NVIDIA GeForce RTX 30 series Founders: not reference, they are custom

EK Water Blocks unveils new GeForce RTX 3090 and RTX 3080 water block, but be careful -- it won't work with the Founders Edition.

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EK Water Blocks has just unveiled their new water blocks that are ready for NVIDIA's new GeForce RTX 3090 and GeForce RTX 3080 reference designs -- which is a big point in itself.

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NVIDIA's new GeForce RTX 30 series Founders Edition graphics cards are not "reference cards" in the term that they usd to be, as with the GeForce RTX 10 series launch... Founders Edition cards were a very big change. Gone are the days of reviewers like myself getting reference cards, as the new Founders Edition are not "reference" cards at all -- they're custom cards.

EK's new water blocks are for the GeForce RTX 3090 and GeForce RTX 3080 reference design which both feature a different PCB layout, and dual 8-pin PCIe power connectors.

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  • Picture: this is the reference GeForce RTX 3090 and reference GeForce RTX 3080 PCBs.

NVIDIA's custom GeForce RTX 3090 and RTX 3080 Founders Edition cards have a special 12-pin PCIe power connector, something that I revealed would be exclusive to the new RTX 30 series Founders Edition cards -- and now we know why, they're custom, not reference cards.

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EKWB does warn:

  • This block is made for reference PCB 3080 and 3090 cards. Founders Edition does NOT have a reference PCB.
  • Due to an immense variety of fittings/barbs available on the market and no prescribed standards, we guarantee compatibility only for connectors bought from our website.
  • Factory backplates are not compatible with this water block!
  • Check your toolbox if you are missing this special Hex adapter for some of the screws.
  • This product should NOT be installed with any aluminum Fluid Gaming parts!
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