Gadgetory

today I'm going to be unboxing something that I purchased for myself this is an EK gtx 480 full of cover block that's and acrylic nickel version so let's go ahead and break the seals on this guy so this is for the system upgrade that I've been well pad in progress for quite some time so I just have a quick disconnect fitting in my system right now bridging my cpu and my radiator but what i'll be doing is i'll be putting this graphics card in between and then not plumbing it in so this is an msi gtx 480 card that will be going along with the rest of my system so it comes in an orange box and also comes with some accessories so the first thing we're going to find inside are some thermal pads it's important to use a good quality thermal pad when you're installing any kind of aftermarket cooler on your graphics card because if you use a lousy one it might not make contact which may not have any noticeable negative effects right away but it could dramatically shorten the lifespan of the cart it comes with two stalkers which are out looks like they've changed the style of their Stoppers they used to not have an allen key they were actually had like a top that you love you close with a wrench instead but it looks like they're using a different style now they've got Oh rings to go with some spacers so if you have Barb's or compression fittings with long threads you can use these spacers in order to make sure that they don't hit the stopper on the other side if you have a block that you've run into this before with you'll know what I mean they have also a washer here as well as a little spacer for it looks like it goes around the GPU as well as screws that go into the back of the GPU to keep the block on on the back you also get a black and white instruction sheet that shows you how to install the Block on your part and that little reminder don't forget other ek products for your water cooling system okay and then we have the nickel plated lock itself very dramatic looking very heavy very very nice I've always been a big admirer of eks will cover blocks they're my personal favorite with coolants coming in as a close second I mean just the finish on these is mirror like in quality as you can clearly see it's very very very reflective surface and the thing about the nickel plating is that it is non-oxidizing if you get a copper block yeah you might like the look of the copper block but I guarantee you if I touched it like this and then left it for six months it would have a disgusting fingerprint that you can only remove by polishing it so that means if you like touch your block or you take it apart to clean it and accidentally leave a fingerprint in it the only way to get it off is to take like a toothbrush and some brass oh and like clean the heck out of it and then and then like polish it and it's a lot of work nickel looks nice stays looking nice so it's that simple so I'm going to go ahead and install this on the card I'll probably do a little guide about that but I want you coming close and get some product shots of the FC 480 GTX and hopefully this will allow me to keep that card nice and cool nice and quiet while I know it will allow me to keep it cool and quiet but there you go here's all the machine surfaces on the back so these are going to make contact with the ramp this is for the GPU itself i'll use thermal paste here and then pads on the rest of it this is for something else and then this is for the VRMs thank you for checking out my unboxing don't forget to subscribe to Linus tech tips