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Flow Sensor Readings

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sailing_nut

Junior Member

Flow Sensor Readings

Wednesday, March 16th 2022, 9:30pm

Hi,

I'm getting strange flow sensor readings and I'm trying to track down the cause. First off, here is my hardware:
Aquacomputer OCTO
Aquacomputer High Flow LT (53291) - Conneced to OCTO
EKWB EK-Quantum Kinetic TBE 200 D5 Body D-RGB - PWM Connected to OCTO
2x EKWB CoolStream Classic PE 360
EKWB Quantum Vector TUF RTX 3080/3090
EKWB Quantum Vector 1700 CPU Block
Asus ROG Maximus Z690 Formula (With integrated VRM water block)
EKWB 10/13mm DuraClear Soft Tubing

When I set my pump to 100% in the OCTO settings the flow meter is showing 215 l/h. The specifications for the EK D5 pump indicate 1000 l/h at 100% PWM.

I looked in the settings for the flow sensor on the OCTO and it only gives me 3 possible selections:
  • Aqua Computer high flow (53068)
  • Digmesa 5.6mm (53061)
  • DIgmesa 3.3 mm (53024)
for flow sensor model. I am assuming that the Aquacomputer selectin is the correct one, but the model number does not match so I'm a bit suspicious that could be an issue.



I have looked around on the EK site to see if there are any maximum flow rates shown for any of the blocks/rads to see if my reading is to be expected given what I have in my loop but I was unable to find anything. I did find one very old article about flow rates that would make me think this is to be expected, but I'd love to get some more experienced input!


Any help is greatly appreciated!

Remayz

Senior Member

Thursday, March 17th 2022, 12:09am

that looks about right with the amount of blocks you have.

the amount of 90° fittings will also reduce the flow a little bit.

my setup gives me the same flow as yours, with 3 slim rads, 1 magnitude CPU block and a 3090 with active backplate. (~210l/h with a DDC FLT kinetic).
In practice, the 1000 - 1500l/h is conneting a flow meter between pump inlet and return, with no other elements at all, zero restriction, so it's a very impractical value.

So, nothing unusual to me :)

You'll probably find that; as long as you are over 80 - 90 l/h, the GPU temps don't change too drastically. 100 - 120 is a good all round flow target. In fact, with a D5, you may want to chose a speed that's quiet, more than look for a particular flow. they tend to have very narrow speed ranges that makes them vibrate more.

Speedy-VI

Senior Member

Thursday, March 17th 2022, 2:00am

I agree that the "real" flow rate you are getting is typical for a loop with 2 blocks and the associated fittings.
May I ask how you like the EKWB Quantum Vector TUF RTX 3080/3090? I have a TUF 3080 OC that I am thinking about water cooling. I am looking at the EK Quantum Vector TUF RTX3080/3090 D-RGB - Nickel + Plexi , Bitspower BP-VG3080ASF, Bykski N-AS3090TUF-X, and Alphacool 11939. Any insights and opinions would be helpful. Thanks!

sailing_nut

Junior Member

Thursday, March 17th 2022, 3:36pm

Thanks everyone for the input. Happy to hear things are as expected!

I was pretty sure that it wasn't an issue with the flow meter because of Aquacomputer's reputation. However because of things I've read online and some first hand pain I was concerned that with me being very new to Aquasuite that I had screwed something up.

sailing_nut

Junior Member

Thursday, March 17th 2022, 3:43pm

Quoted from "Speedy-VI"

I agree that the "real" flow rate you are getting is typical for a loop with 2 blocks and the associated fittings.
May I ask how you like the EKWB Quantum Vector TUF RTX 3080/3090? I have a TUF 3080 OC that I am thinking about water cooling. I am looking at the EK Quantum Vector TUF RTX3080/3090 D-RGB - Nickel + Plexi , Bitspower BP-VG3080ASF, Bykski N-AS3090TUF-X, and Alphacool 11939. Any insights and opinions would be helpful. Thanks!
First a disclaimer: This is my first time building a custom loop so I don't have anything to compare.

One thing I forgot to list in my initial post is that I also have the EK active backplate.

I am quite happy with the block and backplate. The installation was pretty straightforward. The biggest challenge was removing the old thermal pads as they had nearly disintegrated. They turned into a crumbling mess that also refused to let go of the components. It took a fair bit of rubbing alcohol and "scrubbing" with a microfiber cloth. FYI a glasses cleaning cloth works great for cleaning!

I can tell you that as far as temps go I'm very happy! I use my card to mine when I'm not gaming. Before the EK block I was having to back down the intensity on my miner to keep VRAM temps under 100. Now I run full bore and my VRAM is typically around 70.

Remayz

Senior Member

Thursday, March 17th 2022, 4:01pm

i have that same block and same experience :p
very efficient, fitting the active backplate after the fact was a pain because you have to realign already crushed thermal pads to fit that half milimeter of play you have when installing the waterblock.
If you plan on putting an active backplate, if the budget allows, install it along with the waterblock,at the same time.

In game, memory is stupid cool, never exceeds 50 - 55°C (mining is a lot more stressful apparently! but those 70° are great compared to throttling :p)

Usually i have the GPU 6 - 8°C warmer than the water, which is quite a lot better than what i had on the 2080 (11°C warmer).
Definitely a great block.

Speedy-VI

Senior Member

Thursday, March 17th 2022, 4:17pm

Thank you for the feedback on the EK GPU block. I have not decided which one to go with but am tending towards the EK block. This is my first time water cooling a GPU so quality of the instructions is important to me. I have read that Bitspower and Bykski blocks are quite good but have poor instructions. Price wise they are all pretty close.

sailing_nut

Junior Member

Thursday, March 17th 2022, 4:27pm

Quoted from "Speedy-VI"

Thank you for the feedback on the EK GPU block. I have not decided which one to go with but am tending towards the EK block. This is my first time water cooling a GPU so quality of the instructions is important to me. I have read that Bitspower and Bykski blocks are quite good but have poor instructions. Price wise they are all pretty close.
I will say that I found the EK install instructions to be a bit lacking being my 1st time to install any water blocks. However I have looked at one of the others you mentioned (can't recall which one) and the EK instructions were WAY better! I have also found EK's support to be very good and helpful.

The thing I found most lacking on the instructions was the placement of the thermal pads. It wasn't bad by any stretch of the imagination but being new I would have been happy with more "hand holding." I was able to find some YouTube videos of people installing them and that made me feel more comfortable.

Here are links to the install manuals for EK:

Block: https://www.ekwb.com/shop/EK-IM/EK-IM-3831109832608.pdf
Backplate: https://www.ekwb.com/shop/EK-IM/EK-IM-3831109849736.pdf

Speedy-VI

Senior Member

Thursday, March 17th 2022, 6:57pm

Thanks for the links. The EK instructions are definitely more detailed than Bitspower. I could not find any instructions for the Bykski or Alphacool blocks which is not encouraging. I suspect that they all perform about the same and think that the EK block is probably my best move.

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