8 / PREPARE HEX TOOL
Four-mm hex nuts make up the majority of screws securing the cooler.
You’ll need a 4mm socket to remove them. They’re often magnetised
and can easily trap your nut inside them. Insert some scrunched-up
tissue or tape inside the socket, so the nut won’t get stuck on the inner
magnet and be difficult to remove.4 / CONSIDER BACKPLATE
Corsair includes a backplate with its waterblocks, but unlike the stock
backplates and EKWB’s ones, they don’t cool the rear of the PCB. If you
want the best cooling possible, take a look at EKWB – the company’s
backplates use thermal pads to help cool the rear of the PCB.
5 / STRESS-TEST
So you can see the impact of your cooling work, grab some air-cooled
data using Unigine Superposition (unigine.com). Run the 1080p
Extreme setting benchmark, and use MSI afterburner (guru3d.com) to
measure the temperature during the test. Run the test again once you’ve
added the waterblock.
7 / REMOVE BACKPLATE
The backplate should peel off easily, as there will only be thermal pads
now holding it in place. Remove it slowly, so you don’t risk damaging
the pads – they’ll need to be in good condition if you want to reinstate
your old cooler to sell your card later.6 / REMOVE BACKPLATE SCREWS
To start, remove the small screws holding the stock backplate in place.
Don’t remove the larger screws holding the cooler just yet, as you
don’t want it to fall off.
9 / REMOVE HEX NUTS
Insert the socket tool over the nuts and turn them anti-clockwise
to undo them. Several of the nuts on our RTX 2070 Super were
extremely stiff. We needed to use pliers to add some leverage to our
socket tool, but don’t be tempted to use pliers on the nut itself, or you
risk scratching the PCB.