DDC questions..

Bluntwrapped

Bluntwrapped

Bluntwrapped

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Hey guys, I'm looking for some feedback on DDC pumps.

Up until now D5 has been my choice but I want rebuild my current rig and save space as much space as possible. I'm thinking I could hide a DDC , which would look much neater than having a D5 on display in a small case.

I'm thinking about this pump/res combo. It's pretty much a perfect fit for behind the motherboard tray, if I can hide both the pump and reservoir, double bonus :)

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/ek-w...-537-ek.html?gclid=CNGejtnarc8CFQVuGwody4QGfg

Having never owned or used a DDC pump I have a couple of questions..

Does anyone own this pump/res combo and can provide a brief review? I can't find one anywhere.

How noisy is the DDC and will I need to reduce the speed so I can't hear it? Is it loud at full speed without adjustment? I'll be running three single restrictive 120mm rads, a CPU and GPU block. If I can find a balance of performance and silence I'll be happy :)

Last but not least, how warm do these run and do they need additional cooling?

Any user experience and feedback would be great. Cheers
 
I've yet to properly build my system, but I have an Alphacool DDC310. It's a basic 10W affair with nothing fancy on it and it's pretty silent running on the bench. I'm running it with a 360 rad and 120 rad and I saw no issues at all.

Faster/more powerful DDCs are known to be noisy with vibration, but from what I've read doing my own research if you just decouple it from the case with anti vibration mounts, or bolt it directly to something seriously chunky in the case, then the vibrations - and noise - go away.

I have no experience with that pump/res combo but it might vibrate and be noisy. But again, isolate the pump and/or res with something to soak up the vibrations and you should be OK
 
Thanks for your reply LePhuronn. One thing I didn't appreciate is the number of different DDC pumps there are. The EK version seems to be the most expensive but looking at the specs it appears to be much more powerful than the others.

While the EK pump/res combo I linked above looks great, looking at the alternatives, EK seem to be taking the absolute **** with the pricing :(

Think I'll have another look at the pump top options before I make a decision.
 
From what I recall, EK sell the full-fat 18W PWM DDC as their unit and pump/res combos (DDC 3.2).

The DDC in the Predator, however, is a 6W unit (not sure if it's PWM controlled).
 
What he said. Evening :D
I've only had 18W DDCs and they're fairly quiet at full speed provided they're decoupled. That or turned down. I often run one at 7V and it's fine and pretty silent.

I don't know that res combo but it does say it has isolation. Doesn't specify if that's decoupling the pump from the res (unlikely) or the res from the case. If you're planning not to mount it in a 5.25" bay, you may have to work out your own noise isolation.

All DDCs (and D5s) are made by Laing and maybe tweaked by other companies. Pump top is the usual tweak.
It's a good idea to add the heatsink to the 18W pumps (which may not be possible with that res combo. Basically under certain flow rates they can cook themselves. It's unlikely but a friend has had one do it. Running it at 7V seems to be cooler - but it could also just be avoiding the magic flow rate. Have a dig round Martin's Liquid Lab if you want more details - I think that's where I found the info on DDC heat. Good pumps though, just worth bearing in mind.
 
Cheers Cenedd. I'm thinking with the rads being pretty much top of the chart in terms of restriction, the 18W would be a safe bet and I can always drop the speed if required. The upgraded 10W versions look good, the selling focus seems to be on silent running while maintaining decent flow and pressure. I wouldn't want to end up with something under powered for my loop then try and go through the hassle of returning it. Another possible issue is that I don't have enough space for both a pump top and heatsink. I would need to run it without the added heatsink and hope for the best :o

Looking at the mod tops, the Aquacomputer variant looks to be pretty good and a decent price https://www.overclockers.co.uk/aqua-computer-aquacover-ddc-wc-104-aq.html. It's a shame the fixed barb versions only come with 8/10mm barbs. I can't find any tubing with these dimensions that isn't plasticiser heavy. The bulk of the build will be hardline tubing but I'm prepared to cheat behind the motherboard tray and use flexible tubing.
 
I think performance wise the XSPC came out top and the Aqua Computer bottom. The advantage of the Aqua Computer top is that it has more options for in and out ports - and maybe the look if you're going for an Aqua Computer theme. Also worth noting that the Aqua Computer top isn't compatible with the EK DDC Heatsink unless you cut the screws down in length or lose the ability to screw on the rubber isolating feet.

The heatsink doesn't add much size to the pump as it replaces the existing plastic cover. It does add some though - the thickness of the fins pretty much. It also has the rubber feet which are sort of optional but recommended. Probably not going to fit in that bay res though....although saying that, it states it does so what do I know?! All comes down to how much space you're playing with.

As a general rule, yes, safer to go overkill and dial it down rather than not powerful enough and stuck with it. I prefer to have the headroom available to use if I need it myself.
 
Cenedd said:
Also worth noting that the Aqua Computer top isn't compatible with the EK DDC Heatsink unless you cut the screws down in length or lose the ability to screw on the rubber isolating feet.
Click to expand...

I'm mating the Aquacomputer top to an Alphacool DDC310 and I can confirm the screws with the top don't work with anything except an Aquacomputer body. You either need to chop off 4mm from the threaded mounts for the vibration feet, or get new M4 screws about 20mm long if you're mounting top, pump and case/bracket in 1 hit (which also means you can't remove the pump unless you dismantle the top and body).
 
Thanks again for this guys. Really appreciate the info from both of you. This section of the forums seems to have gone a bit quiet of late!

Most of my loop parts arrived from Germany yesterday. I'll need to borrow a rule from work and have a proper measure up tonight. Will see how much room I've got left to play with on top of the unmodified pump dimensions and order something up tomorrow.

This loop building OCD is no good for the wallet! I started thinking last night, maybe if I replace my PSU with a SFX version I might be able to cram the D5 in the leftover space lol
 
Cenedd said:
You wait til you get something in your head like the need to have all your soft tubing runs straight. Looks nice but you end up needing a lot of fittings with esoteric angles!
Click to expand...

Ha ha funnily enough.. I have just spent £200 on hardline fittings for the very same reason. Been looking at my soft tubing for the last year thinking while it looks pretty nice, it's all a bit haphazard compared to the hardline builds I keep seeing. Have never tried hardline tube bending so that'll no doubt be another expensive learning curve!

By the time I'm finished it should look awesome, but the more I think about it the more I need :o So much for paying off the credit card lol.
 
Isn't that what credit cards are for?! ;)
I can't profess much skill at bending but I would say get some spare tubing to allow for the learning curve....and then some more. I only did two short runs and I got through at least four full tubes - of course, I could just be rubbish at it!

Make sure you heat a wide enough section to take the bend - too short and it starts bending nicely for the bit you've heated and then as you get towards the unheated section it starts to fold/crumple instead.

The temptation is to heat just enough to start bending but you need to heat it a bit more or it'll set as you're trying to bend it. Too much though and it starts cooking.

A decent fitting bending cord is essential. The blue Monsoon one I got in the kit was far too small - I think it was around 8.5mm and flapped about in the tube. I got a black Barrow cord that's 9.5mm and is large enough to avoid getting flat spots but not so tight that you fear it's never going to come back out again!

If you're using metal mandrels, you might want to try warming them up. Reason being that when you start wrapping the hot tube round a cold mandrel, it cools much quicker and can start setting before you've finished the bend.
 
Ha ha, dangerous things so they are.

I've been watching a few of JayzTwoCents hardline videos, he seems to be pretty good at freehand bending. Pretty much echos your advice above, getting the balance of heat seems to the toughest thing to master. I'm thinking I'll order up plenty of spare, see how I get on freehand and if I really need the mandrels I'll order up a set of the Barrow ones.

The tubing is a bit of an odd size 13/16mm but I've just seen Monsoon do a 13mm insert.

I'll need to buy a heat gun too. The shopping list gets longer and longer as the days go on!
 
Heat guns available - now that Monsoon have stopped selling them - from your favourite Orange-branded DIY store. Low setting is enough but depending on stock, they do a digital one you can adjust to any temp. Not sure it's necessary but I wouldn't call my bending skills exactly well-honed!
Monsoon are imperial approximations of metric sizes so you might want check the actual size - it might work out in your favour or it could be too small or too tight.
I've got the Barrow 12mm mandrels. They're in ABS plastic which I wasn't expecting but I now believe it's not them being cheap but because of the hot tube, cold mandrel thing I mentioned.

I've got a feeling that it might have been one of JayzTwoCents videos that got me looking at directly threading acrylic tube. You can - FYI - and then screw a fitting in directly. I think that the 13mm ID you have would probably be a bit too large to take the thread though - 16/12 worked but the thread wasn't that deep. You can see the results of my experiments here:

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showpost.php?p=29493382&postcount=84
http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showpost.php?p=29502196&postcount=86
 
I'll maybe have a word with my old man and see if hes got a spare heat gun in his garage, he seems to have pretty much every tool I ask to borrow.

I used to work for Black & Decker. I really should have pinched one while I had the chance lol.

The direct threading is a great idea. I can see how that could potentially save a small fortune in fittings.
 
Quick bit of info you may find interesting as I've just swapped out my D5 for a 10W DDC.

I have a flow sensor connected to my Aquaero and here's the flow rates in litres per minute of my loop

D5 - 1 = 1.3
D5 - 2 = 2.1
D5 - 3 = 2.8
D5 - 4 & 5 = in excess of 3.3 as that's where my flow meter tops out

DDC = 2.9

As you can see in my loop at least the 10W DDC is comparable to setting 3 on a D5.
 
I have had both and found the DCC to vibrate a little more than the D5. But the D5's speed could be adjusted where my DCC couldn't so that might have been the difference
 
eggbert said:
I have had both and found the DCC to vibrate a little more than the D5. But the D5's speed could be adjusted where my DCC couldn't so that might have been the difference
Click to expand...

What type of DDC was it?

I've had a few and found the 18W ones definitely need some sort of vibration dampening to make them quiet but the 10W ones were much quieter.

From what I remember the 18W variant runs around 4500RPM and the 10W is around 3700RPM so that would explain why.
 
The EK DDC heatsinks are good. Keep them cool and provide rubber isolation feet. Recommend them unless you have the Aqua Computer top which doesn't fit unless you cut the screws down - it's thinner than most.
 
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