Details
The Alphacool Eisblock Aurora Acryl GPX-N RTX 3090/3080 Gaming/Eagle Active Backplate is a water-cooled backplate for Gigabyte GeForce RTX 3080, 3080 Ti and 3090 Gaming, Eagle, Vision and Turbo graphics cards. It goes on a card that already carries Alphacool's Eisblock Aurora GPU water block for these boards (article number 11942) or its Eiswolf 2 AIO (14416). There it becomes part of the loop. The cooler itself is not in the box.
Properties
- Fits
- Gigabyte GeForce RTX 3080, 3080 Ti and 3090 Gaming, Eagle, Vision and Turbo
- Goes with
- Eisblock Aurora Acryl GPX-N Gaming/Eagle (11942), Eiswolf 2 AIO Gaming/Eagle (14416)
- Backplate
- Nickel-plated copper, actively water-cooled
- Cover
- Acrylic
- Ports
- 2 x G1/4 and 2 x 5/3 mm tube connection
- Lighting
- 6 digital aRGB LEDs, 5V
Compatibility
Alphacool lists these coolers and cards for this backplate:
- Alphacool Eisblock Aurora Acryl GPX-N RTX 3090/3080 Gaming/Eagle with backplate (article number: 11942)
- Alphacool Eiswolf 2 AIO - 360mm RTX 3080/3090 Gaming/Eagle with backplate (article number: 14416)
- Gigabyte GeForce RTX 3080 Eagle OC 10G, 10GB GDDR6X (GV-N3080EAGLE OC-10GD)
- Gigabyte GeForce RTX 3080 Gaming OC 10G, 10GB GDDR6X (GV-N3080GAMING OC-10GD)
- Gigabyte GeForce RTX 3080 Turbo 10G, 10GB GDDR6X (GV-N3080TURBO-10GD)
- Gigabyte GeForce RTX 3080 Vision OC 10G, 10GB GDDR6X (GV-N3080VISION OC-10GD)
- Gigabyte GeForce RTX 3080 Ti Eagle 12G, 12GB GDDR6X (GV-N308TEAGLE-12GD)
- Gigabyte GeForce RTX 3080 Ti Eagle OC 12G, 12GB GDDR6X (GV-N308TEAGLE OC-12GD)
- Gigabyte Geforce RTX 3080 Ti Gaming OC
- Gigabyte GeForce RTX 3080 Ti Vision OC 12G, 12GB GDDR6X (GV-N308TVISION OC-12GD)
- Gigabyte GeForce RTX 3090 Eagle OC 24G, 24GB GDDR6X (GV-N3090EAGLE OC-24GD)
- Gigabyte GeForce RTX 3090 Gaming OC 24G, 24GB GDDR6X (GV-N3090GAMING OC-24GD)
- Gigabyte GeForce RTX 3090 Turbo 24G, 24GB GDDR6X (GV-N3090TURBO-24GD)
- Gigabyte GeForce RTX 3090 Vision OC 24G, 24GB GDDR6X (GV-N3090VISION OC-24GD)
The backplate was built for one PCB layout, and card makers sometimes revise a board so that a part no longer fits later models. Compare your card and its PCB number with the pictures in Alphacool's GPU configurator, or look it up in its Compatibility List for Nvidia cards.
What an active backplate does
Alphacool's text presents the series as Active Backplates for Geforce RTX 3080/3090 graphics cards, and this one is the Gigabyte Gaming/Eagle version. Alphacool calls it the perfect upgrade for its Eisblock Aurora Acrylic GPX-N GPU custom water coolers as well as its Eiswolf 2 GPU AIOs (see compatibility details). With the help of a backplate consisting of nickel-plated copper, the back of the card can now also be actively water-cooled, thus achieving what Alphacool describes as a significant increase in cooling performance.
Connection options
There are 2 different ways to incorporate the backplate into an existing watercooling loop, and with both variants the connection options are very flexible. Which port is the inlet and which the outlet can be freely selected, depending on the design of the loop.
Variant 1. The top side has an inlet and an outlet, with a G1/4 internal thread respectively. Suitable connections and hoses or hard tubes make it easily integrated into the water circuit.
Variant 2. A second inlet and outlet sit on the side and are suitable for 5/3 mm hoses. With the help of Alphacool's MCX 2x manifold with 5/3 mm tubing (item 1022250, article 13041), the active backplate joins the circuit in a space-saving way. It is the sensible choice if there is little space in the PC case and tubing runs will be difficult to do. Note that this variant only works with Eisblock Aurora Acryl and ES Acetal GPX-N GPU custom water coolers. It cannot be used in combination with Alphacool Eiswolf 2 AIOs.
Brilliant illumination
Six addressable digital RGB LEDs are recessed directly into the part and run along the sides of the entire cooling block. Alphacool says this illuminates the entire block and creates unique lighting effects. The Digital aRGB LED lighting is connected via a JST 3-pin connector. It can be controlled with a Digital RGB controller (e.g. the Alphacool Aurora Eiscontrol, Art. 15360) or a Digital RGB capable motherboard.
What the loop needs
The manual has you use one pair of ports or the other. The G1/4 pair takes two compression fittings for your tube size, and neither they nor the MCX manifold are in the box. The unused pair is closed with parts that are: two screw plugs for the G1/4 threads, fitted with the included tool, or two MCX fitting plugs for the 3 mm barbed fittings. For the lighting, the 3-pin female connector of the backplate plugs into the 3-pin male connector of the graphics card cooler's LED. The remaining 3-pin male connector takes additional digital RGB LEDs. Thermal pads and the mounting screws come with it.
Technical data
| L x W x H | 233.5 x 97 x 13.3 mm |
| Material backplate | copper, nickel-plated |
| Material cooler | acrylic |
| Threads Water cooling | 2x G1/4 | 2x 5/3 mm tube connection |
| Illumination | 6x digital addressable RGB LEDs |
| Power connector digital aRGB LEDs | 3-pin JST (male & female switch) |
| Power digital aRGB LEDs | 5V |
| Maximum working temperature | 60 °C |
| Pressure tested | 0.8 Bar |
| Weight | 662 g |
Notes
- Alphacool asks that the backplate be used only with clear transparent water cooling fluids. It warns that the particles and additives in Pastel liquids can clog and permanently damage radiators, pumps, coolers and hoses, and that this can void the manufacturer's warranty.
- On an antistatic mat, clean the card of thermal paste and pad residues before fitting the backplate.
In the box
- 1x Active Backplate
- 1x 15x15x1mm thermal pad
- 2x 15x51x1mm thermal pad
- 1x 15x38x1mm thermal pad
- 1x 30x30x2mm thermal pad
- 1x 8x74x3mm thermal pad
- 1x 8x84x3mm thermal pad
- 6x M2x11 screws
- 2x screw plugs
- 2x MCX fitting plugs
- 1x Plug Tool
Alphacool's manual and data sheet are both PDFs.
