EK Wave (AMD64/P4 S478) Waterblock

Waterblock Test – Joe

SUMMARY: An attractive, well performing, low-moderate pressure drop waterblock.

The good guys at EK Water Blocks were nice enough to send a sample of their EK Wave (AMD64/P4 S478) Waterblock to try out. This is a copper base waterblock, acrylic top, with ½” or 3/8″ barbs (user choice). The sample I tested was with ½” barbs.

Key Features

• Base of electrolytic copper, lapped and polished to +/- 0.0007 mm flatness
• Acrylic top
• Eight waved channels
• Low pressure drop
• ½” or 3/8″ barbs

A close shot of the base shows the “waved channels”:

The base appears flat, using the Poor Man’s Flatness Test

Parts ship with the unit for mounting to the motherboard’s holes:

Overall, build quality and finish appeared very good.

The EK Wave was tested using the CPU Die Simulator and Waterblock Test Rig.

Test Results indicate that the EK Wave’s pressure drop (or head loss) across the waterblock is low-moderate; flow resistance such as this means that the EK Wave requires a moderate waterpump to maximize performance, depending upon how restrictive other components are in system.

I found that reducing flow to 0.5 gpm resulted in a performance decrease of about 0.8ºC and increasing flow to 1.5 gpm resulted in a gain of about 0.8ºC.

For a comparison of the EK Wave’s performance to other waterblocks tested to date, see Overclockers.com Waterblock Test Results.

Overall, the EK Wave is an attractive, well performing, low-moderate pressure drop waterblock.

Thanks again to EK Water Blocks for sending this our way.

Disclosure: Joe Citarella has a financial interest in a company developing thermosyphon products for electronic chip cooling.

Email Joe