Need a new silent pump for my passive watercooling system

ziphnor · Post by **ziphnor** » Mon Aug 28, 2006 1:30 pm

Hi,

I have a 2+ years old watercooling system working in my Athlon 2500+@3200+ / Geforce 4600 system(ie the water cools CPU+GPU).

I use a 'life-size' radiator maybe 150cm wide, 40-50 cm high. 20cm deep(passive of course!). For a long while i had the radiator and pump outside my apartment on the balcony. Now i have moved my computer and the pump is placed outside the PC case on the floor(currently wrapped in a blanket). The pump is a worn-out Hydor L20, and its nowhere near silent anymore, so im looking to replace it.

My PC is currently extremely silent otherwise after i foam mounted my HDD's (the only fan is my 120mm PSU fan), and im getting annoyed with the noises from the Hydor.

I would like to keep the pump external to the case for now(to lazy to do anything but just replace the pump in its current position), so i would prefer a compact pump, but the top priority is silent operation. The pump can be either 12V or 230V i dont care.

The following brands seems to be sold here in Denmark:
Eheim
Laing
C-Systems CSP-MAG
Waterchill
Asetek
Alphacool
Swiftech
Innovatek

I was hoping someone could make some recommendations compatible with my setup. After a brief look the C-Systems CSP-MAG pump seems like a good candidate(small, simple design, low power consumption), except i have no idea if its noisy:
http://www.vcore.dk/shop/productinfo.asp?id=3303

It seems to be reviewed here:
http://www.systemcooling.com/csp-mag-01.html

virtualrain · Post by **virtualrain** » Tue Aug 29, 2006 11:08 pm

The Liang DDC is widely consdidered in water cooling circles to be the quietest, most powerful, lowest heat dump pump available. It is available in a 10W version or 18W version. The lower power version is obviously quieter.

Get the Alphacool version with plexi top and use the top inlet for uber performance.

http://www.alphacool.de/xt/product_info ... -pro:.html

Szandor · Post by **Szandor** » Wed Aug 30, 2006 12:12 pm

I have a couple of the newer MAG II LE pumps & like them a lot, none of the issues that the original had & slightly better output & head pressure.

http://www.petrastechshop.com/dadenmagiile.html

Both rigs use Chevette heater cores, PolarFlo VGA blocks, 1/2" ID Primoflex & Coolingworks bay res. I use a DD TDX & an Aqua Extreme WWLE for CPU blocks.

The rigs run cool & quiet for not much $

Regards, Szandor

unimatrix0 · Post by **unimatrix0** » Wed Aug 30, 2006 1:50 pm

Szandor, how quiet are the Mag II LE?

Szandor · Post by **Szandor** » Wed Aug 30, 2006 6:37 pm

Hey unimatrix0!

IMHO they are very quiet.

The MAG II LE uses 8w of power, very little vibration, they come with a 3 connector but use a bit more power under load than I want to draw off a fan header so I use an 4 pin adaptor. At some point I might remove the tach wire & attach it to the MoBo so I can monitor the pumps rpms but for now they are running fine.

They are so small & light that the tubing itself could hold them suspended, though I use a small piece of bungee to hold mine aloft.

Even after a few hours of operation the pump body is barely warm

From my experiences it appears that the internal leaking & noise issues that were associated with the original MAG have been resolved.

This is a complete re-design not just an updated version of the MAG I

Barbs only come in 1/2" OD for 1/2" ID tubing but they use G 1/4 BSPP straight threads so it doesn't put undue strain on the Delrin body

DD has been out of stock on the MAG II LE for quite some time now. I highly recommend Petra's Tech Shop - these 2 guys are busting their butts to compete with the bigger cooling sites. Their prices are competitive & their service, shipping & communication cannot be beat.

Check em out!

http://www.petrastechshop.com/

http://www.resellerratings.com/seller11322.html

Regards, Szandor

unimatrix0 · Post by **unimatrix0** » Wed Aug 30, 2006 8:57 pm

Hey szandor that's cool to hear. I'll be trying out the Mag II Le, and see how it compares to the DDC. Thanks for the info

Szandor · Post by **Szandor** » Thu Aug 31, 2006 4:59 am

Good luck with your MAG II unimatrix0!

It has a bit lower performance than the DDC, which is a great pump for sure but given that the MAG II has:

Stock 1/2" barbs
Can be re-fitted to smaller 3/8" barbs
8w consumption vs. 18w for new DDC
MAG II $40.00 vs. DDC $75.00

IMHO for a budget pump for a moderately OC'd rig I think its definitely worth a look

Regards, Szandor

ziphnor · Post by **ziphnor** » Thu Aug 31, 2006 7:21 am

virtualrain wrote:The Liang DDC is widely consdidered in water cooling circles to be the quietest, most powerful, lowest heat dump pump available. It is available in a 10W version or 18W version. The lower power version is obviously quieter.

Just to be sure, is this is the version you are talking about(it says 10w in the text):
link

szandor wrote: I have a couple of the newer MAG II LE pumps & like them a lot, none of the issues that the original had & slightly better output & head pressure.

Those look different from the MAG i am looking at here, but the power consumption seems to be the same, its listed as using 5-8w power. Is the MAG II LE newer than the one im looking at (see link above)? Interestingly enough its called the 'new' MAG pump in the danish text.

I know the DDC is more powerful, but anyone has a clue to which one is most silent(MAG vs DDC)? The price difference i am looking at here isnt that big (580kr vs 495kr, 7.5kr = 1â‚¬). How do they compare to my old Hydor L20, will i get more or less flow?

Szandor · Post by **Szandor** » Thu Aug 31, 2006 2:56 pm

Hey ziphnor!

Looking at your link, the DDC-1T is the original 10w model that I can remember.

They are harder to find now here in the States having been replaced by the DDC-1T-Plus 18w model

The CSP-MAG listed in your link is the original model, actually second generation but never the less had issues for many users. I personally wouldn't recommend it.

The model that I use the MAG II LE is this one:

http://www.petrastechshop.com/dadenmagiile.html

Yes, it also draws 8w like the original but the external housing, internal pump layout, shaft seals & bearing have been re-designed.

I've never used a Hydor & can't afford a DDC so I'll have to let others with more experiences comment on those.

Depending on what you decide to do, try giving Petra's a call or e-mail, they might be able to help you out.

Petra's:
"International customers: please contact us by phone or e-mail for ordering information as, currently, our online checkout system is not well equipped to handle international orders."

[email protected]

Phone# 408.944.0415

Regards, Szandor

jamesavery22 · Post by **jamesavery22** » Tue Sep 05, 2006 12:26 pm

Szandor,
Im thinking you got lucky with your mag II. Everyone else that I've seen post about it has said they were horrible. Either vibrating way too much or just too loud. Or both. QC seems to be non-existent for them. I'd read up a lot on them on procooling and ocforums before buying one. You are the first I've seen to report good results.

ziphnor · Post by **ziphnor** » Tue Sep 05, 2006 12:30 pm

jamesavery22 wrote:Szandor,
Im thinking you got lucky with your mag II. Everyone else that I've seen post about it has said they were horrible. Either vibrating way too much or just too loud. Or both. QC seems to be non-existent for them. I'd read up a lot on them on procooling and ocforums before buying one. You are the first I've seen to report good results.

So the safe bet would be the 10w DDC i linked to above? It is slightly more expensive but we are not talking that big amounts anyway, i just want to be sure it will be quiet

Szandor · Post by **Szandor** » Tue Sep 05, 2006 5:40 pm

Hey James!

I actually have 2 MAG II LE's & they both are quiet

They are powerful little pumps so if you try to hard mount them maybe vibration would cause a noise problem.

I run mine hung from the 1/2" Primo flex tubing & a piece of bungee so the pump is isolated from the chassis.

They work fine for me but as is always the case YMMV!!!

Regards, Szandor

jamesavery22 · Post by **jamesavery22** » Wed Sep 06, 2006 11:49 am

ziphnor wrote:...
So the safe bet would be the 10w DDC i linked to above? It is slightly more expensive but we are not talking that big amounts anyway, i just want to be sure it will be quiet

I've never used a DDC so sorry Im not much help there :\ From what I've read they are darn quiet though. There was a thread here that debated on it rivaling the 1048 which was held as quietest pump period. Never saw the end of it though... DDC is a much more powerful pump and they were arguing about very minute differences in the pitch. So I'd guess DDC would be a very safe choice. Reliability is key. A LOT of people use the DDC series pumps. Never heard of any problems aside from the seldom person having a single one fail, no design flaw or anything. I'd buy one if I needed a small quiet pump.

Szandor,
http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=472664

Sneaky, Sephis, and ziggo0 all had problems. IIRC ziggo0's actually failed.

unimatrix0 · Post by **unimatrix0** » Fri Sep 08, 2006 1:21 pm

I just got the DDC 10w version (8w or 10w cant remember) with the Alphacool clear top and I'm really amazed at how quiet this is. At 12v it's quieter than a D5 at speed 2, it's near silent at 1 meter open air. Motor noise at idle of my Western Digital SE16 2500KS (now noisiest component in my rig) is by far noisier than the DDC!!

I've also tried the Mag II Le which started very quiet too but for some reason it got very noisy, I want to believe it's defective.

So I can definately recommend the DDC but you need to get the Alphacool clear top, otherwise it won't be as silent.

ziphnor · Post by **ziphnor** » Fri Sep 08, 2006 2:11 pm

unimatrix0 wrote: So I can definately recommend the DDC but you need to get the Alphacool clear top, otherwise it won't be as silent.

The web shop i found it at here in denmark describes it as having a 'special' clear plexi-glass top.

Does that look correct?

Its also available here(looks identical):
http://watercooling.dk/product.asp?prod ... b=0&page=1

unimatrix0 · Post by **unimatrix0** » Fri Sep 08, 2006 2:46 pm

ziphnor wrote:
unimatrix0 wrote: So I can definately recommend the DDC but you need to get the Alphacool clear top, otherwise it won't be as silent.
The web shop i found it at here in denmark describes it as having a 'special' clear plexi-glass top.

Does that look correct?

Its also available here(looks identical):
http://watercooling.dk/product.asp?prod ... b=0&page=1

Yeap that's the one. That one looks slightly better than the one I have, mine has thin corners which look like they'd break if I use the corner screws to mount. So your links look good

zds · Post by **zds** » Sat Sep 09, 2006 4:57 am

unimatrix0 wrote:
ziphnor wrote:Does that look correct?

Yeap that's the one. That one looks slightly better than the one I have, mine has thin corners which look like they'd break if I use the corner screws to mount. So your links look good

Indeed. I have exactly that type of cover (bought from Coolputer, http://www.coolputer.fi) in my DDC and it does the job very well.

dean.collins · Post by **dean.collins** » Mon Sep 11, 2006 1:50 pm

anyone know how loud the DDC pumps are?

I'm about to order a large radiator setup that will have 5 pumps operating in seperate loops (only connection is they draw from the same large radiator) and obviously because there are 5 of them I'm looking for the quietest pump possible, however because of the loop (harddrive coolers and powersupplies etc) I will need above average power.

Any advice considering money is fairly low on the list of considerations?

Cheers,
Dean

zds · Post by **zds** » Mon Sep 11, 2006 5:00 pm

dean.collins wrote:anyone know how loud the DDC pumps are?

For comparison betweem my unit and few quiet fans, see this:
http://zds.iki.fi/zds/projectlog/2005/12/12/80.

snutten · Post by **snutten** » Tue Sep 12, 2006 3:17 pm

It's very tough to isolate the noise from a DDC. Since the frequencies are not as high as those coming from HDDs you need really heavy materials. Wether my pumps are representative or not I don't know, but my DDC is not at all as quiet as my 1048. I cast my DDC into a block of cement and sheets of industrial sound panels to the size of a big grapefruit.

zds · Post by **zds** » Tue Sep 12, 2006 3:23 pm

snutten wrote:my DDC is not at all as quiet as my 1048

Does your DDC have the acrylic top?

snutten · Post by **snutten** » Tue Sep 12, 2006 4:31 pm

Nope

Does that make for a big difference? A thin acrylic cover?

DirtyLude · Post by **DirtyLude** » Tue Sep 12, 2006 7:14 pm

I just started using the MAG II LE. Thing is working very well, and though I would not call it super quiet, it is pretty quiet. I know that's subjective. It does make a kind of rattly noise, but now that I have my case all closed up it's barely audible from under the table (3 feet).

It is sitting on foam right now, and I will likely wrap it in the foam later to see if I can mute it some more.

zds · Post by **zds** » Tue Sep 12, 2006 9:34 pm

snutten wrote:Nope
Does that make for a big difference? A thin acrylic cover?

Not thin, but the 25mm one sold by Alphacool and several others:

And yes, it makes all the difference. It seems to be like night and day, whether you are using the default top or the acrylic one. Acrylic as such is good noise dampening material, and being 25 times thicker than the default one makes it pretty much superior.

Need a new silent pump for my passive watercooling system

Need a new silent pump for my passive watercooling system

decibels?

Re: decibels?