Pump shootout - noise

shadowscotland

shadowscotland

shadowscotland

Soldato
Joined
31 May 2006
Posts
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West London
Well by a series of untimely buys I’ve now own / or will own three ‘quiet’ pumps.

A Eheim Reserator2 pump (which I know is inaudible)
300l/h 0.5m head

A D-tek DB-1
500l/h 2m head

Laing DDC-1T Pro with res top
420/3.7 stock (enhanced by top but I don’t believe it double the flow)

Now I don’t know of anywhere that actually compared these pumps with a passive watercooling loop. So for my own research and that of the community I’m going to run some loudness tests. I don’t own a dB meter but do have ears so it will be a ranking not a value. But will some other standard pc parts in the list – hdd, fan, etc (happy to add other by request/if send to me)

I don’t have an Anechoic Chamber like SPCR but do have a fanless pc I know and use daily in a semi-rural area (medium-low ambient but day, very low ambient buy night) I also have a full set of low restriction block – CPU/NB/GPU/MosFet and HHD to play with.

In every review of these pumps they are teamed with an active rad – so fan noise could easily mask the noise signature of the pump?

Was going to run some quick loop tests for noise values but could do some temps as well – would just be simple loop as don’t have the time to do lots of variations with multiple mounts and re-mounts to average out TIM issues.

If anyone has a Spare XSPC RES/Pump combo’s or D5 vario that they can lend me - I’ll do a complete set of results with all 4 main pumps (plus the eheim).

Any comments/requests while I await the laing
 
How will the pumps be isolated to remove vibration noise? Suspend them somehow?

Do you have the stock top for the DDC1? Might be worth adding that as a control?
 
Don't have the stock top sorry (will ask the seller)
As to flow - baseline pump flow has been done buy other - But can rig up something basic with my full loop and count the rmp's :D
 
Good of you to take the time to do some testing - will be watching this wih interest as I'm moving over to passive and running the DDC 10w myself. Shame you don't have an 18w one to compare it to (unless you can be bothered and are able to mod it to 18w for sound testing...).

If you don't have any joy with the seller trying to get the stock top for the DDC send me an email and I'll send you a spare one I have. :)
 
My DDC 18W is rather noisey :/ It just whines, next time my loop is apart I'm going to have another go at mounting it or having it just suspended my the tubing.
 
Ok some provisional results

First off my test loop.
Pump
Koolance VL4 quickconnectors (set)
Alphacool Silentstar
XSPC Edge
Alphacool Silentstar
MIPS MosFet block
DD Maze 4
MIPS MosFet block
Silverprop Cyclone Fusion HL
Koolance VL4 quickconnectors (set)
Pump

test1.jpg

Loop laid flat on bed - both pumps visable, D-tek with QC's attached

On the subject of Koolance - there threads are sharp, note to self always use the compression top (even when tubing is thin wall)
Did make swaping the pumps easy :D
test2.jpg

Ouch! one of three cuts

Had the D-tek DB-1 in the loop first - and during the day is was inauabable, but the vibration of the pump if it touched the case was significant.
Also great flow from this little pump - was really impressed. (sorry didn't take any images) But the one bubble that was in the loop
(QC's allow air when connecting) was smashed into millions of little bubbles that happly zipped round the loop (no res to remove them)

Next up was the Laing DDC-1T Pro with alphacool res top
test3.jpg

Loop running on anti flooding apparatus

test4.jpg

Res top making the removal of bubbles from the loop easy.

Now this did emit a sharp but quiet hum - but it's easily masked by fan noise.
The surprise was how little vibration it emited.
I'm sure the size and weight of the filled res help but still very impressed.
I didn't think it was massively more powerfull than the d-tek
as it needed some help (moving loop around) to clear the bubble that had formed on the outlet.
Once it had moved past the first few inches of tubing it pushed the bubble so fast it broke up into foam. I guess this is a primeing issue,
exaggerated by a 'flat' loop but can't be sure.

If I can stay up I'll do some ultra quiet ambient tests - my little boy was singing himself to sleep with the above results.
 
I have a Laing DDC Ultra with the XSPC pump top for it and i just put little rubber washers under her and when she is screwed down she is completely silent :)

See :

CIMG0581.jpg
 
I've got an XSPC 200 sat in my garage, its fully working but the pump is making a funny noise so it wouldn't exactly be a fair test.

On a side note i've got an XSPC 200 in my server, which as far as i can tell is next to silent you can hardly tell the machine is running.

XSPC X2O 750 & XSPC Dual 750 running in my main machine, you can hear both of these pumps running slightly but tbh its quiet.

Quite impressed both these machines are very very quiet, price / quality and noise the XSPC 200 seems very good (for a small cpu loop). I think you can get an iPhone app which is a Db meter, might give that a go and post the results :)
 
After and hour or so last night a small leak had droped the waterlevel :o
(didn't bother with TPFE tape for the test and the seal on one plastic barb had failed)
The resulting vortex was clearly auadible over the hum of the pump as was the 'hiss' caused but thosands of tiny fast flowing bubbles.
Again if the fan was restarted you could only just hear the water with the res top off.
Worth noting that the bubbles were moving faster that with the previous d-tek.
I almost think the lack of restriction in the loop with such a powerfull pump is causing more issues - will try and slow it down.
or find something anticyclonic that isn't my finger :D


@ almighty - The Laing DDC Ultra is not silent.
It might be inaudible in your system :D And that great for any actively cooled waterloop.
But inaudible when next to 4 or more fans is not the same as silent.

Even the submerged Eheim is not silent

@ Firestar - Yes I've hear very good things about the XSPC pumps - Just a shame I've not got one to do a comparision test with.
Submersion really helps with the 'air-born' sound level.
But it's actually the fact that the sound energy needs to pass from liquid to solid to gas that makes the differance.
Vibration can still be an issue but easily solved.
 
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shadowscotland said:
@ almighty - The Laing DDC Ultra is not silent.
It might be inaudible in your system :D And that great for any actively cooled waterloop.
But inaudible when next to 4 or more fans is not the same as silent.

.
Click to expand...

+1

Used to have a DDC Ultra and got rid of it cos its so friggin loud! Have a Laing D5 Vario now and although it aint nearly as powerful its SO much quieter. Unfortunatly for me I have bubble trouble in my rig due to lack of flow and will probably have to go back to the DDC :(
 
Happy said:
My DDC 18W is rather noisey :/ It just whines, next time my loop is apart I'm going to have another go at mounting it or having it just suspended my the tubing.
Click to expand...

Mine too Happy. It's combined with the CPU block as well so I can't AV mount it. I can hear it from my arm chair in the living room (it's in an HTPC) and that a good 7ft away.

Sounds like one of those XSPC ones that has the pump submerged is the way to go. Good value by the look of things too. I've been thinking that I might get better CPU temps with a 'proper' block too.

Thanks for doing this test shadowscotland. I'd be interested to hear which one you think is the best in terms of noise to performance ratio.
 
I just purchased said pump/res there almighty. I am much looking forward to completing my first water cooling set up when I get everything else I need...:D
 
Well I finally got round to adding another common pump (D5) to my round up
regarding sound values. So am also now in the position to rank them against each
other. Will also try and merge the martin liquid lab graphs so you can see some
flow rates.

D5andEK.jpg


But firstly the D5 Vario (MCP655) – Well it’s quite a chunky pump and not that
far off the size of my DDC pro with the Res top fitted. The molded ½ connects on
the pump are very similar to DD perfect seal barb ends (you can see a set on the
alphacool res top above) These are not my favorite barb profile – hot water is most
definitely needed – but even without clamps are very secure (cut the tube off)

What I find odd is the D5 is always pictured with the outlet pointed up? In fact I
nearly added the EK res to the wrong side when setting up the loop. Thankfully
the D5 has an arrow molded into the barb so show direction to avoid embarrassment
of potential loop builders that don’t read instructions.

The D5 Vario has 5 speed settings (ascending) and I had no problems changing
These on the fly. Vibration is similar to the D-tek pump and only gain slightly with
Increased speed. The DDC wins hands down regarding vibration noise, even without
a clever bracket. What is significant in the D5 is a high pitched electric motor wine
that is clearly audible at 4 and 5 (dentist drill like). This can just be heard at setting 3
with your ear near the pump but ramps up considerably at setting 4 and then is quite
noisy at 5. I’m no mathematician but would say the noise level rises exponentially
and above 3 it’s not even worth considering for a quiet loop.

I’d also like to point out, that at setting 5 my EK150 res was vortexing and dragging
air back into the loop. So an anti-cyclone insert is a must with any small reservoirs
and this pump on high. There is slight vortexing at 4 but it’s not a problem.

I would add that in the same way may folks 7v there fans or general use, can be
equated here – have the power to push out any air bubbles on first instillation of a
loop or for benchmarking is very handy, especially as the pump can been run
day-to-day at a much lower speed/volume.

Well here is the ranking and it wasn’t that easy to place them as each have a very
different sound. The D5 at 4 and 5 is by far the most intrusive, due to it’s pitch but
at setting 3 the hum of the DDC become ‘noisier’ than the D5.
The vibration noise of the d-tek pushes it down the ranking –
if you can isolate it, it would be almost as quiet as the D5 at 1.

D5 setting 1 – 0.62 GPM
D5 setting 2 – 0.92 GPM
DB-1 – 1.09 GPM
-------
D5 setting 3 – 1.26GPM
DDC pro – 1.53GPM (1.86 with xspc top – noise difference unknown)
-------
D5 setting 4 – 1.63GPM
CPX-pro - 1.85GPM (untested based on others opinion)
D5 setting 5 – 1.89GPM

The gallons per minute where taken from Martin liquid lab 3.1 flow calculator and
show a direct relationship between flow and noise (but the D5 and DB-1 do need
retesting). To be honest I’m quite surprised at this so I re-worked the excel with just
my xspc in the loop and they were no longer in flow rate order so it must be specific
to my test loop.

Recommendations

Ultra quiet / fanless setup – I never thought I say this but the D5 vario come out on top
as you only need 1 gpm for a good loop and the D5 almost achieves this at setting 2
with next to no noise, but some vibration. With a good mounting strategy you can’t
lose and have the extra power available to kick start bleeding a new loop.

SFF / HTPC - The DB-1 come a very close second – and due to it’s size and low cost is a perfect
small and quiet loop pump.

Everything else - DDC-pro with a XSPC res top it really blows the rest away in flow to noise ratio.
1.8gpm with 5 blocks and a rad (my silentstar are comparable with PA / RX rads) imho is more that enought for anyone.
And doesn’t have the noise of the ultra or D5 at 4/5

Edit: CPX-pro added as untested, Recomendations broken into groups
 
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Good test results, thank you. Appreciate the time taken.
I'm surprised that the D5 won on noise, can you mod your ddc to 10W temporarily or try it at 7V? Quite a lot to ask I know :)


Seems as good a place to ask about this idea as any.

DDC doesnt leak. So if its in a sealed container full of mineral oil, the oil wont mix with the water. This will do excellent things for quietening it down, and I don't *think* would make it overheat, can do something to keep the oil cool if need be.

Thoughts?
 
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