Aorus Z390 Xtreme Waterforce Motherboard Review
Author: Dennis Garcia
Installing the Monoblock
Installing a waterblock is no different from installing any heatsink or CPU waterblock. You first install the required components such as the CPU, and then secure the cooler.
The first step will be to remove the protective plastic. These are before and after photos showing what that process should look like. You will notice I left the M.2 thermal pads alone. This is because I’m not using a M.2 SSD for this review and there is no need to expose the material.
Please don’t be one of those who leave the plastic covers on.
There are a number of screws used to secure the monoblock to the motherboard and they all need to be installed. I started with the four near the CPU socket first. Start by placing the monoblock on the motherboard close to where it needs to be. From there flip the board over and move the block around until the screw holes are lined up with the mounting holes on the motherboard.
The monoblock only goes on one way and once you get it settled in the proper place everything will naturally line up.
Using the included backplate run the screws down in a cross pattern.
It should be noted that between the step where you install and tighten the screws you should attach the RGB wires to the motherboard. I was rather surprised to see that they are exactly the right length which is great for presentation and horrid for installing. For me I needed to lift the block up slightly to get the pins attached and I found that with the CPU screws installed but, not tightened all the way, I got the access I needed.
When the block has been installed it will look something like this. The M.2 coolers are attached to the Monoblock and if you needed to install a M.2 drive at any point simply undo the screws for the cover, install the drive and replace the cover.
The final step will be to install your fittings and prepare the board for installation. I’m using a set of 7/16” soft compression fittings from XSPC and will be hooking that into my self contained pump res radiator combo.
