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1Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors2Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute3Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsThe EK Fluid Gaming 270 Conquest was an exceptional boutique gaming PC for its September 2020 launch: an all-AMD Ryzen 7 3800X/Radeon RX 5700 XT system with a meticulously assembled hardline loop cooling both processor and graphics card. HotHardware tested it at $2,299.99 and found excellent presentation, strong 1440p performance, low noise and unusually practical service access. That verdict is historical. Its hardware and price no longer describe a sensible new purchase in 2026.
What the EK Fluid Gaming 270 Conquest was
EK entered the boutique-prebuilt market with the Fluid Gaming family. In the original range, Conquest systems used AMD graphics cards, while Vanquish models used NVIDIA cards. Model numbers broadly tracked the processor tier: the 250 used a Ryzen 5 3600X, the 270 a Ryzen 7 3800X, and the 275 a Ryzen 9 3900X.
This review concerns the specific EKFG 270 Conquest tested by HotHardware and published September 25, 2020. Later systems carrying the same name can have entirely different components.
The reviewed configuration
| Component | Review sample |
|---|---|
| CPU | AMD Ryzen 7 3800X, 8 cores/16 threads, up to 4.5 GHz boost |
| GPU | Radeon RX 5700 XT 50th Anniversary Edition |
| Cooling | EK hardline CPU/GPU loop with 360 mm radiator |
| Memory | 16 GB Crucial Ballistix DDR4-3200 |
| Motherboard | ASUS Prime X570-Pro |
| Boot storage | 500 GB Samsung 970 Evo M.2 NVMe SSD |
| Secondary storage | 2 TB Seagate 7,200 RPM hard drive |
| Networking | Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 3168 and Intel I211 Gigabit Ethernet |
| Power supply | EVGA GQ 650 W Gold |
| Chassis | Lian Li PC-O11D |
| Operating system | Windows 10 Home |
| Dimensions | 10.7 × 17.6 × 17.5 in (272 × 446 × 445 mm) |
| Maximum listed weight | 22.3 lb (10.1 kg) |
| Warranty | Three-year standard warranty for the reviewed configuration |
| Price as tested | $2,299.99 in September 2020 |
Specifications and price are from the original review: HotHardware’s EK Fluid Gaming 270 Conquest review.
The Tool Desk
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- POWERHOUSE 8-CORE GAMING PERFORMANCE — Driven by the AMD Ryzen 7 8700F with 8 cores and 16 threads, boosting up to 5.0 GHz for smooth, responsive gameplay and the ability to handle AAA titles, streaming, and background tasks all at once
- NEXT-GEN BLACKWELL ARCHITECTURE — The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 is powered by NVIDIA's cutting-edge Blackwell GPU architecture, delivering a massive generational leap in rasterization and ray tracing performance so you can experience your games the way they were meant to be played.
- Simplistic Design: Enjoy the latest generation of Windows 11 Home for your everyday needs. *MSI recommends Windows 11 Pro for business use.
- Cool While Gaming: In conjunction with an ARGB fan Air Cooler, the Codex R2 features four system cooling fans; three in the front and one in the rear to pull in cool air and push heat out of the PC.
- Turn on the Bright Lights: With the built-in RGB lighting, take your gaming experience to the next level by pressing the MSI LED button to cycle through lighting options. Customize lighting even further with MSI Center software.
Why the cooling design stood out
This was not a sealed CPU all-in-one cooler. The processor and graphics card shared a custom open loop using EK hardline tubing and blocks. A front distribution plate integrated the reservoir and pump, while a top-mounted 360 mm radiator rejected heat. The Lian Li PC-O11D was selected to accommodate that plate.
Parallel tubing runs and 90-degree fittings gave the system its showroom appearance. Separate return channels in the distribution plate guided coolant rather than simply dumping mixed flow into the reservoir. Clear coolant and D-RGB lighting made the plumbing part of the product’s identity.
The practical trade-off is equally important: a hardline loop can be serviced and upgraded, but it needs draining, component changes, refilling and leak testing. Liquid cooling improved the finished system’s presentation and acoustics; it did not automatically make games faster than a well-designed air-cooled or AIO machine.
Build quality and everyday usability
- Cable management was exceptionally clean, with only the principal sleeved motherboard and GPU power runs exposed.
- The rear chamber concealed excess cabling and provided drive-mounting provisions.
- A two-bay hot-swappable drive enclosure and four magnetic mesh dust filters improved ownership convenience.
- Front I/O included two USB 2.0 Type-A ports, USB-C, headphone and microphone connections.
- Rear I/O provided seven USB-A ports, USB-C, Ethernet, optical audio, analog audio and PS/2.
The layout was more than decorative. Hardware and tubing remained accessible enough to make maintenance more practical than on many factory-built hardline systems.
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Rank #2
- Legend perfected: Modern design with a matte basalt black finish in an optimized chassis with customizable AlienFX lighting zones, including the striking stadium lighting.
- Game changing graphics: Step into the future of gaming and creation with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 graphics, powered by NVIDIA Blackwell architecture.
- Marathon gaming unlocked: This high-performance technology ensures clean energy is consistently available, unleashing the top-level power of Intel Core Ultra 7 265F processor as you game, livestream, and multi-task for hours on end.
- Total command: Alienware Command Center software allows you to create and edit AlienFX lighting across the ecosystem, choose and monitor your performance mode across distinct power states, and create custom gaming profiles for your whole library.
- Dell Services: 1 Year Onsite Service provides support when and where you need it. Dell will come to your home, office, or location of choice, if an issue covered by Limited Hardware Warranty cannot be resolved remotely.
Thermals, power and acoustics
HotHardware measured idle power after Windows settled at the desktop. Its combined-load test ran Prime95 Small FFT and FurMark at 2560×1440 for 30 minutes, with power measured at the wall using a Kill-A-Watt and standard BIOS fan curves.
- Normal lighting produced just under 80 W at idle; stealth lighting reduced that to slightly above 60 W.
- The overclocked stress configuration used about 50 W more, roughly an 11% increase.
- GPU power rose from approximately 188 W to 223 W with the tested overclock.
- CPU peak power was about 106 W in both conditions.
- CPU temperature reached approximately 87°C during the extreme combined test, below the cited 95°C limit.
- Peak system noise was approximately 46–47 dB.
Silent fan curves mainly reduced unnecessary ramping at idle and during light work; they did not materially change peak temperature or noise. These are one reviewer’s September 2020 measurements, and ambient temperature, firmware, coolant condition, fan settings and software can change them. See the full methodology at HotHardware’s testing page.
Overclocking: modest and inconsistent gains
The review used Ryzen Master Basic Mode with AutoOC and Radeon Adrenalin’s automatic GPU overclocking. AutoOC added a nominal 100 MHz of headroom and enabled Precision Boost Overdrive; the Radeon tool targeted a 2160 MHz boost frequency.
The CPU setting produced little dependable improvement in the reported workloads. The GPU overclock lifted the FurMark result by roughly 5%, from around 98 to around 102 FPS, while some other results were unchanged or slightly worse. A higher clock limit is not the same as a sustained clock or a repeatable game-performance gain, and it brought extra power and heat.
Rank #3
- Processor specifications: Adopting AMD Ryzen 5 5600 processor, with a basic clock speed of 3.5GHz and a turbo frequency of 4.4GHz, it can achieve fast response computing performance
- Graphics Card: Features GeForce RTX 3050 graphics card with 6GB dedicated video memory for gaming and multimedia applications
- Memory configuration: Equipped with 32GB DDR4 RAM (16GB * 2), providing sufficient memory capacity for multitasking and demanding applications
- Gaming Performance: Designed to handle modern gaming titles and graphics-intensive tasks with smooth frame rates and visual quality
- Desktop System: Complete gaming desktop computer system ready for setup and use out of the box
Productivity and system performance
The review used ATTO Disk Benchmark, Cinebench R20, BrowserBench Speedometer 2.0, PCMark 10, 3DMark Fire Strike Extreme and 3DMark Time Spy. The Samsung 970 Evo was discussed at up to approximately 3.5 GB/s sequential read and 2.5 GB/s sequential write. For ordinary use, the reviewer considered it fast enough that most owners would not feel a major difference from newer PCIe 4.0 storage.
The Ryzen 7 3800X performed strongly in Cinebench R20 and approached the contemporary Core i9-9900K comparison system. AutoOC again failed to provide a consistent uplift. Exact chart values belong to the original test conditions and should not be treated as current platform comparisons. Details appear on the productivity benchmark page.
Gaming performance and resolution target
HotHardware tested Middle-earth: Shadow of War, Shadow of the Tomb Raider and Gears 5 at 1440p, with selected 4K runs. In those 2020 settings and driver versions, the RX 5700 XT stayed comfortably above 60 FPS at 1440p in Shadow of War and Shadow of the Tomb Raider. Gears 5 also exceeded 60 FPS at 1440p, including demanding settings.
At 4K, Gears 5 in Ultra mode was only barely above playable territory. The system therefore made much more sense as a high-refresh 1440p machine than as a 4K flagship. Game patches, drivers and display technologies have changed since then; these are historical results, not 2026 performance promises. See the original gaming results.
Rank #4
- POWERED BY RTX 5070 12GB + RYZEN 7 9700X - The GeForce RTX 5070 12GB GDDR7 graphics card pairs with an 8-core AMD Ryzen 7 9700X processor to drive smooth 1440p and 4K gameplay, giving this gaming PC the headroom for modern titles, streaming, and creative work.
- 32GB DDR5 6000MHz MEMORY & 1TB NVMe SSD - 32GB of high-speed DDR5 memory and a 1TB PCIe 4.0 NVMe solid state drive deliver quick load times, smooth multitasking, and generous storage, keeping this prebuilt gaming desktop responsive under heavy workloads.
- BUILT-IN 11.3-INCH Smart DISPLAY - An integrated smart screen shows real-time CPU and GPU temperatures, usage, and weather while you play, adding a distinctive and functional touch to your battlestation.
- 850W 80+ GOLD POWER SUPPLY, 360MM LIQUID COOLING & WiFi 7 - An 850W 80 Plus Gold certified power supply provides stable, efficient power with headroom for future upgrades, while a 360mm AIO liquid cooler, WiFi 7, and an ARGB mid-tower case keep the Ryzen 7 CPU cool and connected in a clean build.
- READY TO PLAY OUT OF THE BOX - Arrives fully assembled and tested with Windows 11 Home pre-installed, so your prebuilt gaming computer is ready to set up in minutes. Assembled in the USA, and backed by a one-year limited warranty and lifetime free technical support.
Was the $2,299.99 price justified?
The premium paid for more than the CPU and GPU. It covered the blocks, pump and reservoir, radiator, fittings, hardline fabrication, assembly, leak testing, chassis integration, warranty and a finished aesthetic. For a buyer who wanted custom liquid cooling without bending and testing tubing, that convenience had real value.
For an enthusiast focused on frames per dollar, a DIY air-cooled or AIO build could deliver similar gaming performance for less. The RX 5700 XT also lacked later generations’ ray-tracing and upscaling features, the 500 GB SSD was small for a large game library, and the hard drive was slow compared with all-SSD storage.
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Upgrading the graphics card
The off-the-shelf EK components made the machine more serviceable than many hardline prebuilts, but a GPU swap was not plug-and-play. It required draining the loop, replacing the block, adapting or rebuilding tubing, refilling, bleeding and leak-testing before normal operation. The 650 W power supply was the review’s main future-upgrade limitation; physical fit alone does not establish that a modern GPU is electrically suitable.
Aluminum-loop compatibility
Fluid Gaming used an aluminum-oriented ecosystem distinct from conventional copper/nickel loops. Do not mix blocks, radiators, fittings or coolants until the exact parts and EK compatibility guidance for that machine are confirmed. EK announced that webshop operations and customer support transitioned to LM TEK on March 3, 2025; use the current support portal or support-ticket page for present compatibility and warranty questions. The end-of-life lookup can identify legacy products, but does not prove replacement stock.
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Best Value
- CPU: AMD Ryzen7 5700X (up to 4.6GHz) 8-Core 16-Thread to easily handle multi-line tasks
- Main board: MSI B550M-A PRO motherboard provides reliable performance and stability
- GPU: Geforce RTX 5060 8GB GDDR7 Graphics Cards (Brand may vary) Support DLSS 4 multi frame generation, ray tracing, and Reflex 2 delay optimization
- RAM: 32GB DDR4 3200MHz (16GB*2) SSD: 1TB M.2 NVMe PCIe
- Power supply: 650W (80plus bronze) certified for energy efficiency and stable performance
Checklist for a used example
- Confirm the exact CPU, GPU, PSU, memory and storage rather than trusting the 270 name.
- Ask when the loop was last drained and refilled.
- Inspect the reservoir, fittings, blocks, distribution plate and radiator for cloudiness, sediment, discoloration or residue.
- Listen for pump rattling or grinding.
- Verify the pump and every radiator fan operate under load.
- Run short CPU and GPU stress tests while monitoring temperatures.
- Check SSD health and hard-drive SMART data.
- Confirm BIOS recognition of all memory and storage.
- Determine whether the three-year warranty is expired, transferable or honored.
- Confirm whether the PSU is the original 650 W model or a replacement, and photograph both sides of the case.
What later listings do—and do not—tell you
An official Fluid Gaming page has displayed a different “270 Conquest” with a Ryzen 7 5800X, Radeon RX 6900 XT, Windows 11, 850 W power supply and a displayed $4,399.99 price. That is materially different from the reviewed 3800X/5700 XT/650 W machine, and a page-level listing is not proof that the exact configuration is currently orderable. EK’s newer lineup is described at its official liquid-cooled PC page.
Who should consider it
- Collectors or enthusiasts who value immaculate presentation and a factory-built CPU/GPU loop.
- 1440p gamers seeking a premium showcase system in its original era.
- DIY-curious buyers who wanted custom cooling without performing the initial tubing work.
Who should avoid it
- Anyone seeking the best current performance per dollar.
- Users who want zero-maintenance cooling.
- 4K high-refresh gamers.
- Buyers unable to verify a used system’s loop condition and service history.
- People who need current GPU features, modern platform support or large all-SSD storage.
Verdict
As a 2020 prebuilt, the EK Fluid Gaming 270 Conquest was highly successful: beautifully integrated, quiet under severe testing, strong at 1440p and easier to service than its appearance suggested. Its $2,299.99 price was a premium for custom-loop workmanship and turnkey ownership, not a guarantee of superior FPS.
As a 2026 purchase, the original value judgment no longer applies. The AM4 platform, RX 5700 XT, 500 GB SSD, 650 W PSU and uncertain legacy-part support make a new example difficult to recommend. A used unit is worth considering only at a substantially reduced price, with convincing maintenance records and a full inspection.
Quick Recap
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.
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