Mario Petkovski
Heat is the biggest threat to a gaming PC, especially when running some new games with graphics maxed out at high framerates. But it doesn’t have to be that way!
There are water-cooling solutions for GPUs out there, which can significantly reduce the heat generated by your GPU.
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In this article, we’ll be talking about 5 of the best GPU water coolers you can get currently.
Top 5 Best Liquid Coolers for GPU
Sadly, the GPU water cooler market is very niche currently, so options are somewhat limited. Most of the available water coolers are aimed exclusively at certain top-of-the-line cards, like the RTX 30 series.
This is in large part because GPU models vary a lot in form, so water coolers have to be tailor-made for each one. Even the same GPU model might differ depending on the vendor, too!
Nonetheless, we’ve managed to find some fantastic water coolers for GPUs. If you’re eager to know which ones we’ve picked, just look at this handy chart.
| Best GPU Water Coolers | Compatible GPU | Plate Material | Buy Now |
|---|---|---|---|
| Corsair Hydro X Series XG7 RGB 4090 | RTX 4090 | Nickel and Copper | |
| Corsair Hydro X Series XG7 RGB RX 7900 XTX | RX 7900 XTX | Nickel and Copper | |
| PHANTEKS VGA Cooler Glacier RTX 2080/Ti | RTX 2080, RTX 2080ti | Copper | |
| Corsair Hydro X Series XG7 RGB 30 Series | RTX 3070, RTX 3080, RTX 3090 | Nickel and Copper | |
| EK Water Blocks EK-Quantum Vector Nitro+ RX 6800XT/6900XT | RX 6800XT, RX 6900XT | Nickel, Copper, and Acrylic |
| Best GPU Water Coolers | Compatible GPU | Plate Material | Buy Now |
|---|---|---|---|
| Corsair Hydro X Series XG7 RGB 4090 | RTX 4090 | Nickel and Copper | |
| Corsair Hydro X Series XG7 RGB RX 7900 XTX | RX 7900 XTX | Nickel and Copper | |
| PHANTEKS VGA Cooler Glacier RTX 2080/Ti | RTX 2080, RTX 2080ti | Copper | |
| Corsair Hydro X Series XG7 RGB 30 Series | RTX 3070, RTX 3080, RTX 3090 | Nickel and Copper | |
| EK Water Blocks EK-Quantum Vector Nitro+ RX 6800XT/6900XT | RX 6800XT, RX 6900XT | Nickel, Copper, and Acrylic |
Best for RTX 4090: Corsair Hydro X Series XG7 RGB 4090
Our first item on this list is possibly the best GPU available right now, the RTX 4090!
This premium-grade water cooler from Corsair is fully featured and is a perfect fit for RTX 4090 GPUs. It will keep it cooler and also has a stylish set of RGB lights to make your PC stand out even more!
The nickel-plated copper cooler is tailor-made for the RTX 4090 and is designed to ensure the best thermal transfer.
It doesn’t just protect the GPU’s board, either; it also covers its memory and voltage regulator module (VRM)! It’s designed to provide the best cooling for the entire GPU.
You’ll notice temps go down instantly once it’s all set up. We can’t imagine the GPU overheating after this!
Installation is fairly easy as well, as the cooler plate comes with thermal material and pads pre-applied.
You don’t need to cut or spread anything. You just have to carefully remove the GPU’s stock cooler and replace it with this one!
Visually, it looks quite sleek as well! The water-cooling flow path is transparent and illuminated by RGB lighting, which adds a touch of style to your gaming PC while keeping it cooler.
However, it’s only officially with the Asus models (STRIX and TUF) and the Gaming X Trio model from MSI GeForce. Others might work if they have a similar layout, but it’s not guaranteed!
Pros
- Perfect for a few variants of RTX 4090
- Very high-quality build
- Slick-looking set of RGB lights
- Provided improved thermal transfer for every component of the RTX 4090 GPU
Cons
- Only compatible with the STRIX/TUF and Gaming X Trio variants of the RTX 4090
Best for RX 7900 XTX: Corsair Hydro X Series XG7 RGB RX 7900 XTX
It’s not just NVIDIA’s high-end GPU that gets to cool down, oh no! We also have picked out a water cooler for the RX 7900 XTX.
As you might notice, this is a sister product of the previous water cooler we detailed. However, this one is made to fit the layout of AMD’s RX 7900 XTX instead.
Everything we already said of the previous cooler is true of this one too, however. It’s a premium-grade and fully-featured water cooler. It brings temps way down, and isn’t too hard to install either!
It’s made of the same premium-grade nickel-plate copper materials and installation is the same as well; just replace the GPU’s stock cooler with this cooler.
The main difference is in the layout design, as this water cooler is specifically designed for the RX 7900 XTX. It covers the key components of the GPU, keeping them all cooler than traditional air cooling does.
On that note, no vendor variants are specified either, so it should work for every RX 7900 XTX on the market as of this writing.
However, there’s no variant available for the regular RX 7900 XT! Don’t let the naming conventions confuse you; this is only for the top-tier model.
Pros
- Compatible with the RX 7900 XTX
- Extremely well-made
- Includes RGB lights for extra style
- Covers all the main components of the RX 7900 XT GPU
Cons
- Not designed for the standard RX 7900 XT
Best for RTX 2080: PHANTEKS VGA Cooler Glacier RTX 2080/Ti
Do you seek a water cooler for a humbler GPU? Maybe this cooler for the RTX 2080 is for you.
While the RTX 2080 might be humbler than its big cousin, the RTX 4090, this water cooler from PHANTEKS is still a premium-grade product. No expenses were spared when making this cooler!
This 100% copper plate is made to maintain coolness, and its water-cooling focuses on the GPU’s chip.
As such, the water flow is engineered to have a low flow resistance which allows water to target the most vital component of the RTX 2080 cards.
The cooling fin area is also larger than the default plate the RTX 2080 comes with, which improves heat transfer for the entire GPU.
Visually, it looks pretty nice and has RGB lighting that illuminates the water flow path.
Installation is a tad more cumbersome than most other coolers in this article, however. Thermal paste and thermal pads don’t come pre-applied, so you have to do that yourself.
Once that’s done, though, it’s largely the same process: remove the RTX 2080’s stock cooler and install PHANTEKS’ water cooler!
As usual, though, this cooler is only designed for a specific subset of the RTX 2080. While it’s compatible with both the 2080 and 2080Ti, it only officially supports the Asus ROG Strix variants!
Pros
- Compatible with the standard and Ti versions of the RTX 2080
- Feels extremely durable
- Optimized cooling system
- Nice RGB illumination included
Cons
- Only officially compatible with the Asus ROG Strix versions of the GPU
- Installation is slightly more complicated than others
Best for RTX 30 Series: Corsair Hydro X Series XG7 RGB 30 Series
The RTX 30 Series might be the most popular gaming card in the market right now. The RTX 3070, RTX 3080, and RTX 3070 are very commonplace so they deserve a water-cooler as well!
Just like the rest of this product line, this is an extremely well-made and easy-to-install water cooler. The RGB lights look great, and your GPU’s temps will go straight down after installation.
Truthfully, the only difference this Corsair Hydro X Series XG7 cooler has with the others already mentioned is which GPU it supports.
It’s a high-quality nickel-plated copper cooler designed to provide improved thermal transfer and cooling to every main component of RTX 30 Series GPUs.
Ready to read about the limitations on compatibility for this one, though?
First off, it’s only compatible with RTX 30 Series GPUs that use the reference design, such as the ones from PNY. Make sure your model is compatible!
This cooler is also not available for the lower-end RTX 3060 and RTX 3050 models at all, which is a shame.
Pros
- Compatible with most RTX 30 series GPUs
- Extremely high quality, as usual with this product line
- Flashy RGB light setup
Cons
- Only compatible with reference-design RTX 30 series GPUs
- Not available for the lower-end 3060 and 3050 models
Best for RX 6800/6900: EK Water Blocks EK-Quantum Vector Nitro+ RX 6800XT/6900XT
Our list is almost at an end, and we’ll be closing with this water cooler for the red team’s RX 6800XT and RX 6900XT cards!
This cooler is made out of nickel-plate copper for the base and acrylic for the top. This allows the base to aid in cooling, while the top is transparent and lets you see the water flow.
It’s quite a stylish design on the top, as well, which looks even better when lit up by the RGB lighting!
As for cooling, the cooler is designed to lower temps of all of the GPU’s main components. The layout of the water flow ensures that it cools the RX 6800XT’s and RX6900XT’s board, memory, and VRM.
Installation of this water cooler is more complicated than others, however. Thermal paste and thermal pads aren’t pre-installed, and the pads aren’t even cut to fit the GPU’s board.
You’ll need to manually cut and place thermal pads, as well as manually apply the thermal paste. Thankfully, both the thermal paste and pads come bundled in, at least.
The compatibility is limited, however, as this is only intended for the Sapphire Nitro+ versions of either GPU.
Pros
- Compatible with the XT variants of the RX 6800 and RX 6900
- Perfectly designed to improve cooling
- Really stylish RGB setup
Cons
- Only compatible with Sapphire Nitro+ versions of the GPUs
- More complicated installation than others
To Sum Up
Ultimately, your decision on which GPU water cooler to get depends entirely on which GPU you have.
GPU water coolers are very niche and need to be tailormade to the many varying layouts of each GPU, unlike CPU water coolers. Most vendors have custom layouts, too, which complicates everything!
Nonetheless, you can’t go wrong with any of the water coolers we’ve picked out. They’re all equally fantastic, with their main differences being which GPUs they are made for and how easy they are to install.
We hope at least one of them fits your GPU, though!
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Is it worth water cooling GPU?
Water or liquid cooling helps maintain the maximum performance of the GPU for longer. This means that water cooling is ideal for people who want to squeeze every bit of performance of their PC.
2. Is it possible to convert a GPU to water-cooled?
Yes. it is possible to convert air-cooled PCs to fully water-cooled systems, even the GPU.
3. Is liquid cooling better than air for GPU?
Since the liquid is more efficient at transferring heat, it will do a much better job at keeping your GPU within normal working temperature than air cooling.
4. Does liquid cooling affect the GPU?
Liquid GPU cooling solves one problem which is temperature. Therefore, you’ll be able to maintain high core frequency without performance drops for a longer time.
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