Ultra-Extreme Cooling for Hyper Enthusiasts – EK and Der8auer create direct-die cooling solutions for Raptor/Alder Lake CPUs

EK and De8aurer has teamed up to create direct-die cooling solutions for Intel’s latest processors

What happens when you bring together a world renowned overclocker and the world’s most famed producer of PC water blocks? You get something very special! In this case, EK and Der8auer have come together to create their EK-Quantum Velocity²Â Direct Die series of cooling solutions, bringing together the benefits of CPU delidding and custom liquid cooling to create the ultimate cooling solution for Intel’s 13th Generation Raptor Lake and 12th Generation Alder Lake processors. 

What is delidding? 

In the world of CPUs, delidding is when overclockers remove the IHS (Integrated Heatspreader) of a processor to reduce the distance between your cooling solution and the CPU silicon that you plan to cool. After delidding your processor, heatsinks can be mounted directly to your CPU’s silicon, removing the IHS as a middle-man between your CPU and your cooling solution to increase heat transfer and reduce CPU thermals. 

The problem with delidding is that it is a risky process, as delidding your CPU can risk damaging its silicon, effectively killing the processor. This can happen when you delid your CPU or when you mount your heatsink directly onto your CPU die. However, overclockers have create dedicated CPU delidding tools to reduce the risk of CPU damage, and some retailers also offer delidding as a service, making the risk their problem. 

EK and Der8auer team up

Today, EK have revealed four products, their Limited Edition EK-Quantum Velocity² Direct Die D-RGB – 1700 Gold water block, of which only 100 will be created, the EK-Quantum Velocity² IHS Removal Tool for 1700 CPUs, their EK-Quantum Velocity² Direct Die D-RGB – 1700 Nickel + Plexi water block, and a EK-Quantum Velocity² Direct Die – 1700 Upgrade Kit. All of these products are socket-specific and are only compatible with LGA 1700 Intel processors.

EK-Quantum Velocity² Direct Die D-RGB – 1700 Limited Edition

This limited edition of the Direct Die Velocity² CPU water block has a unique brass top that gets nickel- and subsequently gold-plated. The top of each water block features a specific pattern to distinguish it as a genuine limited-edition product. Only a hundred pieces are being made, each featuring a unique ordinal number from 1 to 100.

This package already includes everything you need to perform the delidding process on your CPU and cool it in a direct die manner.

It contains:

– EK-Quantum Velocity² Direct Die D-RGB – 1700 Limited Edition CPU water block
– Delidding tool for 12th and 13th generation Intel Core CPUs
– EK-Exact Mount and ILM replacement die guard for direct die cooling
– Liquid metal – Thermal Grizzly Conductonaut
– Two foams for preventing liquid metal spillage

Using Direct Die cooling, EK’s Quantum Velocity² water block can be mounted closer to Intel’s Raptor Lake/Alder Lake silicon than ever before, and EK’s inclusion of Thermal Grizzly Conductonaut liquid metal thermal compound ensures that thermal transfers between Intel’s CPU silicon and EK custom direct-die water block are maximised. These features ensure that CPU thermals for minimised for Intel’s processors, maximising overclocking potential by offering users increased thermal headroom.

EK and Der8auer have designed their Alder Lake/Raptor Lake Direct Die water block to be as safe to use as possible, taking measures to prevent potential shorts or other issues. These design features make liquid metal thermal compounds like Thermal Grizzly Conductonaut safe to use. Below we can see the foam frame that EK uses to ensure that liquid metal thermal paste does not move where it is not wanted.

For existing users of EK-Quantum Velocity² LGA 1700 water blocks, EK has created their EK-Quantum Velocity² Direct Die 1700 Upgrade Kit to allow their customers to upgrade their existing liquid cooling loops to direct-die cooling. This will allow existing EK customers to further reduce their CPU thermals and take their liquid cooling setups to the next level.  

EK expects to release their LGA 1700 direct-die cooling products in mid-February 2023. The table below shows EK’s planned pricing for their new liquid cooling products.

You can join the discussion on EK and der8auer’s direct-die CPU cooling solutions for Raptor Lake and Alder Lake CPUs on the OC3D Forums.