All disclosures, notices and warranty conditions are being written on the EKWB website. Please read terms of use. Released on 29
th
of October, 2013. Revision 1.0
Installation and mounting manual for EK-FC 780 GTX Lightning
water block
This product is intended for installation only by expert users. Please consult with a qualified technician for installation. Improper installation may result in damage to your equipment. EK Water Blocks assumes no liability
whatsoever, expressed or implied, for the use of these products, nor their installation. The following instructions are subject to change without notice. Please visit our web site at
installation of this product please read important notice, disclosure and warranty conditions printed on the back of the box.
Before you start using this product please follow these basic guidelines:
1.
Please carefully read the manual before through before beginning with the installation process!
2.
Please remove your motherboard from the computer to assure safest mounting process in order to prevent any possible damages to your CPU and/or motherboard’s circuit board (PCB).
3.
The EK High Flow and EK-PSC type fittings require only a small amount of force to screw them firmly in place since the liquid seal is ensured by the rubber O-ring gaskets.
4.
The use of corrosion inhibiting coolants is always recommended for any liquid cooling system.
STEP 1: GENERAL INFORMATION.
Sample picture of MSI N780 Lightning series graphics card.
STEP 2: PREPARING YOUR GRAPHIC CARD.
1. REMOVING STOCK COOLER:
Remove encircled screw on the
I/O bracket:
STEP 2 cont.: PREPARING YOUR GRAPHIC CARD
1.cont. REMOVING MSI FACTORY PROVIDED BACKPLATE:
Remove all encircled screws attaching
the aluminium backplate to the circuit board. All backplate assembly screws should be removed. There
are 12 screws on the back of the graphics card (see photo below). Do not unplug the backplate power
connector if you intend to re-use the backplate with the EK-FC780 Lightning water block (see STEP 3a)!
1.cont.:
Carefully detach metal heat spreader plate. This step may
require some force as the thermal pads may adhere the backplate
firmly to the components on the circuit board. We recommend users
to slowly and carefully pry the metal heat spreader plate from the
PCB using bare hands (tool-less approach).
2. CLEANING THE PCB & APPLYING THERMAL COMPOUND.
Carefully detach the
original stock cooler after removing
all
screws securing it to the board. Wipe off the
remains (by using non–abrasive cloth or
q-tip
) of the original thermal compound until the
components and circuit board are completely clean. lightly coat
Nvidia
GPU chip with
enclosed EK-TIM Ectotherm thermal grease. EKWB recommends to apply thermal grease in
cross form for best performance (see sample picture).
3. CUTTING THERMAL PADS.
Your block comes with thermal pads, some of
which are already pre-cut. Others have to be cut to smaller chunks in order to
cover all the VRM components such as MOSFETs and drivers. PLEASE REMOVE
THE PROTECTIVE FOIL FROM BOTH SIDES OF THE THERMAL PADS PRIOR TO
INSTALLATION.
STEP 3: INSTALLING THE WATER BLOCK
1. PLACING THERMAL PADS ON PCB.
Place thermal pads on chips so that numbers on chips match size of thermal pads. EKWB made sure users have more than enough
pads to cover all surfaces that need to be covered to make block fully functional. EKWB recommends using small drops of electrically non-conductive (for example: EK-TIM,
Arctic Cooling MX-2 ™, MX-4 ™ or GELID GC-Extreme™) thermal grease on each phase regulator (that is being covered with thermal pad) in order to even further improve the
thermal performance of the EK-FC780 GTX Lightning series water block.
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
2
2
2
1:
Thermal pad D – 0.5mm
(for memory IC):
2
2:
Thermal pad A – 1mm
(for VRM):
