EK Fluid Gaming 275-AG Vanquish

WHEN IT COMES TO liquid cooling, EK is the genuine article. Cooling kits and water blocks are the first thing this Slovenian brand offers, but today we’re going a step further, taking a look at one of EK’s fully liquid-cooled gaming systems. This is the 275-AG Vanquish, an absolute powerhouse for gaming, fitted with an EVGA RTX 2080 Super and AMD Ryzen 7 3800X, along with 32GB of high-speed RAM. Sit down for this: It costs $2,700. Yes, that’s a lot of money to drop on a gaming rig, but consider that the CPU and GPU cost $1,200 to buy separately. The Vanquish is expensive, but you get plenty of bang for your buck.

- CHRISTIAN GUYTON

Of course, the main draw here isn’t just the incredibly high-end components. The Vanquish uses a complete custom loop for cooling its components, built from EK’s own liquid-cooling parts to ensure quality. A clear distribution plate at the front acts as a reservoir, spreading the included transparent CryoFuel coolant across the face of the system before piping it through solid tubing to the CPU, GPU, and roof-mounted radiator. There’s very little setup to do here; all of EK’s pre-built machines come drained, with the necessary coolant packaged alongside it. The quick-start guide is easy to follow, making this an ideal first step for any inexperienced PC gamer lo