Which pump?

Howdy fellow Overclockers! I'm putting together my first water cooled computer, but can't decide between (2) pumps.


The Swiftec MPC 650 12V DC pump

The AuqaXtreme 50Z-DC12

Both are magneically driven, brushless motor 12VDC pumps, but I can't decide between them.

This is my first attempt, I'll be using it to cool my P42.6C cpu, Intel chipset, and R9500GPU with a dual Radiator (120MM two fans)
Any suggestions appreciated.

id go with the swiftec for performance but if you want a little less noise get the auqaxtreme

MODdaBOX said:

id go with the swiftec for performance but if you want a little less noise get the auqaxtreme

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No...

Read:
http://forums.procooling.com/vbb/showthread.php?t=10825

listen to cathar. If anyone knows which pump hits the right spot on the performance curve, he does.

So the aquaXtreme would be the one to grab? (9 watts, less pump heat?) but flow about the same? How is that possible?

My head begins hurting after reading all that.

I do have one question, though. It seems that magnetically driven pumps are almost soley reccomended, but is the lack of a shaft seal the only reason for this? In a magnetically driven pump, nearly all the heat generated from the jet pump is transfered right back into the water. The entire face of the motor is in direct contact (on the wet-end side) with the water. With a traditional motor and shaft designed pump, the wet-end is seperated from the motor, the "shaft" of the pump the only item that is capable of heat transer. I would think that less heat transer=desirable.

But is that overwhelmed by a shaft-seals (lack of) relibability? Leaks being of extreme improtance, and the magnetically driven pumps having but one o-ring that might fail, the shaft seal has several potential faults...

Sorry if this just went Off-topic, but just curious...

Oh yeah, and am I right in going with the aquaXtreme?

Color me impatient, just ordered the AquaXtreme (fomerly kown as the MCP600)

My case airflow isn't the best, so I'll be mounting the radiator outside the rig. I skipped the chipset coller, and just went for the CPU and GPU cooler, and a 120mm radiator (w/ panaflo 115cfu fan @ 45 db) hope it isn't too loud, but I really wanted/needed to mount the radiator outside...

The MCP600 and MCP650 are equal in terms of performance with a Cascade block. We don't know yet how it will perform with other blocks. It's a quieter pump than the MCP650, but it's also less reliable. Something to consider.

i thought the AquaXtreme 50Z was the same pump as MCP600 just rebadged? and wasn't the MCP600 always reliable? someone let me know.

noxipoo said:

i thought the AquaXtreme 50Z was the same pump as MCP600 just rebadged? and wasn't the MCP600 always reliable? someone let me know.

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That's what I understand as well....though I've only been researching for about a day

PreservedSwine said:

That's what I understand as well....though I've only been researching for about a day

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well I haven't kept up with watercooling stuff for a while. Just started reading about a week ago. someone tell me!

The source for the reliability issue is simply the numbers. The MCP650 is guaranteed a 50,000 hour life span. A formal MTBF isnt posted for the MCP600, but it is anywhere from 10,000 - 20,000 hours depending on who you talk to. Thats only about 1-2 years before fail, compared to the 650, which will run nearly 6 years without fail. Most wont have the same system for two years running, so its sort of a non-issue, but one that is more addressed in passing along with the slightly reduced noise. (By Switech's estimate: 600: 31-24 dBa, 650: 33-34 dBa.)

jackrungh said:

The source for the reliability issue is simply the numbers. The MCP650 is guaranteed a 50,000 hour life span. A formal MTBF isnt posted for the MCP600, but it is anywhere from 10,000 - 20,000 hours depending on who you talk to. Thats only about 1-2 years before fail, compared to the 650, which will run nearly 6 years without fail. Most wont have the same system for two years running, so its sort of a non-issue, but one that is more addressed in passing along with the slightly reduced noise. (By Switech's estimate: 600: 31-24 dBa, 650: 33-34 dBa.)

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I'm quite familiar w/ magnetically driven pumps, it's part of what I do for a living. The warranty isn't neccesarily indicitive of estimating the life of a part. At least it isn't with the magnetically driven pumps I sell, which are *slightly* larger in size (.3 amps to 1.6 amps 120v ac)

PreservedSwine said:

So the aquaXtreme would be the one to grab? (9 watts, less pump heat?) but flow about the same? How is that possible?

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The MCP650 is a more powerful pump than the AquaXtreme. The MCP650 can pump up to 20LPM unrestricted, whereas the AX will do little more than 11LPM. Up until about 7LPM however the two pumps will push around about the same flow against the same pressure. Above this point the MCP650 will win. The issue here is that the MCP650 is capable of pushing much greater flow rates than are ever commonly achievable in water-cooling systems, and thus much of its power goes to waste. The pump draws around 1.5x the power of the AZ in common use, and the internal structure of the pump means that more of that power gets passed into the water, rather than out of the pump's casing.

My head begins hurting after reading all that.

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Here's the latest summary graph of the discussions:

http://www.employees.org/~slf/curves/pp/pump-block-air.png

jackrungh said:

The source for the reliability issue is simply the numbers. The MCP650 is guaranteed a 50,000 hour life span. A formal MTBF isnt posted for the MCP600, but it is anywhere from 10,000 - 20,000 hours depending on who you talk to. Thats only about 1-2 years before fail, compared to the 650, which will run nearly 6 years without fail. Most wont have the same system for two years running, so its sort of a non-issue, but one that is more addressed in passing along with the slightly reduced noise. (By Switech's estimate: 600: 31-24 dBa, 650: 33-34 dBa.)

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Any estimates for the Eheim 1048 from the article? When should one expect that to fail?

I went with the AquaExtreme 50Z over the MCP650. I've only had my water cooling going for a few days but IMO the AquaExtreme is still pretty loud. It has that 'electricity flowing buzz' sound to it. I dont know if all pumps have that sound to them since it is the only pump I have heard. I've heard it can take a few days for it to quiet down, I'm hoping that will happen soon, if at all.
I still like the pump though.