Modding Cafe wows with their custom ROG Astral RTX 5080/5090 water block
Modding Cafe rethinks liquid cooling with their custom “hidden tube” ROG Astral RTX 5080/5090 water block
The PC modder Nhenhophach, also known as Amber Spider and Modding Cafe, has created a custom ROG Astral RTX 5080/5090 water block that rethinks the design and aesthetic of liquid-cooled graphics cards. Previously, this modder created the world’s first liquid-cooled PlayStation 5 console.
With this custom GPU, Modding Cafe, wants to maintain the original design aesthetic of ASUS’ ROG Astral graphics card. This is why their custom water block utilises ASUS’ ROG Astral shroud. While the GPU now has an LCD screen and other alterations, it’s still recognisable as an ASUS ROG Astral graphics card.
This custom graphics card doesn’t disregard ASUS’ original design aesthetic; it alters and enhances it. Almost all liquid-cooled graphics cards look the same, and Modding Cafe thinks that it doesn’t have to be like this.
REVOLUTIONIZING GPU WATER COOLING.For a long time, the trend of users installing water blocks on their GPUs has been a persistent concern. Regrettably, once equipped with water cooling, every graphics card—regardless of its brand—became uniform and lost its unique identity.Enthusiasts who favor a specific GPU brand or design were typically forced to completely discard the original cooling shroud—and the product’s unique hallmark along with it—just to switch to a water cooling system.
A “hidden-tube” GPU water block
One of the most interesting aspects of this custom liquid-cooled GPU is its “hidden-tube” design. Sadly, Modding Cafe’s pictures do not showcase exactly how this GPU’s tubing is routed. Our guess is that the tubing is discreetly routed behind the user’s motherboard tray, similar to how “hidden power connector” GPUs are designed.
Two years ago, we delivered a breakthrough with our Hidden-Tube CPU Waterblock.Today, we continue that revolution: A GPU water-cooled solution that still retains its complete, original aesthetic. Now, you can instantly recognize the card model and its originating brand just by looking at it. Our technology allows you to enjoy optimal thermal performance without sacrificing style.
Sadly, this custom ROG Astral water block appears to be a one-off modding project rather than a retail product.
You can join the discussion on Modding Cafe’s custom ROG Astral RTX 5080/5090 GPU Water block on the OC3D Forums.
