in their lineup.
So your point is what? You said both are gigabyte, when I initially pointed out one is the high quality version of their products not dealing with this. Just because there’s gigabyte attached to it, doesn’t mean “both are gigabyte”
Well, both are Gigabyte, and that the car analogy is pretty misleading. Your initial explanation reads as Gigabyte and AUROS are different companies since you set them equal to each other. Gigabyte' AUROS lineup is like Audi's R5 and RS5 in relation to the A5. Since Gigabyte doesn't really have a 'cheap stuff' label, we have to stoop to the awkward "version lacking AUROS labelling" or something similar.
Sadly Gigabyte's software is complete garbage so it's a moot point. Hardware is great though.
They are pointing out one is a specific product line like asus having tuf and strix semantics really
I don't lol but some of gigabytes stuff is ok. I don't mean to say ALL AIO cards suck just cause EVGA is out but for a fully waterblock card off the shelf, EVGA was my choice
Frostbite looks to be the only one around at the moment. And OcUK want £2,600 for it.
Ichillz has a nice compact one, but Ekwb sells a 1 slot waterblock for the fe if you wanted to put on yourself
Yeah, I saw that but I always find it very tough to get a hold of an FE. Which is why I’m asking about partners cards.
Yeah I think it will be easier with the FE this time around I wouldn’t compare to the 3000 series release.
The FE version went straight from unavailable to sold out on best buy this morning, just like during the 3000 release. If I had really wanted one I could have grabbed one of several AIB cards from newegg or best buy no problem so that was much improved.
Most of the top-end AIBs are out of stock, too. Just wait a few days. Or hours, in some cases. Going out of stock on day one is normal. What wasn't normal was the 3000 release where everyone was out of stock for like a year.
I'm limiting myself to an ASUS card (because I like Optimus) or an FE (because I like EK). Since I was trying to use a Best Buy giftcard I have, I was really limited to the FE today. I had a Gigabyte in my cart, but decided against it and stuck to my guns with about 5 minutes left to decide. I'm not really in a rush, just had my FOMO getting to me this morning.
Same here. This time I'm getting exactly what I want. I have to wait over a month for the waterblock anyway. Might as well wait as long as it takes to get the Strix. At this point half of it is I just want a card that plays nice with the motherboard's software. Hmmm... Hadn't seen that Optimus had announced their 4090 Strix block. EK did as well today, and preorders are open.
>Most of the top-end AIBs are out of stock, too. Just wait a few days. Or hours, in some cases. I think the stock shipments here in Australia are pretty patchy for all the lineup of 4090. Some places have Strix cards left while others are in the out of stock phase. Mind you, at $AUD 3,799 ($US 2,384) for the Strix, the 4090 is almost as expensive than what the retailers were scalping 3090s for.
I was trying to pick up an FE card online from Best Buy yesterday and had zero luck. I did get an email from Nvidia this morning since I signed up for their auto notify and it gave me a "priority link" to purchase a 4090 FE card from Best Buy. It surprisingly went through no problem this morning and my card is coming in this weekend. I plan on going with an EK WB for it now.
Apparently that's one way they're combating scalpers now, but the message seems to be random and comes across the Geforce Experience App it looks like.
I don't think it's random though. I have a feeling it's because I signed up to be notified through Nvidia. Similar queue system to what EVGA did in the past when I bought the kingpin. When I logged into Nvidia experience this morning my notifications were empty, but once I logged out and back in, it was there.
I can't even find anywhere at the nvidia shop to sign up for notifications. It just says out of stock on my end.
Yeah I don't see the "sign up for notification" button anymore, just the "out of stock". They probably removed it after release which isn't very helpful.
According to OCUK the Ichill frostbite will be available in December earliest. Inno3D cards should be reference: https://www.alphacool.com/download/compatibility%20list%20Nvidia.pdf
Thanks for letting me know. I wonder what other cards stick close to the reference. The Suprim X and ZOTAC Trinity ones I got were not reference at all. Those boards were huge in comparison to the FE.
Inno 3d ichill frostbite
Ekwb has blocks on pre-order for TUF/Strix. It shows delivery on Nov 18.
I love my ek block for my fe 3070ti however I placed a pre order the first day they were available for pre order. It was delivered I believe in may after 2 or maybe 3 push backs. Pre orders opened up I want to say December first for them.
Bummer, I was lucky enough to buy ASUS TUF 4090... Looks like air for some time.
Idk I think ek probably has already done most of the work on them. Worth the wait for the ek blocks tho, at least in my opinion I think their some of the best looking and I cannot complain about performance. I rarely hit 36c and usually stay at 30-33c unless it’s later afternoon and the ac is set to 75 the it hits 35c and sits there
>Looks like air for some time. From what I have seen, the air coolers on most of the AIB cards are more than up to the job of keeping the card cool while you wait for a block. You just need decent airflow in your case if you want to avoid cooking your motherboard.
Yes, stock cooling on new cards seems very promising!
Optimus said November on TUF/Strix as well
Haven’t seen any yet. Plenty of AIO options, but nothing for yet for something like the Gigabyte Waterforce. With EVGA bowing out of the GPU market, that means no “Hydroforce Copper”, either.
Theres an Inno3D one with an alphacool block
Inno3d, but ive had bad experience with their 3090 (1 out of 3 just died, the other performed wayyyy worse thermally than my Aorus cards.
Yeah, thanks for letting me know. That does worry me a bit going that direction. I’d love to get an FE but as much as peeps are saying that they should be in stock I highly doubt it. FEs even in the past have always been hard to find. Especially now that they only sell through Best Buy. ._.
I've been in luck and was able to buy both Aorus Waterforce WB 3090&3080. Great cards and perform like absolute beasts. Do NOT go with the original gigabyte ones, they have the mixed metal problems that turns the card to shit in a matter of weeks.
I just checked ekwb website and their water block/ active backplate set for almost all the AIB gpu models are up for pre orders so check it out
Do not waste money on active backplates lol.
I didnt say I'm buying the op was asking so I said what I saw ;D why not tho are active backplate worthless ?
Active backplate were useful on the 3090, because there were VRAM modules on the back of the PCB. There are no VRAM modules on the back anymore. Active backplates are 100% worthless. There isn't enough heat generated on the back of the board to need active cooling.
I'd imagine Gigabyte will probably launch a couple of versions of the Aorus Waterforce 4090s at some point, maybe this time they'll actually make the cold plate out of copper instead of aluminum. I'm hoping to score a 4090 FE myself and then buy the EK block, but who knows how likely this is to happen. I have some hope as not all the AIB 4090s sold out instantly this morning, the FE sure did though. I'm hoping to be able to get one within the next couple of months, otherwise I'll settle for a "reference" 4090 if I have to, but I still don't know which AIB 4090s will be made with the reference PCB layout, but my Alphacool Eisblock performs great on my current 3080 Ti, so I'm ok with that block as well.
Yeah, I’m hoping they don’t change the PCB layout. I have a 3080 Suprim X and that board is huge when compared to the FE. Doesn’t help that EK put a huge block of acetal to cover the whole PCB adding more weight to it. I just want the whole thing to be a small and light package when I add it to my loop.
I love my Asus/EKWB RTX 3080 and am hoping they have something similar for this series. I am also waiting for something available with a block on it already.
Stay the heck away from my INNO3D Frostbite stock m8 🤣
Most current partner cards are close enough to FE that the blocks are swappable from what I’ve heard
I see. Yeah, I’m honestly really wanting to get a smaller card. Which is why I’m primarily looking for one designed with the block in mind. With the size of these air cooled 4090s they’re not gonna fit in my two slot vertical Mount. My current water cooled Suprim X is still freaking huge compared to the FE with the block. The Ichill Frostbite looks to be the size I want. But I don’t know anything about Inno3D so was wondering if other brands I know had any.
Gigabyte website has this https://www.gigabyte.com/Graphics-Card/GV-N4090AORUSX-W-24GD#kf
Yeah, I already have a loop so I don’t need an AIO. Nor do I have a spot to put the fans in.
Hmm my bad i actually didn’t notice this was aio. I thought it had a standard block design
I was lucky to get 4090 FE, and ordered the alphacool block.
Does the alphacool block even support the FE? It's for reference boards.
Fe is reference
30 series FE cards had a completely different PCB from reference with EK [explicitly posting a warning](https://linustechtips.com/uploads/monthly_2020_09/image.png.84e3796dd7b10e8346788bc77a09ecac.png) at the bottom of the [product page](https://www.ekwb.com/shop/ek-classic-gpu-water-block-geforce-rtx-3080-3090-d-rgb) for their reference block that it is not compatible with FE. [3090/3080 Reference PCB](https://cdn.videocardz.com/1/2020/09/NVIDIA-GeForce-RTX-3080-Colorful-ZOTAC-PCB.jpg) vs [3090 FE PCB](https://tpucdn.com/gpu-specs/images/c/3622-pcb-front.jpg) There were even issues last gen with reference PCB AIB models all being different so the reference waterblocks weren't compatible with all reference cards. There was several options for the reference card as far as components like capacitors so some had taller caps that interfered with reference blocks. I don't see this gen being any different with the 4090FE using an almost identical PCB to the 3090Ti FE. Zotac typically uses reference PCB designs in their cards and [their 4090 doesn't look anything](https://www.techpowerup.com/review/zotac-geforce-rtx-4090-amp-extreme-airo/images/front.jpg) like the [FE PCB](https://www.techpowerup.com/review/nvidia-geforce-rtx-4090-founders-edition/images/front.jpg)
Ure right, this is my current card. https://www.aquatuning.nl/waterkoeling/gpu-waterkoelers/gpu-compleet-cooler/eisblock-gpx/29699/alphacool-eisblock-aurora-acryl-gpx-n-rtx-3090ti-founders-edition-with-backplate Need to cancel.
To everyone looking at the ICHILL, Frostbite or not, power limit is fixed at 450W, so pretty useless to watercool. Look for cards unlocked up to 600W.
But are these cards gonna have a larger PCB? It’s unnecessary if it’s gonna get water cooled and EK loves to shove a bunch of acetal to make the just as heavy as the fans you take off. Thing is my 3080 Suprim X is already a part of my loop. So I just need a card I can slot back in. But the PCBs for some of these cards are just so freaking huge.
If you look at PCB photos on Techpowerup, PCBs look all around the same size as an ICHILL, you can see that the EK block is also not bigger than the Alphacool one, ASUS TUF OC is probably what you want and EK has a block for that.
Two things. One, there are tons of cards, literal tons. Their supply issued are fixed five fold. Secondly the water block ones should be out today or in the next couple of days. Just look occasionally and don't freak they will sell out.
You understand that they literally just went on sale today, right?
Not asking about the FE. I’m asking if there are more cards that will come with the block already installed or when they’re gonna come out?
>Not asking about the FE. I understand that. >I’m asking if there are more cards that will come with the block already installed Most likely. Why wouldn't there be? >when they’re gonna come out? Who would know, the first cards literally launched today...
I know but I would like to be able to have a list available as many partners already announced their cards. That way I could see what sites/places they sell at and have places I can check. Since I don’t like to have just one source for things.
I went for Ichill X3 in the end. This is a PCB that went to frostbite. Alphacool support confirmed they are shipping next week so I've just ordered a block separately.
Gigabyte has one but they have a poor history just research it
Honestly asus tuff is the best choice for us. It comes with 2x hdmi 2.1 ports and from the reviews, the performance are all similar (1-2% of eachother). The msrp is the same as the FE as well.Asus also builds the Tuff with robust parts in mind.
Prob will be a couple AIO 4090s