SOLVED Multi Loop Controller

[t4t3z0r]

I am working on planning out my first water cooling setup. I'm thinking I might do a separate loop for my cpu and gpu. Assuming I go this route, is there a controller that can control two separate loops at once independently of each other?

 

[Silver_Pharaoh]

Like a switch to turn off the pumps individually?

 

[t4t3z0r]

Well for example if my the temp rises on my gpu loop then i dont want the rpms on all the fans to raise only those on the gpu radiator. Im looking for full control of two loops from one controller. I dont necessarily mind having to use two controllers but I only have room in my bays for one controller and Id like a controller with a display. I am obsessive about having full control of my hardware, i even have a monitor devoted entirely to sensor readings and oc software so finding a controller or controllers that function how i need them to is important to me.

 

[Flat-6]

An Aquacomputer Aquaero 6 will do this easily...

 

[GTXJackBauer]

I personally think going more than one loop is a waste as everything will stabilize similarly based on your ambient temp but if you're looking for the smallest difference in degree regardless, a Aquaero 6 as Flat-6 responded, will do you service. It has more than enough control for anything you throw at it. Just do some more research on it as it has its own learning curve and be within its limits.

 

[t4t3z0r]

Wow the Aquaero 6 is everything I could ask for! Might end up doing a single loop I only wanted a dual loop for aesthetic reasons. You aren't kidding about the learning curve. I cant find a ton of info on it. Even the manual doesn't help much. Its listed a can hook all sorts of things up to it at once but I don't see how it has enough ports for everything. There are only 2 aqubus ports so if i hook two pumps up to the aquabus ports doesnt that mean I cant hook up any of the other stuff?

 

[t1nm4n]

yeah it's a handful, but well worth it imo. You can have all kinda of fun with it Once you get it all figured out, if that's even possible. GTX and Flat, either of do anything crazy with the layout of sensors?

It's nothing fancy, but it has all the info I wanted, there's just so much you can do with this piece of equipment and it doesn't seem to end, the only thing I want is more PWM controls/headers so I can break fans into sections to help control the flow of air in the computer, but that's just me wishing for everything, lol.

 

[GTXJackBauer]

Yeah, it really is a piece of art. Granted it could use more simplicity but it can do anything you want. I haven't got around on figuring out the Overview pages yet in making my own but everything else is great.

OP, have some reads and get familiar with the basic to water cooling first and foremost. Then figure out your main system first. Make a list and we can go through it if you'd like.

Second, once all of that is done, than we can break down the AQ 6 for you and what you could do with it.

Can't help it but give you a teaser on the AQ controlling system but stay focus on the main objective first.

 

[sporktar]

If you don't want to pay the premium for the Aquaero, you can use pretty much any multi channel controller that pushes enough amps. Just use a fan splitter to put all of the fans for one loop onto a single header.

 

[t4t3z0r]

Well I have an Apevia sniper x case, an Asus M5Afx99 motherboard, an AMD fx8350, and an EVGA GTX960 FTW. I intend to watercool the cpu ang gpu. I know that gpu doesn't really need to be watercooled but I'd like to for reasons of sound, so I will already have the gpu in the loop when i upgrade to a better card, and for aesthetics. Id like to do the whole thing in uv pink without dye and would like a tube reservoir so my only option seems to be a primochill. Id like to get 2 d5s for redundancy but will probably start with just one mounted to the reservoir. There is really no room in the case for the rediator so Im thinking of externally mounting it completely off of any fan mounts so Im not pulling the warm air from inside the case through the rad. im planning on getting two black ice 240s mointed in a phobya mount. I have onefront intake fan, one rear exhaust fan, and a top rear mounted exhaust fan. I want to utilize the side fan mounts since the graphics card is non reference so everything but the processor will have to be passively cooled and im not sure if i can mount the cooler the card came with to the heat sink ill have to get. Id like to get either a 200mm fan for the side unless I could set up a fan in the bottom side mount for intake and the top for exhaust. Not sure if they would just cancel each other out with them being so close. Also Im wondering if when i decide to get a second pump, would the need to be pretty close to each other to see any benefits to flow? or could i mount a second reservoir and pump post rad and get all the same benefits as mounting the pumps next to each other coming off of one reservoir. Ill also be adding several temp probes, at least one after the pump, after cpu block, after gpu block, and after the rad. id also like at least one flow meter, and a reservior fluid level meter.

 

[GTXJackBauer]

That case isn't so great for water cooling and you're going to have lots of things going in and out. For the amount of funds you're going to spend on water cooling, if you're able to spend more on a case, I would advise that since you were thinking of going two loops. Forget about the Aquaero in this case. Start basic and get the right things put together. You still could go external but it could be an eye sore.

 

[t4t3z0r]

Well im kind of a fan of the look of the case and only the rads will be external at this point so its just goin to be two tubes and two wires coming out of it. Also im mounting the phobya mount to one of the side panels and putting custom fan grills on so wont really be too bad on the eyes either. I know the aquacomputer is more than i need, but again i love having full control and being able to knowo exactly whats going on with sensors so im super sold on it. plus this first setup is just to get a working loop going while i get funds to improve so id like to have the aquacomputer there for when i really need it. any answers to the couple of questions i posed?

 

[t4t3z0r]

If i have understood the setup properly im going to hook up all the case fans to one channel with the curve based on mobo temp, the rad fans on another channel, and the gpu passive fans hoocked up to a third. Then ill hook up the pump to one of the pwm connectors

 

[GTXJackBauer]

Here's an example of my AQ 6 XT configuration.




Here's my fan and pump curve.




And here's my sensor page along with HWiNFO64 to bring in the rest of the sensors.




And here's the brains to the whole operation, rightfully so.




As you can see, the features are amazing and endless whether you want to set it and leave it to complete full control with monitoring.

 

[t4t3z0r]

so HWiNFO64 can be used for software sensors. Good thats what I use and I didnt se it listed in the manual as one of the third party software tools that could send data to aquasuite. I think I have my design pretty well worked out now. If i use an MCP655 I should be able to attach it to the pwm port correct? Looking at it it appears to be getting power from a 4 pin MOLEX and has a separate plug for the pwm info so its not going to exceed the 1 amp the pwm port is rated for.

 

[GTXJackBauer]

Oh, make sure IF you purchase a D5 PWM, that its from Aquacomputer themselves because all the other 3rd party D5s from say Swiftech, EK and the likes don't have the right PWM intel specs and so it won't work with the Aquaero. All the other pumps will work. All depends which ones you want to go with but if it was up to me all over again, I would have gone with AC's D5s aquabus/usb models to free up the PWM channels just for fans. You could go with a D5 that plug in only with USB or Aquabus or PWM Channel. Don't forget, you can chain devices to the aquabus (High) via splitters or what not but is limited to 4 MPS devices like the flow sensors and such. You could aquabus chain say 2 pumps, 1 flow sensor and 1 farbwerk (LEDs) for example. The aquabus low is pretty much nonexistent even though it comes with the AQ 6 and has been completely moved from the updated firmware and software.

 

[t4t3z0r]

thanks for that info that would have been a bummer. so assuming i do a dual serial pump single loop to begin with thats not a problem since there are two aquabus ports. if i wanted to do two loops down the road, with two pumps each for redundancy sake, does one of the accessories allow for additional aquabus ports? im having a little troubble undestanding the exact features of the poweradjust and running a 5lt as slave. i need three seperate fan banks and it doesnt look like the fan headers are rated at enough amperage to allow daisy chaining pumps to a single header or else id do that and regulate pump power via voltage for two pumps. Would i end up just having to buy a second aquero?

 

[GTXJackBauer]

You could chain the pumps via fan splitter cable. Now I can't say for sure if it should be a 3-pin or 4-pin but for example, the flow meters need power to them so the 4-pin PWM Fan cable is used because the 4th wire gives power to the device.

As far as the poweradjusts are concerned, there aren't any PWN versions as you can only plug in 3-pin fans or pumps to it. You technically wouldn't need a poweradjust but only need one if you were using 3-pin fans and ran out of fan headers on the aquaero or if you wanted to create a zone of fans on each one if that makes sense. Same goes for the AQ 5 LT as a slave. Only are used in really massive builds with many fans and want each channel to be a particular set of fans. Don't forget, the AQ's channels can handle 2.5A or 30w. More than enough for most big builds.

I would honestly forget about doing two loops and just do one loop. If you want two pumps for redundancy you can. I would grab two of these with a EK D5 dual top for series and call it a day. Setting up the reservoir is up to you but make sure the reservoir is naturally feeding those pumps no matter what. Than you can connect both pumps via Y-splitter cable back to the AQ 6's high aquabus. But before doing that, you need to connect each pump to the USB header on the MB before connecting to the aquabus and go into the AQ software and assign each pump their own device ID otherwise they won't work properly. After you assign each device like a pump or farbwerk for example each with their own ID, you than remove the USB connection and chain them to the aquabus because the AQ will know who is who. Figure its like a PC with its own IP/MAC address.

For a more in depth explanation, here's is a nice guide I just found.

Hope this helps and feel free to ask any questions that may come up.

 

[t4t3z0r]

Thanks guys! I think i have everything figured out

 

[GTXJackBauer]

Thanks guys! I think i have everything figured out

Keep us up to date with some nice pics when the project is set.