Sixtus23
 
An Eisbaer-2 3080 version with a 360 rad, quick release AND variable pump speeds is in the works.
Like anybody else they want to bring it out before the big holiday season, if possible.
 Oh Eisbaer ...you had me at "variable pump speeds"

Will keep eye on this, thanks!

It is unclear to me that the Optimum is price gouging and I believe it is improper to accuse them of the practice.  It implies an intentional wrong doing, which I do not believe is happening.
 
EKWB has been in the business for a while and clearly has mass production capability.  I suspect they use fully automated CNC machines to pump out the blocks in reasonably large quantities.  This provides them with significant economies of scale across multiple product lines.  I use a lot of EKWB stuff and I am happy with their quality.   BUT! even their parts can get pretty expensive "Momentum CPU block" anyone?
 
It is very clear that Optimum is a boutique operation.
 
If you factor in, Engineering costs (higher than a mechanic, I hope), skilled machinist costs, machine time etc.  and you can quickly add to your fixed unit costs over a small and limited quantity production run.
   
Heck, my car mechanic charges me $125.00 an hour for darn sake!  So Optimum is charging less than 1.5 hours of incremental "skilled labour" for their boutique card that includes a significant amount of thermal pad (~$100?).  This actually seems reasonable to me. 
 
So it you buy boutique, you get what you pay for, and I like supporting folks with that kind of passion.  

The optimus is also including the xl backplate with the block and the thermal pad is a large fitted template instead of several small pads you cut yourself to fit. They put alot of time and work into it. Also the evga hydro-copper for the 2080ti kingping was 349.00 and these blocks are larger than those were.

The pure copper beefy block is $250 made in Chicago
What we bought is the XE nickle 
 
Flaking, disintegrating nickel is a widespread problem in liquid cooling. After all, nickel PC fittings and blocks prohibit use with plain water, or you void the warranty. Instead, you must use anti-corrosive fluids to protect nickel components. Why? Because the industry standard electroplated (aka electrolytic) nickel is a cosmetic nickel finish that isn't meant to be used in liquid applications. Often called chrome or shiny nickel, electroplated nickel is cost effective and looks good.
Unfortunately, water, anti-fungals and fancy fluids will rapidly strip electroplated nickel. The gunk that will appear in block fins isn't just broken down fluid, it's often disintegrated nickel, paint and cheap plastics. If this seems crazy, it is. After all, the cheapest home faucet can handle tap water, so why can’t expensive PC parts?
 
"Optimus parts are finished with our proprietary nickel process called Pro-XE. Pro-XE Nickel is an industrial-grade professional electroless nickel plating. Electroless is an aerospace industry finish with extreme chemical resistance, hardness and superior fluid lubricity. Pro-XE is specially tailored for liquid cooled PC components with both extreme corrosion resistance and excellent visual appearance. So why isn't everyone using electroless? Electroless is far more difficult to manufacture, especially when achieving perfect finishes needed for premium PC builds. And electroless can't achieve that easy chrome look of electroplating, which is why electroplating is the industry standard, even if it shouldn't be used."
 

THE FINEST FINS EVER CREATED

 
Over three years of development went into creating our truly next-level patent-pending fin technology. Using a fully CNC machining process, Optimus is able to achieve101 micron (0.1016mm, 0.004”) fins with 202 micron (0.2032mm, 0.008”) micro channels. This isn't just superior craftsmanship, it's generations beyond other fin designs.



 
everything that they do and every aspect of their blocks are meant for extreme performance. I felt like their plating was very suitable for liquid metal. In addition to having the flatest coldplate which i needed for my direct die liquid metal 10900k. Guess what, 53 C max temp in cinebench r15 at 5.2Ghz
 
Anyone who uses their blocks reports significantly better temperatures compared to ANY other block on the market and i can attest to that
 
Even gamers nexus was raving about the supreme performance and he doest rave about anything so there's that

irakandjii
It is unclear to me that the Optimum is price gouging and I believe it is improper to accuse them of the practice.  It implies an intentional wrong doing, which I do not believe is happening.
 
EKWB has been in the business for a while and clearly has mass production capability.  I suspect they use fully automated CNC machines to pump out the blocks in reasonably large quantities.  This provides them with significant economies of scale across multiple product lines.  I use a lot of EKWB stuff and I am happy with their quality.   BUT! even their parts can get pretty expensive "Momentum CPU block" anyone?
 
It is very clear that Optimum is a boutique operation.
 
If you factor in, Engineering costs (higher than a mechanic, I hope), skilled machinist costs, machine time etc.  and you can quickly add to your fixed unit costs over a small and limited quantity production run.
   
Heck, my car mechanic charges me $125.00 an hour for darn sake!  So Optimum is charging less than 1.5 hours of incremental "skilled labour" for their boutique card that includes a significant amount of thermal pad (~$100?).  This actually seems reasonable to me. 
 
So it you buy boutique, you get what you pay for, and I like supporting folks with that kind of passion.  

I don't feel anyone is saying that they are price gouging.  It's more that spending 2x for an Optimus block over EK may not be worth it for many.  Fortunately, Optimus is able to sell out their batches and hopefully their business model works for them.  Nothing wrong with a boutique vendor having options over a mass manufacturer.

Damn dude...I love top end enthusiast hardware as much as the next guy, but $400+ for a single water block? LOL

This first batch is ultra enthusiast. You can buy the pure copper for $250 once that drops soon. And honestly? that will be totally worth the price.
The hydrocopper on the 2080ti was terrible and they charged a huge premium for it. My temps went into the 50s on full load after water heats up.. I saw up to 54-55c which was over 30 C over ambient. and thats with an extreme cooling loop with 840mm of rads dedicated to the gpu in its own waterloop
 
Gamers nexus is reporting 8 C over ambient on a shunt modded (extremely high watt high heat card) Do you realize how insane that it?

Hillguy

ehabash1
okay but you have to understand that card is entirely copper plated Nickle and is extremely thick and beefy. They also come with a full size thermal pad, like a massive sheet which can easily cost $100 if you buy that on your own.
If you get the pure copper with thin backplate it will be $308 total with backplate included. The started out with beefy xl backplate and pro XE Nickle (make sure to check out the process on that much better than standard nickle) because they released the max enthusiast version first
You get what you pay for. Gamers nexus got 8 C over ambient even after shunt modding.... To get that kind of thermal performance with such high power consumption is amazing and unheard of.
I already have an optimus cpu block in its own 420mm loop and the temps blow anything and everything out the water (pun intended )

I agree .. "you get what you pay for is right , I just don't believe in overpaying" , I like the "Bang for your Buck Approach" Anyhooo .....  With every new series comes NEW designs and Lots of new sales buzzwords , I just hate to see the PRICE GOUGING that's going on these days and people getting ripped off by the hype."

This is just a taste of what EK has in store ( Pun Intended )   They also have Thick Copper and complete coverage for HALF the price , Do you really think it's half the waterblock ??  

 
Quote : " EK-Quantum Vector RTX 3080/3090 D-RGB water block is compatible with most reference design (not Founders Edition) GeForce RTX 3080 and 3090 graphics cards. It is purpose-designed with a much thicker copper base to clear the tall capacitors on most reference design graphics cards. This gives the water block the advantage of having a wider compatibility list, without sacrificing any coolant flow restriction.
The Vector water block directly cools the GPU, VRAM, and the VRM (voltage regulation module) as a cooling liquid is channeled right over these critical areas. The water block is in contact with MOSFETs and chokes to maximize cooling and minimize the chances of coil whine.
These newly developed water blocks feature optimized flow paths that reduce hydrodynamic instabilities and vortexing (dead spots) inside of them. Additionally, this new design allows the terminal to be screwed directly onto the copper cold plate of the GPU block, making it more rigid and reducing the chances of damaging the water block. "

Source : see below.

https://www.ekwb.com/shop/ek-quantum-vector-rtx-3080-3090-d-rgb-nickel-acetal $169.99 ( in stock )

https://www.ekwb.com/shop...090-d-rgb-nickel-plexi $174.99 ( in stock )

https://www.ekwb.com/shop...3080-3090-copper-plexi $159.99 ( in Stock )
 
Probably sold out by now

These don't work with the ftw3 right?
 
As far as the optimum price, I don't think it's too crazy considering it's marketed as the top tier of all the water blocks out there for performance and aesthetics. It does definitely look amazing with that thick piece of acrylic. With that said, it's too rich for my blood. I just want a open loop with max efficient oc without trying to go crazy with watts. The diminishing returns point is where I'll be.

I too ordered a block. 
Sadly it won't be shipped till post cyberpunk. But in the short-term i'll replace all the pad with fuji ex pads (which cost almost as much as that block and will likely not do much. :) )

Waterblock performance has been pretty much the same regardless of the brand or design for quite a while...go look at CPU blocks where just about everything is within a degree or two of each other:
 

 
But if you wanna blow $400 to do a $120 job....go ahead.  Just know though I'm putting you in the "more money than brains" category.