Alphacool Eisblock Aurora Acryl GPX-A Sapphire – test: 2.8 GHz++ are not an issue

Alphacool Eisblock Aurora Acryl GPX-A (2022) with Sapphire Radeon RX 6950 XT Nitro+ Pure in the test – 2.8 GHz++ are not an issue 1 – Introduction, functionality and data sheet 2 – Assembly and tips 3 – Measurements, infrared records and test results 4 – clock rates and summary

Alphacool has completely redesigned the Eisblock Aurora Acryl GPX-A and promises better flow and lower temperatures across the entire block. So why not test the 2022 version together with a Sapphire RX 6950XT Nitro+ Pure, which was already disassembled in the 3D scanner? Of course I don’t want to spoil things, but both the temperatures and the significant increase in clock speed, including the increase in performance, have led to the publication of a complete follow-up test.

We still don’t quite have Big Navi on Ice, but we can at least get the chip and circuit board really nicely under water as a well-cooled submarine. Water cooling makes sense with power losses of the entire card of 400 watts and it also creates real added value with the available clock. The cooler was made available to me as part of a compatibility test for Alphacool’s tests and then goes to the community. Compatibility test because it is actually the cooler for the Sapphire RX 6900XT Toxic variants and the Nitro+ and it also fits the new RX 6950XT cards from Sapphire. Today’s test is also a plausibility check.

Scope of delivery and unboxing

The manufacturer has completely reworked the cooler compared to the direct GPX-A predecessor, which you will clearly notice later in the test, but everything in its time. The edge design of the Plexi front is not really new, only the rest of the substructure has been redesigned from scratch, as with the new GPX-N for the Ampere-RTX, which you will also notice. What you can see at first glance is that the O-ring armada from the previous model has been eliminated. But more on that in a moment.

Everything about the accessories is the same, so let’s see what we can find in the box. What you get for almost 140 euros (predecessor 127 euros) is a pre-assembled and very cleanly processed cooler with terminal including embedded 5V aRGB stripe and matching Preci-Dip adapter, a backplate with cooling function, two rimless plugs with screw-in aid, screws , proper thermal pads and proper thermal paste. The manual is available in printed and digital form, exemplary.

With which we can now elegantly move on to the water block. As already mentioned, Alphacool has carried out a complete redesign and simplified many things. Based on the specified leave-out areas of the circuit board, it was finally possible to set up a solid cooling block with a starting material of 11.5 mm thickness and obviously to further reduce the residual base thickness over the relevant areas.

With the changed design of the water flow, the feedback from users who have been demanding a less restrictive cooler for years is finally being taken up. In my test measurements at 150, 200, 250 and 300 l/h, the loss in throughput was around 18 percentage points, which is a very good value for the very balanced and good cooling performance. This cooler can also be used in a system with a weaker pump with only minor performance losses, since the pressure drop is no longer as extreme. The upper picture shows the new cooler, the lower of the two pictures shows the previous model.

The back shows the use of materials very clearly. With the new design, the GPU can in turn determine the actual base area without increasing it, the slightly lower memory components and also the VRM again require 1 mm thick, special pads that are soft enough to distribute the pressure well, because the actual gaps are clear lower. Alphacool’s new ultra-soft pads are used here, which can adapt to almost any thickness below one millimeter without pressure and which also adhere perfectly and do not oil out.

The water block has slightly changed dimensions and is now 25.9 cm long, 14.45 cm high and 25.4 cm thick. The material used is nickel-plated (new process for more acid resistance) and 11.5 mm thick electrolytic copper. The cooling fins are again 0.6 mm thick. Unfortunately, there is no official information on the channel width and the remaining floor thickness. The lid is made entirely of acrylic and the angular corners reflect the rays of the aRGB light bar back and forth, resulting in a fairly colourful, large-scale image. This is of course a matter of taste, as always.

The backplate is included in the scope of delivery and is actually not required for rear cooling of the RAM modules, because they stay really nice and cool, as we will see in a moment. That’s why I didn’t mount it in this case, because I also want to measure the circuit board from behind. Of course, if you want, you can screw the part on top of it and save about 1-2 Kelvin less board temperature at the relevant points. But it’s more optics than technical necessity. Thank God.

Here again to fly over the data sheet for the new cooler:

ENG_13057_Alphacool_Eisblock_Aurora_Acryl_GPX-A_Radeon_RX_6900XT_Toxic_with_Backplate_datasheet

Pages:

• 1 – Introduction, functionality and data sheet
• 2 – Assembly and tips
• 3 – Measurements, infrared records and test results
• 4 – clock rates and summary