Does Pump Speed Matter? // Performance Fundamentals

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Other components used in this video:
Case - Thermaltake Core P3
CPU - Intel i7-6700K (1.28V, 4.50GHz)
CPU Cooler - EKWB Supremacy EVO
Motherboard - ASRock Z270M Pro4 (mATX)
PSU - be quiet! Dark Power Pro 11 (750W)
GPU - EVGA GTX 1070 FTW (2000MHz)
RAM - 2x 4GB G.Skill Ripjaws 4 DDR4 (3000MHz)
Fan Controller - NZXT Grid+ V3
Chapters:
00:00 - Start
00:37 - Testing Setup and Hardware
01:32 - Why does the loop look so weird?
02:28 - Setups/Configurations being Tested
03:53 - RESULTS
04:53 - Concluding thoughts and Testing Limits
Tags:
ekwb water cooling build, ekwb water cooling, ekwb,pump speed, best pump speed, watercooling tips, does pump speed matter, water cooling, flow rate, best flow rate, pump speed or fan speed, pump speed vs flow rate, Does Pump Speed Matter? // Performance Fundamentals
#watercooled #watercooling #watercooledpc

[@AVTechy]

Thanks for checking this one out. I'm really looking to flesh out this kind of testing. It's the kind of videos I find most fascinating. I see so much misinformation about these kinds of subjects, so adding to the test data available around is great to do. If you like these kinds of videos, please like and subscribe. The more support I get, the more and more I can do this stuff. Thanks so much for the support, and I hope you like what's coming up!

[@Doobie3010]

My watercooling stipped at 240's,then back to towers. Still good to see the current state of the tech ect. Cheers man.

[@rideandtech]

Woaw your testing about fan speed and pump make me understanding about how to cooling cpu

[@XAWoke]

Quite informative👍

[@shaneeslick]

G'day AV, I didn't think there would be a difference or only minute if there was as I have done similar with my DeepCool Captain & a few Coolermaster AIOs Pump speed & have settled on 40%-50% (depending on design) as the ones I have are inaudiable to me there.

[@emreaysert4075]

Tnx for the video.very informative.

[@julianblacksmith8539]

Can i know thr flow rate,

[@jag_g]

I was wondering if variable pump speeds based off CPU temps might show an appreciable difference when paired with variable fan speeds. I feel like the rate of heat dissipation from the radiator changes if fans are also at a variable speed so perhaps there's a sweet spot one can look for using different fan and pump rpm/temp curves. Increased speed would in my mind help with temperature change responsiveness but I think product specific data is lacking.

[@AVTechy]

That is possible to do, but extremely challenging from a testing perspective. Since fan curves rely on temperature, there's a feedback loop with the ambient temperature, so that would need to be consistent for all testing and through every test. It's a lot easier to test fixed rates, and extrapolate from there. It cuts out the feedback loop so keeps testing simple. From this testing even if the pump ran at max speed due to a fan curve there wouldn't be a big difference if it ran a lot slower due to a less aggressive fan curve.

[@jag_g]

@@AVTechy I guess what I am looking for is where the limitations of a given AIO rad and fan combo give negligible benefits to increased pump flow rate. I imagine higher flow rates mean quicker thermal equilibrium but my feeling is that in practice there's a leveling off point and perhaps a point where the pump starts adding heat to the loop.

[@luckyman1324]

30% fan speed and 40% pump on my corsair makes a big dif as to 30c to 32c all day down to 27-28c all day on high pump speed but the whine dose hinder my head

[@mits00009]

My be quit loop fx 2 360 have 5500 rpm speed pump is good or bad ???

[@jacobdavidson9752]

size of pump also matters

[@tacticalcenter8658]

With 100s of different parts and configurations, pump speed can matter depending on certain factors. With your setup your data doesn't speak for each and every setup.

[@AVTechy]

That's true. I covered this in the video. Different amounts of components, temperature source, block design, number of fittings, tube size, etc. This is an indication of how "a" setup performs though, and most of the other factors regard head pressure over flow, so speaking purely about flow through a relatively well designed block, relatively speaking that's how it performs. I think the greatest factor that would impact/change this outcome is source wattage. With a power-hunger, highest end Threadripper CPU, that could change everything and require higher than minimum/low flow rate to get the water out of the block before it becomes thermally saturated. But based on this testing, I'd say there's not a lot you could do to a loop (in a reasonable sense, without adding a comically high amount of fittings) that would change this outcome for CPU's outputting 50-200W (half to double of my testing setup). I can imagine it comes down to the thermal capacity of the coolant, and the lowest flow rate and limit of input energy from the source. But even then we're leaning into the realm of radiator surface area over flow rate. Maybe it's down to the block design. I have a few cheap blocks on the way so I can see how a lesser designed block performs in this area. I really could do with getting hold of a much higher power system to answer the thermal load side of the question, but that's just not in the cards at the moment.

[@cemsengul16]

I just wish Asetek 8th gen pumps didn't have an 800 rpm minimum. I don't mind the pump ramping up when gaming but the whine is just so annoying when you are idle or typing up work.

[@skylarmorehead9883]

custom loop on a 6700k, can we say overkill lol

[@italianbasegard]

4:05 You need to state percentage differences based on absolute values, e.g. Kelvin, and not Celsius. It would actually help your point, too, as it would show that the 1 degree kelvin differential is actually about a 0.3% difference, even less than 2% (so running the pump at 100% all the time is an even bigger waste).

[@budterence85]

This is the most flawed and useless video I have seen on this topic ever

[@AVTechy]

Explain

[@budterence85]

@@AVTechy where us any measurement of flow rate? Even your explanations lack so much content. This is a middle school level, personal opinion bullshit.

[@AVTechy]

That's true, flow rate is the one area that's not factored in. It doesn't mean it's useless, just not complete. Unfortunately for me to do the test covering flow rate I'd need to spend a fair amount on a certain component which was outside of my wheelhouse as it were. But yeah, not useless, just something to consider when researching the subject. Regardless of flow rate, relatively speaking, in this testing, the low pump speed performs as well as the high pump speed and avoided pump whine that ruins silent builds. If anything this is a point of saying "hey, have you tried running at minimums or have you gone with the idea that max is best?", Which I think is a useful outcome. Someone may see this and might question their setup, and be happy to be nudged in the right direction. I know some may say it's obvious and people should do this anyway, but I get plenty of messages querying case fan setups from people that own the case they're questioning. Why don't they try different setups themselves? Who knows, maybe they're looking for an easy answer without messing around. This video could be the nudge to trying something different. It's a step in the right direction and has some utility. I'm sure when you take your next step in the right direction of whatever you're working on, you'll also be looking for someone to call it bullshit, make you feel bad for trying to make something of some value or use even if you're not finished. Maybe you're thinking of proceeding with something better in the future, and thought what you'd done previously was good, but not complete, but still of some value so was worth doing, if anything as a learning point for yourself. Maybe the guy saying it's bullshit thinks it's constructive criticism, but fails to understand using words like bullshit dominate the criticism so end up lessening the value of the criticism overall. Who knows, as long as the intention is good and made clear I think it's worth doing, just need to check both boxes.

[@kaerscarface]

@budterence85 Either you know what you are talking about or not, If you do, you would apply an explanation to what is flawed. From my point of view this is one of the better and easy to understand explanations, easy to copy the test and find the right pumpspeed for your system.