Finally bit the bullet since who knows when Performance-pcs will get them in and if I'll get my order in before they sell out. $200.50 later it says delivery estimate of 9-14. Boy did I have to jump through hoops to order it too. Go to Paypal payment to select Paypal Credit (0% for 6mnths) NOPE. Not a choice. So I send money to my fiance so I get the 0% then transfer to my other Paypal account. Go to place the order again and no ability to use Paypal balance. Come on really!. Go back to select my Chase account and click submit and it just sits on a white page and doesn't process. So Go back to the cart and use my Chase Freedom card and I'm transferring the money from my Paypal balance to my bank account to pay the Chase Freedom card back. Ugh WAY too much work just to order a block and backplate.
Scoured the internet for a discount code too. Apparently there was one early this year with the new site design but it no longer works. Would have been great to get a discount at least. :-( Especially with all the trouble of making a payment. Basically seems the only form of payment accepted is a credit card since even bank transfer didn't work. Almost said forget it and waited to try my chances with Performance-pcs having stock when I notice they finally have them for sale.
Also never heard back from EK on the proper measurements from the I/O side of the block to the center of the G 1/4 ports. So I pulled out the triangle this morning and a dry erase marker drew a 45* and 60* line from my Kryo M.2 ssd block toward where I assume the far right G 1/4 port will be on the FTW block so I could figure out if I just needed another 45* or to get 2 60* from performance-pcs. I decided on the 60* as they seem like they will line up better. Who knows though since I never got the answer I was looking for unfortunately. :-( So I guess if all else fails I have a 45* I can use with a 60*
This is the problem area I'm talking about:
From the looks of the block photos for the FTW and the ek-fc r9-290x - acetal+nickel (rev.2.0) the G 1/4 ports will be further to the right (toward the front of the case). I was initially just going to order the block, backplate, and another 45* when Performance-pcs gets the block/backplate in. Since ordering 1 fitting yields like $7 shipping which is ridiculous. (They won't ship in bubble mailers). So I ordered 2 60*, 2' of the tubing in the pic above since I need a drain tube also and that piece above won't be long enough with the new card, and ordered a NZXT IU01 to split the one interal USB 2.0 header on my daily into 2 so I can use my Hue+ and Corsair Link. Hopefully my engineering and my guesstimation on where the ports on the FTW block will be in relation to the 290x block will pan out when it all gets here. If not I'm stuck with making it work somehow anyway because shipping cost on 1-2 fittings is nuts along with return policy on swapping out fittings.