AMD Threadripper CPU Block Review Round Up

Watercool Heatkiller IV Pro Threadripper

The Heatkiller IV Pro for Intel rewrote the rules on thermal performance when it launched. CPU performance had been stagnating for a while, and we had assumed nothing would really improve.  Since then other manufacturers improved upon Watercool’s results, but their engineering team obviously has the ability to deliver the thermal goods.

Packaging is pretty standard for watercool now, with only a sticker giving away what’s in the box.

Opening up the box reveals the instructions and whole lot of foam packaging:

It would have been nice to see some of the extra foam cementing the block in place on the sides too, but the block was in perfect condition despite the long travel from Germany.

The accessories are minimal but enough:

The long allen key is used to tighten the mounting screws.  There is no allen key provided to open the block.

The black cable is for the built in RGB LEDs.  We like the use of a standard 4 pin RGB header as it enables the LEDs to be synced with any built in lights of the motherboard.  The sleeving is effective at hiding the wires, although it was certainly a bit baggy.

The block is quite low profile and can not be rotated 180 degrees to enable alternative tube routing.  This however enables it to have a very clean look.

It’s nice to see the black surround on the acrylic window.  It’s actually made out of anodized aluminum and clamps the block together without necessitating the screws to fix into the acrylic which can lead to cracking.  More on that later.  It also adds a nice design element and makes the block seem higher end.  Full metal versions are available as well.

The nickel plated copper base is reasonably thick and is also used as the mount.

Most blocks only use 6 screws to mount the base to the top, Watercool uses 8 which is possibly more secure, but we never noted an issue with any other block.  Presumably the milled outline represents the size of the Threadripper IHS, there is no functional reason for it to be there.  Possibly it gives some space for extra TIM to squeeze out into and provide a closer mount, however there is far more space around the CPU in the socket so it seems unnecessary.

The finish is good and high quality.  All the corners are bevelled.

The plating is good quality, however the base is not a full mirror finish as machining marks do remain.

The mounting screws are also low profile which we really like.   One spare screw is included, but no spare springs.Once tightened they sit almost flush with the block and so give a very clean look.

Overall the aesthetic is great and makes us regret our choice in RAM:

After testing is complete the block is opened up to check the internals.
The correct size allen key was not provided.
Opening up the base shows a very large jetplate and a large cooling area.  However that same cooling area still seems small compared to the overall size of the metal base.

The screws that seal the block thread into the anodized aluminum top which is a far better choice than the acrylic part.  Acrylic is far more likely to crack when screws are over torqued and cracks can lead to leaks.  The o-ring is on the thinner side and no spare is included.

The cooling channel area is 52mm wide.

The channels themselves are also about 52mm long. 

This gives the Watercool block the single largest xy area of cooling channels.  In addition they are quite narrow, so with all this surface area we are expecting good things.  Having said all of this, by using the base as a mount also, it’s possible watercool could even have increased the xy area even more!