EK is one of the better-known brands in the custom liquid cooling scene, and we've written about their product launches several times in the past, including their first all-in-one CPU liquid cooler. also known as EKWB (short for EK Water Blocks), the company is bringing its liquid cooling mojo to the They are bringing it to the pre-built desktop scene.

The preassembled desktop category is a crowded market, perhaps somewhat better than it was before Voodoo PC and Alienware were acquired by HP and Dell, respectively. Nevertheless, EK is up against established boutique builders such as Maingear, Digital Storm, Origin PC (acquired by Corsair), and Xidax, as well as OEMs and mass-market PC makers such as CyberPower and iBuyPower.

EK Fluid Gaming, as the sub-brand of EK is called, told me that it hopes to establish itself by specializing in high-end liquid-cooled PCs with unique features.

"We know that water-cooled PCs are already widely available from other system integrators in the US. That's why we decided to partner with both AMD and Lian-Li to offer unique features at a super aggressive price. We did this because we want to make hardline custom water cooling more accessible to mainstream gamers," says EK Fluid Gaming.

Its pre-assembled desktop is assembled inside Lian-Li's PC-011D, but with a twist. The case features a unique full-front panel D-RGB distribution panel with an integrated DDC pump.

"This distro plate not only adds a fully customizable display, but also streamlines internal water cooling, as both the coolant color and lighting effects can be changed. All hard tubes operate in parallel sequence, the DDC pump is integrated into the distribution plate, and a dedicated reservoir inside the case is no longer necessary," states EK Fluid Gaming.

For now, buyers can choose from three configurations. The least expensive, called "Battle," costs $1,899 and includes the following hardware:

The price is quite reasonable and includes about $1,400 worth of hardware, before factoring in hardline cooling parts. The system comes with D-RGB water blocks for both the CPU and GPU. These parts and the custom bits of the case shave off the price difference between a Battle PC and a homebrew using the same parts. It will still end up being more expensive, but a few hundred dollars (or whatever the actual difference is) is reasonable for an assembly, especially a hardline liquid cooling rig.

Unfortunately, there are not many customization options. The only change that can be made is to replace the RX 5700 with an Nvidia GeForce RTX 2070 Super, which bumps the price up to $2,049. Otherwise, one of the other two systems would be the choice.

Related to this, Conquest comes next on the list. Priced at $2,099 ($2,299 with the 2070 Super), it has all the same hardware except for the CPU, which is a Ryzen 7 3800X.

Finally, the top-of-the-line Vanquish is $2,399 with an RX 5700 and $2,699 with a 2070 Super; the CPU is also upgraded to a Ryzen 7 3800X, with 32GB of RAM, a 1TB SSD, and a more powerful 850W PSU.

I have only seen pictures of these systems and have not (yet) reviewed them. However, EK Fluid Gaming's new desktops are available now.