Every Watercooled PC Needs This 

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Pretty smart and cheap addition to a custom loop. Nice video!

You inspired me to build my first ITX rig this year, thanks for the consistently impressive content you really push the boundaries with how clean these builds are

Love these types of videos! Small accessories or tips that have a huge impact on your system.

D5 next by aqua computer, a pump with a temp sensor and fan controller build in. Great software and the fan curve is stored on the pump and is thus not dependent on your OS to function as expected.

This is a great tip, been doing it for years. Also if you want a cheaper and even more compact solution you can use a Flat Wire Temperature Sensor and slide it in-between the radiator fins. Just make sure it's not directly in the path of a fan so you get a nice consistent reading. Works a treat.

If you use a flow sensor and 2 temp sensors, before and after your radiator(s): you could calculate the dissipated heat by the radiator(s). If you have more than one radiator, It is important there isn't a CPU or GPU between them. Q = M x C x Delta T Q: rate of heat transfer M: mass flow rate C: specific heat of water Delta T: fluid temp in minus fluid temp out of the radiator(s) Edit: But it is important to have accurate measurements! If your temp sensors have 1°C or 0,1°C accuracy makes a big differance in the calculations!

I can really recommend Argus as a thermal monitor solution for the loop, as it's so flexible and can take multiple inputs as well as being rock stable

I did exactly the same a few month ago on my Strix Z370-I. Couldn't be happier with the results!

This is just the video I’m looking for! I’m currently planning a no-compromises 2x radiator NR200 build, with the goal of doing overclocking with the 450W FTW3 vBIOS. With something putting out that much heat, taming thermals will be a big factor.

True, I got one of these when I built my custom loop and it was SUPER helpful for setting fan curves. Can't really imagine building a computer without it now.

Ali, thank you for sharing this finding. I am impressed by how you always find ways to keep your machines running as efficiently as possible. (:

Thank you for the idea man!! I have an air cooling set up that I basically use the same premise as measuring the air temperature versus the CPU or GPU temperature and it has made my fans perform a lot better and more efficiently.

I've been on YT since its beginning in 2005. I watch YT a lot and ur the only creator that gets my thumb up before even watching the video. Peace bro!

Thank you for informing me about this product. I've added it to the parts list for my next build. 🤓

Temperature probe header was the only feature I was looking for when buying my mobo, ended up with an Asus Z370 I :) I like you style running the coolant at 50c, that is way closer to the maximum recommended coolant temps then I dare :) cooling efficiency and transfer is better with higher coolant temps but leakage scares me, running my coolant at 40c max :) Thanks for the vid!

Me, who doesnt watercool his PC cause there's no space for radiators: *"Hmm, interesting!"*

I’m so happy you put this video out been looking for something like this! Thanks

You should have a look at the stuff from Aquacomputer, they are pioneers in this sort of thing. I have a 10 year old aquastream Ultra that I just updated to Ultimate with a replacement I/O - granted it isn’t made for SFF, but they also make a killer D5 called the “next”. All of my fans are powered through the pump and controlled by the aquasuite which makes it possible to use preconfigured controlstrategies as well as setting up a PID. You get information about flow, temps, fan speed and anything else you’d like. I also have a tempsensor from them that is smaller than the one from alphacool you showed in this video. Damn I almost sound like a salesman... but their products are so dope!

Thanks Ali, ordered one for the custom loop I'm building in the Ncase right now

I built my first water loop like 3 years ago, and since then my fans are controlled by coolant temp not parts temp. Glad that you realized lately and showing the coolant temp in your graphs nowadays as well.

Now you should try the temp sensor with an aquacomputer quadro.. You can set it to hold a target water temp using it's built in PID control scheme support, and it's standalone so you can just set it and never have to run software for it again until you want to change the settings. End result is a system that will hold the same load temps regardless of room temp and use as little fan speed as possible to do that at all times. You can also set the fan start speed so you never have to hear the fans burst to 100% on power on regardless of motherboard choice.

If you’re using AI Suite 3 and you find fan spin up noise troubling enough to buy a temp sensor for your coolant you should set the ‘fan spin up time’ to like 12 seconds. This changes the fan curve from immediately matching the position it should be in the curve, to respond to this change over 12 seconds.

Thank you making this video. Looking at pictures on the net vs you explaining with video is so much more helpful. Appreciate your informative video.

I use Aquacomputer's tiny Quadro board to control my fans and plug in my temperature sensors. It's a fantastic piece of kit that doesn't take up much space in my SFF case. The accompanying Aquasuite software lets me graph all of the fan curves and sensor output (including hwinfo data) as an overlay on my desktop. Can't recommend their stuff enough.

I just ordered an Aquacomputer Quadro, since my board doesn't have a temperature header. Important feature of the Quadro: you don't have to have Aquacomputer's software running continuously -- it's just there to configure the controller. This means that if you dual-boot a non-Windows OS, it will remember the fan setup that you configured in Windows.

My test bench uses a Phobya inline temperature sensor and my main rig uses 2 x G1/4 Barrow plug temperature sensors. Both systems run Corsair Commander Pro's (main system has 2) which I use to build the fan curves using coolant temperature as the source. As you said in the video - a no-brainer. PS. Here's what I did for a 2nd PC for my son (for the resurrected Diablo 1) which didn't need to be al that powerful but it does have an i7-930 cooled by a Corsair H80i V2, 12GB RAM & a GTX 960. I bought a reasonably priced Siilverstone CP04 PWM fan hub and hooked the sensor wire to the cooler's 4-pin fan header. All fans (including the push-pull fans on the H80i) connect via the fan hub and thus, all fans (PWM based) ramp based on coolant temperature.

I was looking for a better way of doing this so thanks!

@Optimum Tech Next step: Mo-Ra3 with QDC fittings. Good tutorial how to have 30C coolant temperature no matter what :D

love the content bro.. keep smashing it! :)

Thanks, I've been struggling with tuning the fan curves on my new water cooled build and this seems to be the answer.

i am very surprised you didnt know about this, i am sure now you will realise that some of the previous builds you have done may not be viable, specifically the single 240 rad builds with gpu/cpu in the loop, its easy to be fooled by decent temps like ''70c gpu and 70c cpu'' however the water will be running extremely hot, around the safety point for the acrylic and fittings, which, as an industry standard, are rated for 60c water temps, you will ideally want nothing above 50c water, to ensure the safety of the system, fittings and tubing can expand and leak if the safety of the materials is breached, for example, running the water at 60c for a long time will not only cause both gpu and cpu to be running extremely hot, but the tubing, fittings, acrylic, acetol, and especially hard tubing, can warp and leak at this temperature, bottom line, keep the water temp as low as possible, that will effectively make sure the components are not running hot, and the system remaining leak free.

Daniel from Singularity computers has been saying for years to base your fan curves on the coolant temperature since it’s the coolant your cooling, not the hardware. Glad to see your sharing this as well.

Argus monitor can combine any kinda of CPU + GPU temps or water temp sensors and can combine and average over 10 or 15 seconds on custom curves even if bios does not support it. In the case the operating system does crash or something, the bios will take over and fans will spin at 100%. Works great for me on dual loop WC Rig and the monitoring is fantastic too.

This was such a nice vid, I’m always impressed with the quality and simplicity of the shots and info, for channel this (relatively) small!

In the first 30 seconds you basically explained why I'm here exactly. Great Video.

The big question is to set your pump on high or low? I think the pump on high will let the water flow faster but faster water means it flows faster to the radiator and have less time to cool down before it gets back. But also the faster the water the less it heats up from the cpu/gpu in the first place. So i think the amound of heat-energy transported is the same. The faster the water flows the more energy needs the pump and the louder is the pump. The advantage of fast flowing water is a turbulent flow that have an better heat transfer than a laminar flow. Maybe you can test how big the difference is? To calculate it you have to measure what temp before the radiator what temp after. And the volumeflow of the system (have to be measured only on one place because it stay the same) When we have the waterflow in kg/h the temperature-difference in K (Kelvin) we can calculate the energy in Wh that was transfered to the air. So Wh=volumeflow in [kg/h] * specific heat capacity [Wh/(kg*K)] * temp difference [K] The specific heat capacity of water is 1,163 Wh/(kg*K). If you dont have water its an other value idk. I work in a engeneering company in germany and have to calculate heating pipe systems so if there are any questions i am willing to help.

Thank you for the tip ! Gonna modify my loop with this once I get my sleeved cable set.

Appears that there aren't too many people that watch this type of content, but man are they active. Happy holidays lads.

Huge fan! Would love to see the thermals of a vertical 3080 FE in an nr200P with the tempered glass

yo, this is exactly the video I've been looking for!

This usually overlooked but a very important piece of hardware for water cooling. I used a g1/4 plug sensor on the back of my gpu and it helped a lot w fluctuating fan noise.

Thank you so much I've been trying to figure this out for years but wasn't sure what hardware or software could read the sensor.

I bought the Crosshair Impact 8 and swallowed the $430 pricetag. Then I returned it for the $200 TUF x570-Pro, as the Lian Li Mini can fit a full ATX. Turns out the latter didn't have a T_sensor despite being full ATX. So I had to replace my Corsair Lighting Pro with a Corsair Commander Node, which was an extra $40.

Yep, coolant temp + Aquaero were the best things I ever added to my water-cooled builds!

you should look into "speedfan" its a lovely little tool that allows you to controle both based on the combined temp of either cpu or GPU. in my setup ive made two loops(and two pumps) but fans are controlled by both GPU/CPU - so if cooling is needed the fans ramps up. Pumps are controlled by input of either GPU or CPU in relation to their respective pumps. its quite need and very silent.

I just built with an EK AIO and was looking for a function like this. It's definitely the most logical way to control the fan curve, when I save enough for a custom loop I'll get one for sure.

53C coolant is quite warm, be careful. Some pumps, like the EK SPC in my loop, have a maximum operating temperature of 50C.

Well done, I will go smallish on my next build like you. It will have a Sub Zero Water Chiller. The money you save on fans and radiators will more or less cover the cost of a 1/10hp, Sub Zero Water Chiller. The wattage used for the chiller is only 40 to 80 watts per hour. Now if I could only get ahold of some GPU and CPU parts.

In the first graph, maybe the coolant didn't get hotter BECAUSE the fans had rampe up to neutralize the anticipated heat from the workload. By reading the coolant temperature, you might simply be adding a layer of latency to the cooling response. The default fan curve is based on a preventative model while yours is based on a reactionary one. While the latter might make sense for preventing noise during very short computational bursts, the former is definitely better for the longevity of hardware, and to a miniscule degree, potentially performance.

This makes so much more sense for the termpature curve than the die temps. Especially with a 360 rad it takes minutes for the water to heat up meaningfully, so this would enable me to have much more aggressive curves without having them ramp up because I turned on stockfish to check a move while analyzing chess... Shame it doesn't work on AIO as I just completed a build with a 360 AIO, this might actually push me to to go custom loop next time. Thanks for the video!

You should definitely Look into the Aquareo Quadro - a fan / pump and temp sensor control board that allows you to set up fantastic fan curves depending on coolant temperature.

I was wondering why it took you so long to recognize those as a big benefit for your cooling. But Spinning the Pump faster when the water temp rises will let the coolant temp rise even higher. Low pump speed = lower water temps but higher cpu / gpu temps and high pump speed = higher water temps but lower gpu / cpu temps. that leads to even higher fan speeds if curve is too aggressive. Keep up your great videos.

you should look at hooking up an Aqua computer Octo/Quadro with aqua suite. just built my first custom loop with a dual rad in the M1 with this. You can control fans, pump speeds and RGB lighting. There are multiple temp and flow sensors, best of all, once its set up, you don't need to have the software running, its all done in the unit. I need to get my fan curves set up properly, but I'm holding off until I move.

Just a heads up, the amazon link links to a plug and not the inline fitting shown in the video. It appears that the inline fitting version he used is not available on amazon currently. The only place I was able to find the black model on was aquatuning, but the shipping costs $50. If you want to search for it yourself, this is the proper search term: Alphacool Eiszapfen temperature sensor G1/4 IG/IG with AG adapter

Brilliant. Although I have Temperature sensors in my loop stupidly I never thought of setting the fan curve from the coolant temp 🤦 I will be digging through my arous master bios now!

These sensors aren't really needed. They don't really measure coolant temp, they are just a flat film sensor that is taped or pressed against an ordinary fitting, so they are really just measuring the temp of the fitting. That temp is very close to real coolant temp though of course. The exact same result can be had by taping a thin film sensor to any existing fitting or even better tape it to the header or footer tank of a radiator. The radiator end tanks are thinner and have a greater surface area exposed to the coolant so more accurately and closely follow real coolant temp as it changes. They are also cheaper and easier to hide away.

Amazing video, will change everything.

53C coolant is definitely on the warmer side, considering your room temp is only 20-23C. I would spin up the fans a little bit. I think a lot of components and some coolant are actually rated at 60C max.

Thanks for this video! I have always been annoyed when the fans quickly ramp up and down, but for some reson I never thought about controlling them by the water temperature. Unfortunately my mainboard does not seem to have an input for a temperature sensor. So I might create my own little controller with a OLED screen and maybe some custom aRGB controlls built into it.

Awesome - gives me the confidence to pull the trigger on one of these

This would be great if I could get my hands on a gpu.

I'd recommend the Quadro if you can find space for it, the software is superb and the controller is excellent.

This is the way BRUDDA

Argus monitor is a software that you can use to control every fan of your pc based in what you want. In my case I have a curve for my case fans, based in the average 20 second GPU temperature

From a control theory point of view this is definitely the way to go if you want to smooth out your fan speeds. Big like on this one.

I just found a software who let you control all the fan channels on your motherboard with a custom fan curve and let you chose the temperature it reads. Either CPU, GPU or an average of both. Also an average of the temp during the last X seconds (you chose). You can also chose the speed of the fan ramp up by setting a percentage max of speed increase per second to avoid fans ramp up and down endlessly. The software is called ARGUS MONITOR. It is not free (cheap) but have a 30 days free trial.

Just make sure to set up a High Temperature Warning in case of pump failure or blocked flow!

I’m surprised that this isn’t a staple in any custom loop. AiO coolers have had this feature for forever and I couldn’t live without it. The fans (controlled by the bios via CPU temp) spinning up during quick CPU burst loads was driving me nuts.

Not taking anything away from builds that use external pumps/reservoirs, but my personal stance is everything has to be inside the case to "qualify".

I've used a Bitspower G1/4 thermal sensor plugged into a Corsair Commander Pro to control the fans in my system for a very long time. It's a much better way to control fans than CPU temp.

Finally someone adressing the coolant temperature. Thank you very much!!! IMO coolant temperature (with consideration of ambient temperature) ist THE indicator for the performance of a certain watercooling setup. Making the fan RPM depending on the coolant temperature is only logical .

Motherboards Should include the 2 pin temperature sensor with documentation (which type of thermistor etc ) so we can control water temperature in a custom loop. The difference between the water temperature and ambient temperature should be used then to control water pump and fans spin.

Argus Monitor lets you set fan curves based on any number of sensors, so you can have a fan curve based on GPU and CPU temps. It's cheap software too.

53C! :O Danger zone. If I see mine get above 40C I have a minor heart attack! I know 60C is often considered the maximum temp for most coolant, but, no matter how pure it is (even plain distilled water), there'll always be isotopes that will boil at much lower temps. Moving from an AIO (H100i) to a custom loop, I'd been used to seeing the coolant temp and using it for the fan curve. I was surprised that coolant temp sensors weren't built-in somewhere with any of the usual suspects (blocks, pumps, reservoirs). I found a little Aqua Computing sensor that, while it's not as pretty as that Alphacool one, does the job nicely. I'm using a Commander Pro so it's all configured through iCue. If the coolant gets to 45C it's set to turn all LEDs red and all fans to full. Safe as houses ;)

More important to have a flow meter to tell if your pump is failing and your hardware will die.

You don't even need a G1/4 probe, you can tape a regular sensor to the side of a rad.

Honestly the sensor should be at the hottest part of the loop,, knowing how hot the water gets at max vs an average of the loop. Yes you can offset for cooler parts of the loop but its been the rule of thumb to place it at the warmest.

Let's hit 400k before new years!!

Great advice! My system has never been quieter!

Great vid. Never occurred to control fans like this, sadly my Gigabyte X570 ITX board doesn't have the connectors for the sensor. What's the best option if you don't have a motherboard that allows a sensor to be connected?

Amazing, I'm using similar ones in my build but take care to not let the coolant over 60 degrees(in Celsius) because some sealings can start leak in that temperature. If I know right the best if you keep your coolant around 40 degree celsius.

Don't buy a NZXT Kraken X63 for this exact reason. They removed fan control based on water temp unlike the previous model X62 which could do that just fine. Instead they moved this feature to the way more expensive Z63 model. Just a get Corsair H115i, which still has this feature.

If you don't want to do a custom loop, some Corsair AIO plug into the usb header and control fan curves and pump speed based on coolant temp from their Corsair Link program.

Nice loop, I'm building an ITX system as well but the M1(sadly) is not easy to obtain in the EU atm so I diverted to Sliger. They have a new line of cases (S620 & S610) that seem very competitive with the M1.

One thing, you should be putting the coolant sensor AFTER all the water blocks and before the radiator. This would give you the worst case reading and the actual temperature of the coolant you’re wanting to cool off. Placing it after a radiator gives you the temperature after it’s been cooled.

Bought my sensor for like 3 euros from AliExpress. Has worked flawlessly.

Please review and include a Ultitube d5 next pump + Aquacomputer software in your next one ! AND KEEP THEM COMING MY MAN! Regards from Sweden

I have an inline version from another company, its located just after water outlet port in the pump. water never goes above 23c. room temps 66-73. seen the water as low as 19c. just nice to know how cool the water is.

Few thoughts: Putting the sensor on the output side of your Rad only shows the efficiency of the Rad not the heat output of the cpu/gpu. The sensor would need to be on the input side of the Rad to see these temps. This would be a more accurate temp for fan curves. The best option would be to monitor both input and output of the Rad.

Gigabyte boards allow you to use your GPU temp for fan curves.

Aquacomputer D5 Next pumps come with sensors built in.

Even though I have water sensor installed, I still use Argus Monitor's CPU+GPU Max average temp to trigger my fan curve. That imo reacts better with surge of high temp of either unit and not annoying. Otherwise yes do that Ali lays out here. It works really well.

Might have to move to a custom loop just for this.

If I remember correctly speedfan will allow you to set two separate fan curves for cpu and gpu. If you look up how to set up the program it shoudn't be too hard but it can do a lot once you learn.

Great video, love the concept of using the Coolant Temp to regulate the system...! LOL, I got the notification for the new video while I was almost done watching the actual video...! What BIOS are you running for your C8I, and will you be getting a Bitspower monoblock for it...?!?

The NF-A12X25's are kind of hard to find, even in America. They are essentially being scalped. Paid $90 for just two of them a week ago.

You may want to check out the Alphacool Quadro fan/pump controller. The Aquasquite software bundled with it has automatic curve setting software for your loop. Thanks for doing another well produced video!

If I remember right, theres issue with coolant if it gets above like 60c or something. You might wanna setup the fans to 'emergency 100%' if it gets to 60C. Mine is set (not sff) for the fans to get to around 50% around 35c and then 'panic' at around 45c and go to 100% (I can hit 45c BARELY with synthetic bench marks on both cpu and gpu, prime 95 and furmark)

This is amazing insight!