EK Titan X Block - thermal pads

Dirk Diggler · 2 Aug 2016 at 15:37

I'm trying to apply the 0.5mm pads to the ram blocks. However, when I peel the blue plastic film off it feels like there's a thin layer of clear film left. It feels different on both sides, but if I try to take the second "film" off, the pad starts breaking up.

I've fit loads of blocks before and never seen this, is it a new design of pad?

EDIT:

Response from EK:

New thermal pads are sticky on one of the sides and not sticky on the other side. The plastic film (under the blue) has to stay in place.
New thermal pads also perform better compared to the old, grey pads.

Smffy · 2 Aug 2016 at 15:39

There is film on both sides, one is blue (its obvious) the other side is clear... The blue one is a pain in the a**e to get off so use the stiff clear bits to work a corner free. There isn't any film under the film but there is film on the two sides.

Dirk Diggler · 2 Aug 2016 at 15:47

It's the blue one that's giving me trouble. There's definitely another thin film below it, but if I try to remove it then the pad just breaks up. The side with the clear film feels tacky when the film is removed, but the side with the blue film still feels plastic and smooth with only the blue film off.

I think this is defective strips. :mad:

queeg · 2 Aug 2016 at 17:37

no that dosent sound right does it all do that they usually give you enough to do twice I put a ek block onto a 980ti yesterday mine didn't do that but they have changed those strips it feels cheaper than the old dark grey stuff

tyler_jrb · 2 Aug 2016 at 18:13

Best way is to keep it on the clear rigid plastic first and peel away the blue part. Then peel the entire pad off the clear plastic.

There is tape on each side and no more. one side is tacky the other side is smoother. Can confirm this is how they are supposed to be.

BluD · 2 Aug 2016 at 19:02

Yeah ive just done a set of them pads, they have thick clear plastic one side and thin blue plastic the other side.

I took the pads off the thick plastic leaving the thin blue stuff on and put them in place on the card then removed the thin blue stuff last once theyre in place. They do have some sticky tape on the thick plastic side, thats to help them stick to your card rather than your finger when your putting them on i guess.

Dirk Diggler · 2 Aug 2016 at 20:04

In the end, I dug out an old 670 block that I had and used the grey pads from that. I'm not impressed with EK's new pads at all.

Dirk Diggler · 3 Aug 2016 at 11:52

Having had a good look at the pads that came with the block, there is definitely a plastic film below the blue film and it's impossible to remove. I'm not sure how I could test, but I am extremely doubtful that proper heat transfer is possible with that film in place.

I'd be very wary of buying an EK block again as I've been really lucky to have had decent thermal pads available.

I'll contact EK for advice on whether these pads are fit for purpose.

BluD · 3 Aug 2016 at 12:39

There is a plastic film yeah, it doesnt seem to effect performance so dont worry bout it, tbh i've never liked the look of thermal pads, they dont look very good for heat transfer at all but they seem to do the job so i would just get them stuck on.

I would test the temps for you but the only sensors i can find on my reference cards are the core temp, but they seem to work fine, i had my vram up to 2100mhz in a bench the other day so heat must not be much of an issue.

Smffy · 3 Aug 2016 at 15:11

String said:
Having had a good look at the pads that came with the block, there is definitely a plastic film below the blue film and it's impossible to remove. I'm not sure how I could test, but I am extremely doubtful that proper heat transfer is possible with that film in place.

I'd be very wary of buying an EK block again as I've been really lucky to have had decent thermal pads available.

I'll contact EK for advice on whether these pads are fit for purpose.

I'll agree they are a total load of SWEARWORDSSS, i'm not sure why both sides don't have that easy to remove clear plastic. The post above is spot on though, remove the blue before the clear was how I got through the rage but I do think they feel different on one side but its not a problem.

Dirk Diggler · 8 Aug 2016 at 15:08

Response from EK:

New thermal pads are sticky on one of the sides and not sticky on the other side. The plastic film (under the blue) has to stay in place.
New thermal pads also perform better compared to the old, grey pads.

archerz · 8 Aug 2016 at 16:07

PLEASE NOTE:

The surface of the pad is slightly sticky and is equipped with a double sided protective foil when shipped. This foil must be removed prior to installation.
Thermal pads may need to be trimmed to desired size (as per installation manual for each EKWB product).
This thermal pad has natural tack on one side only.

Taken from their website

Greebo · 8 Aug 2016 at 16:18

Was just reading a round up review of 980 waterblocks and they said the only reason the EK gave worse performance on vrm cooling was they used **** thermal pads compared to their competitors.

Guess if buying EK you are better off buying your pads seperate.