5090 Reference Block Ventus Compatibility

[Sartarius]

So when the AC 5090 Reference block came out the Ventus was not listed in the compatibility list, but then later updated on your website.

My question is: are there any differences at all between batches? Do later batches that have the updated compatibility list have any different instructions or screws? I worry because while one person on youtube said it fits perfectly, someone else on reddit said it does not, which leads me to believe there might have been a tweak here or there in screws, thermal pad thickness, etc to make it 100% fit the MSI Ventus 5090.

Since there is no stock for the foreseeable future I am thinking about ordering from abroad and paying the heavy import fees to get my hands on a AC 5090 Reference block (The Ventus is the ONE 5090 that does not have capillary heatpipes and overheats in my vertical mounted case). But I don't want to do that if it won't fit perfectly, and on the international shop page in question they do not list the Ventus as compatible, which might just not have been updated.

Thanks!

 

[Eddy]

Hi,

we only identified compatibility with the MSI Ventus cards at a later stage. Compatibility lists for many coolers are expanded over time, as we simply do not have access to all PCB layouts available on the market at launch. For the 5090 alone, there are over 100 different PCB layouts. It’s impossible to verify them all immediately. Even now, we occasionally update compatibility lists for coolers that have been on the market for two years.

There have never been any issues with the Ventus and the Core Reference block. The situation was different with the ES cooler. In that case, the original GPU backplate frame (the small bracket with four screws on the back of the graphics card) must be reused. What we unfortunately discovered later was that MSI had used different screws than we were aware of. As a result, we had some issues with one batch of ES coolers in combination with Ventus cards. The correct screws are now included in the package, or in the worst case, we can supply them separately.

What can never be guaranteed, of course, is when manufacturers change PCB layouts without notice. They often do not communicate such changes. In some cases, they even modify the PCB layout without changing the PCB number. MSI is not particularly known for doing this, but if you are very unlucky, it can always happen that a cooler does not fit due to undocumented PCB revisions.