AquaComputer Kryographics Hawaii Review

This review is part of the R9-290X Water Block Roundup. AquaComputer have really been stepping up their game recently. Since the Titan review they introduced new plexi blocks including a smoked plexi and finally our first ever active backplate! Yay for innovation!

AC packaging is as always pretty:

The block itself gets protected well too and even vacuum sealed because…. well I’m not sure but hey yay vacuum seals yay freshness:

Instructions, screws, thermal pads are included though you may need to provide your own preferably non conductive TIM:

The block itself is really quite special and the plexi is polished to look like glass:

As you can see with dye added it’s quite stunning in the nickel/plexi look that I love. Even without dye it still looks quite nice indeed:

The details sometimes do feel a bit cheesey – do we really need a palm tree?

The plating and finish is excellent even if some minor machining marks still remain on the rear:

Like EK the bridge is removable and upgradable to support multiple GPU’s. However these multi-GPU bridges do not support the active backplate:

The optional backplate which in our opinion is required comes in two flavours:

The passive version shown above for about $30, or the active version for $50 shown below:

The active backplate includes a heatpipe that connects to a replacement bridge:

To use the active backplate the bridge must be changed which means you have to be comfortable dealing o-rings. You should be comfortable as they are simple, but I know users who have complained before about such things and so it’s worth mentioning.

Unlike other manufacturer’s AquaComputer are quite cocky with their manufacturing tolerances and so choose not to use thermal pads on the memory. Instead the block is machined close enough where by TIM can be used for better cooling. It’s worth noting that the amount of TIM that each memory chip requires varies considerably as my fairly consistent blobs sometimes didn’t get spread out well:

The voltage regulator modules on the other hand still use thermal pads. If those used TIM then we would be really quite excited indeed!

The backplate itself cools a considerable part of the PCB:

Even compared to the very good EK backplate (bottom) the surface area is considerably greater:

Thermal Results

For greater detail in thermal results vs flow and block restriction check out this page.

The AquaComputer block cooled the core at the top of the pack while the VRM results were at the low end before the backplate was added. Once the backplate was added it then performed at the top of the pack for both core and VRM results.

Partly the backplate is so good because it cools so much of the PCB. The PCB gets hot because the chokes next to the VRM are not actively cooled and receive no airflow – their only heatsinking is through the PCB. Even a low impedance choke gets hot when 200A has to get through to the GPU core. Partly the backplate does well I think because the screws seem to be a better length. The block on it’s own seemed to run out of screw thread before the VRM sections gets clamped to the block particularly well.

The block also has decent flow. The $20 extra for the active backplate with the heatpipe is really a luxury. The passive backplate is already so good that it’s unnecessary and the additional difference is small, however if you want the absolute best performance then it is the one to get.

Summary

Because of the poor VRM temperatures without the backplate it’s hard to recommend just the block on it’s own, however when in combination the AquaComputer block and backplate gives the absolute best in performance and wins a Gold Award. We think this combination represents the best possible choice out of any of the R9-290x cooling options. It’s attractive and performs amazingly well and AquaComputer should be very happy with what they’ve created!

Overall: 10/10 for the block when combined with the backplate

Where to buy: Block – $123–142, Backplate: $31–50:

Back to the R9-290X Water Block Roundup.