EK-WB MLC Phoenix - Thoughts

[Aikouka]

I had been tempted to get back into water cooling for a while, but the inconvenience of having to perform multiple steps to remove components normally kept me away. When I saw that EK released a new variant on their pre-filled components, I was a bit intrigued. I had always found quick disconnects a bit interesting as they'd solve most of my inconvenience problems, but they were usually pricey (around $30 per connection) and also reduce flow slightly.

So, I decided to compare the pricing of an open loop (with quick disconnects) to the MLC Phoenix for cooling both a CPU and a GPU. Ultimately, while the open loop gives you the most variety and ability to choose whatever part tickles your fancy, there wasn't really any price advantage once you throw in the expensive quick disconnects. However, that didn't completely sell me on the MLC Phoenix setup either. There were two lingering questions that I had....

1. How powerful and noisy is the pump? It appears that it's the SPC pump, which EK uses on other components. The SPC pump isn't terribly powerful, but it is quiet and has low power requirements (12v @ 0.5A).
2. Will EK continue to support this set into the future? This is probably the hardest question to answer, but it's not hard to solve the problem. Fortunately, the MLC Phoenix set uses the exact same quick disconnects that EK sells in their store (except in black), so you can just buy quick disconnects to attach a non-MLC unit to the loop. I actually got a few off eBay for a really good price!

With all of that, I decided to go with the MLC Phoenix setup, which would include the 360mm radiator, CPU block and the ASUS 1080 Ti Strix GPU block. Overall, installation of the unit was pretty straightforward. The GPU block attaches the same as it does with normal blocks... except you have two tubes that may slightly get in your way during installation. However, they gave me no trouble. On the other hand, I did find that the CPU block's tubes were almost a bit too rigid. The GPU block has built-in swivel-capable 90-degree adapters, but the CPU block just has the tubes come straight out the top.

As a quick side note, I wasn't a huge fan of the thermal paste that the GPU block came with. It was far too soupy for my liking, but the CPU block came with Thermal Grizzly TIM, which was an interesting find. I ended up using my own Prolimatech PK-3 for the GPU block. Another thing to keep in mind is that each MLC component contains a balloon connector (yes, I mean that literally) attached to the female QD adapter, which must be removed prior to hooking up the loop. This balloon will likely leak water when removing it, so keep that in mind before installing it in your PC!

Unfortunately, I think EK did drop the ball in one big area on the MLC Phoenix line, and that is the desire to make it like an AIO and rely on PWM control. The radiator comes fully assembled with the fans, pump and reservoir all attached. On the end opposite of the pump and reservoir is a PWM/power hub, which takes has a SATA power plug and a PWM plug where the PWM signal provided will be used to control both the fans and the pump. The biggest problem is that if you plan on using multiple devices, your BIOS-based PWM control cannot take into account the GPU's temperature, which means you have to use software PWM. Personally, I'm not a huge fan of software PWM control.

In my case, much like I did with my previous open loop, I prefer setting speeds manually at the level where I'm comfortable with the level of noise generated and the level of cooling provided. Surprisingly, there are very few devices on the market that can do this, and I ended up having to go with two of Noctua's NA-FC1 PWM controllers where one would control the pump and the other would control the fans. This actually worked rather well, and instead of having pretty lackluster temperatures for a water loop (around 50-60C for the video card), I am running significantly cooler.

Unfortunately, I can't give a proper value, because I also decided to be adventurous and add another 360mm radiator to the loop while adding the PWM controllers. However, I can say that my GPU rarely goes above 33C even when mining, but that's probably not a huge surprise given two 360mm radiators. Although, I do notice that my CPU's temperatures tend to jump around a bit erratically at times. While the GPU tends to heat up gradually, my i7-8700k will shoot from 25C to 50C in an instant (according to HwINFO64).

So, in summation...

Pros:

• Easy to install and tinker.
• Priced fairly well when all factors are considered.
• Has a decent cooling capability.

Cons:

• Uses PWM to control fan and pump speed.
• No indication on how long EK plans to support the product line.

Oh, and by the way, I do recommend testing the radiators prior to installing them. Out of my two units, one of them has a noisy pump (pump was set to 100% speed for the video) that EK recommended that I return.

Here are some pictures of the components in my Thermaltake Core X9:
GPU: https://i.imgur.com/nyHC8Eq.jpg
Radiators: https://i.imgur.com/1J1oHjn.jpg
CPU: https://i.imgur.com/sydkUHw.jpg

 

[aigomorla]

Ahhh you bought into the eK hype...

all it is is basically a custom LCS with (CPC) colder quick disconnects, and its in plastic.

Here is my Con's.

1. It has no reservior. You would need to add it at a premium.
Res's are good because they help you bleed.

You need to bleed especially in radiators because an air gap will hinder heat transfer. Remember water has about 10x the heat transfer air does, so when air gets stuck in the res and no way to remove it, it will eat your performance. This is why i think some AIO's can do better if half the radiator wasn't filled with air.

2. Pump looks like it is not serviceable...
Swiftech has something simular to eK's where u can mount the pump directly to the radiator.
http://www.swiftech.com/MCR-X20-Drive-Rev3.aspx

And better off then the eK it takes a Laing DDC which you can service.

3. your stuck on eK parts....
Some companies make better stuff for certain things then eK Does, and now your forced to use the eK chain.


Lastly, the price.... lately ive been having fun with aliexpress and this store in particular:
https://www.aliexpress.com/store/431286?spm=2114.search0104.3.11.MXc2Es

and well, i can piece out 3 systems for the price of 1 eK system and have it be superior at the cost of 1 month shipping time..
So lately, i honestly cant recommend people to go the eK route for everything now that there is aliexpress, unless you NEED your LCS system immediately.

 

[Aikouka]

Ahhh you bought into the eK hype

Nah, I wanted to get back into water cooling, but honestly... I wanted to avoid a lot of the hassle that I dealt with last time. One of the things that I do like about this system is that I don't have to worry nearly as much about where I'm going to mount everything. That is one thing that I hated about building in my 900D with my first foray into the world of liquid cooling. People love to laud Corsair's cases, but that case is a huge sore spot for me. It cost $330 and it didn't even have a good spot to mount a pump! Unless you had a pump top that connected directly to the reservoir, chances are you had no where to place anything due to the lack of a shelf between the motherboard and PSU compartments. Honestly... I just didn't want to deal with that again. I spent so much time building my own custom platform to mount on that it was... well, pretty ridiculous, and that's all because I wanted two pumps instead of one.

I don't know... maybe some people like the challenge of fitting everything into a case, but I've got my breaking point.

1. It has no reservior. You would need to add it at a premium.
Res's are good because they help you bleed.

The reservoir is right beside the pump.

I didn't really have a huge problem with air bubbles in this system. I think that's pretty much the point of those balloons that are attached during shipping, but I'm not 100% sure on that. Although, there was still air in the system, and the PWM control made it a bit awkward to get rid of it. My PWM settings were set to somewhat low since they mostly controlled fans in the past, and as you know, when you want to remove air bubbles, you usually run the pump at a high speed. Well, once I hooked up the PWM controller and turned the pump up, you could hear the air in the loop. It did go away pretty quickly though.

2. Pump looks like it is not serviceable...

Based upon a cursory glance, it appears that you can remove the pump, but whether you could find a drop-in replacement for it is another question. Like I mentioned, I'm pretty sure this uses EK's SPC pump, which can be purchased.

3. your stuck on eK parts....

I brought this up in my post, and it's not really true. Your only limitation is that you must use EK's QDC components to connect to the system. There is nothing to say that you can't buy other components, and add them into the system manually. However, that isn't necessarily a simple task given the MLC components are all pre-filled. That means you either need to find a way to pre-fill your components, or to add water to the loop afterward. Neither of those are impossible. You can fill the component by removing the male QDC, capping that tube, putting the male into the female and filling it up. You can also fill the loop as the reservoir has openings that use standard G1/4 plugs.

Lastly, the price.... lately ive been having fun with aliexpress and this store in particular
https://www.aliexpress.com/store/431286?spm=2114.search0104.3.11.MXc2Es

I never stated that it was as cheap as the Chinese-sourced parts. Heck, JayzTwoCents had that recent video where he showcased that cheap, $18 CPU block, and it performed within a few degrees of an EK block that costs around $75. My point on pricing is how it compared to other major brands. I also had to consider what components I could reuse in my system as I still have pumps, reservoirs and such lying around from my previous exploits. I did consider going with EK's Dual D5 top as it could use fan mount locations, which makes it much easier on me, and I have two D5 pumps lying around. The only problem there is that top costs something like $80, and you still have to buy the reservoir separately, which was about another $40-50.

 

[aigomorla]

80, and you still have to buy the reservoir separately, which was about another $40-50.

yeah thats why lately i find it very hard to recommend parts to people without asking if they are on time constraints because of alibaba...

also barrow fittings are just as good as bitspower fittings from my first analysis.

The only thing i find sort of annoying tho is the PETG hard pipes. They dont seem to be the same size as xspc's. Infact most of the vendors seem to be off to each other not allowing compatibility.

But anyhow if your happy with the system ultimately that's the main goal in doing a LCS project.

Also as i said those qdc's are from CPC colder quick fittings.

you can source them at usplastics, however they are sort of pricey at ~23 dollars per complete set.
https://www.usplastic.com/catalog/i...Q7Pn7OXA9uf2L8L9N-K9al-Gmw6iRBkQaAuEuEALw_wcB

remember u need both male and female...

 

[Aikouka]

yeah thats why lately i find it very hard to recommend parts to people without asking if they are on time constraints because of alibaba...

Well, my only worry there would be... how much of those are legit parts? Chinese components have a bad reputation of being direct rip-offs of western competitors straight down to stealing IP. To be clear, that does not mean that all Chinese companies do that, but I don't want to support those that do.

To be fair, one way that these can be cheaper is that they don't have the logistics/marketing side that larger companies like EK have. That stuff isn't free, and gets lumped into the cost of items.

Also as i said those qdc's are from CPC colder quick fittings

Yep, I actually bought three of them off eBay. It cost me about $15 each, which is pretty decent for a quick disconnect. I think EK is selling them for $18 right now, but shipping to the US really adds to the overall cost.

But anyhow if your happy with the system ultimately that's the main goal in doing a LCS project.

Yeah, I realize that this isn't necessarily the route that people who truly prefer an open-loop solution will want to go. It's somewhat between an open loop and a closed loop. I did mull over it for a while, and I eventually decided to pull the trigger. (Whether EK will continue the line was my biggest hang-up since water cooling is more of an investment.) I don't have any sort of buyer's remorse over it, but one thing I did notice is that there's very little talk on the Internet about it. I didn't see any reviews from an official site, and that's why I wanted to talk about it here. I probably should've written my post more like a review, and I may go back and rework it a bit.