How to install the iCUE XC7 RGB ELITE CPU Water Block

If you're an old school water cooling enthusiast like some of us, you'll be familiar with some of the common pain points during installation. Juggling, multiple different screws, spacers, and springs to name a few.

Luckily we have come a long way in making the installation of these easier than ever. With pre-mounted screws, springs and thermal paste you are sure to get the perfect mounting pressure every time, and most importantly, the springs won't be yeeted across the room if your fingers slip.

Today, we're going to go over how to install the regular and the LCD version of the iCUE LINK XC7 CPU water block. The physical process is almost identical except for the cable being different.

Where the non-LCD version of the water block uses our standard iCUE LINK cables for power and data transfers, the LCD version uses a USB type C cable that must be connected directly to your motherboard.

In the video below, we show how to install the regular non-LCD version of the XC7 on both AMD and Intel platforms. We often get questions if you should wipe off the stock thermal paste and exchange for something better, but we highly recommend not doing this on your first mount as the stock thermal paste is already a high-performance paste. This means that you probably won't feel any difference by purchasing new thermal paste.

If you are in the habit of often taking your PC apart, then re-applying the thermal paste might be a good idea. in this case, our XTM70 Extreme Performance Thermal Paste is a great product to have lying around.

The LCD version goes on the exact same way as the non-LCD, but just requires an USB type C cable to be attached instead of the LINK cable. This USB Type-C cable terminates at a regular fan header. This also means that you can use this water block in systems even without an iCUE LINK System Hub.

The CPU block does have a dedicated flow direction, and the inlet should be mounted to the bottom port. You can of course rotate the block in any direction you see fit in 90 degree intervals, but just remember to mount the inlet and outlet correctly. Should you mount these ports wrong you will experience a small performance hit of a few degrees Celsius .