1 year old MCP600 vs. new MCP655?

My rig met with disaster, so I think I'm going to have to rebuild it. As long as I'm taking it apart, I figured I would see if there's anything I should replace. Should I use this opportunity to replace my MCP600 (hardly used but been sitting in-line for a year filled with water) with a new MCP655? I've read the numbers, but does anyone know from personal experience if the MCP655 is much better than the MCP600? Is it worth replacing? Thanks guys!

Both are very good pumps... The MCP600 is still a really damn good choice as it has around the same head, it dumps less heat than than the D5, they are both pretty evenly matched besides the rating for GPH as the D5 wins..

Personally I dont think you should buy the D5 as you have a pump suitible enough

Good to hear, as that's what I figured also, haha! Yeah, I was looking at the numbers and I really wasn't sure if it was going to be worth it. I thought that since my loops is very small (mid-tower case) the extra GPH would have a greater effect than if I have a lot of tubing, but the increase in flow rate is probably only marginal. Thanks for the input!

The 600 wins in performance because of less heat dumped into the loop. Put it at 14v and it wins period.

getting a 655 would be a down-grade.

Alright that does it, I'm sticking with the 600, haha! I wonder why they stopped making it...too expensive? Not enough demand? Everyone was buying hydors or something?

Anyways, the pump has been sitting still for about 6 months and my loop has been full. Any chance that there's anything wrong with the pump? I was using a distilled water + zerex + and bacteriostatic solution.

Same pump here at Cooltechnica

Wow, price went up

Yep, that pump is one heckuva pump running on 13.8VDC.

The nice part is its easy and fairly inexpensive to do so. You can pick up a 1.38VDC 3-amp power supply for mid $20s on the net or $40 at Radioshack. The pumps nominal draw is right about 1 amp during operation and ups to around 2 amps during startup. Going with a 3 amp model will keep it pumping with no problems.

Here is one link if you ever have an urge to 'crank it up' a bit.

Pyramid 13.8VDC 3 amp Power Supply Model #PS-3KX

Hmm, very compelling. I wish I could provide the pump 14v without having a seperate power supply. Wouldn't running it at 14v decrease its lifespan though?

*bump* (about running at 14v decreasing pump life)

My MCP600 has been running almost non-stop for months. Every now and then I shut the computer down at night to give her (and my electirc bill) a break. And of course, when I go out of town she's turned off.

Ever tried running it at 14V instead of 12V?

Here is the link to Cathar's post regarding pumps. If you notice it is a bit dated since it doesnt incorporate the newer Laing D5 pump. Cathar's second post down is in regards to running an MCP600/AquaXtreme50z pump at 13.8 volts. If you notice it becomes the second best pump in terms of performance. While 12V is the nominal voltage for running the pump I believe I have read where they can handle up to 14.2 volts (still digging for the page with the full specs on the pump, will post when/if I find it) so it wont 'burn' the pump quickly. It will however void the warranty

Skip down to Cathar's conclusion at the bottom of his second post in this linked thread for a plain english description for his thoughts on the MCP600 at 13.8 volts. In case you dont recognize the name Cathar has been around WCing for a long long time and has had a huge influence on the performance improvements we have seen across the last few years. While no ones word should be considered the absolute 'truth' when it comes to component performance I would have to say Cathar is one of the more trusted resources for WCing information.

Cathar's Pump Roundup

The current pump favorite is the Laing D5/MCP655 pump but the MCP600 is still one of the best pumps available for performance. It outperformed the D5's older sibling the D4. I think with the release of the D5 the performance gap has been narrowed but the MCP600 still outperforms the new D5. Below $200 if a person is looking primarily at performance it *may* be the best without modding, after modding I think the LaingDDC may surpass it....until you overvolt to 13.8 volts

Keep in mind 'performance' for each person is different. For some its the ability to reach the coolest possible temp while for others its a balance between noise, dependability, and temps. You will have to decide what is most important to you before deciding which pump is 'best'. Short and sweet there is no single 'best' pump in all categories. For raw performance it might just go to one of the $200+ high head Iwaki's while for silence it probably goes to either the Eheim 1048 or the LaingDDC. Most other pumps fall somewhere between these pumps and each has a different 'flavor' which is little more than slightly different balances being struck between raw performance, noise, cost, and dependability.

Lastly on the MCP600. When originally released there were dependability problems with Rev 1.0 but since Rev 2.0 they seem to be pretty danged dependable. Despite this many people have a 'bad taste' from the release version so you will regularly see their dependability questioned.

Hey, thanks for all the info, I'm gonna read up! Does it say what revision is it on the MCP600? I wanna check mine...