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The original was posted on /r/watercooling by /u/-kriz- on 2023-08-25 03:25:28+00:00.
I’m putting together a new watercooled build and looking to control fan speeds based on water temp or temperature delta. Would also like to keep tabs on flow rate and fill level for peace of mind. I’ve been reading up on the various Aquacomputer products, but there’s a lot of them and I’m not confident that my understanding of them is accurate.
I know for sure I’ll be using a High Flow NEXT, 2 D5 PWM pumps in series, and 9 PWM fans.
I’m thinking of also having an additional inline temperature sensor, Aqualis XT reservoir (for the built-in fill sensor), and a few external temp sensors for monitoring ambient and maybe difference before/after some of the rads.
My current understanding is that I should be able to get the following things:
- Aquaero 6 LT
- High Flow NEXT
- Aqualis XT reservoir
- Inline temp sensor
- External temp sensors
- PWM splitter (Splitty9? QUADRO?)
- Some Aquabus Y splitters or Aquabus X4
And then:
- Connect the Aquaero to my mobo via internal USB header
- Connect the High Flow NEXT and Aqualis XT res to the Aquaero via Aquabus using Y or X4 splitter
- Use some combination of PWM connectors on the Aquabus and splitter for the 9 fans + 2 pumps
- Connect the inline and external temp sensors to the Aquaero, Aqualis, or High Flow NEXT depending on location
- Wire either the High Flow NEXT or Aquaero to the motherboard power switch for emergency shutdown
- Set up the fan curve, virtual sensors, alarms, etc. in Aquasuite
- Will that work? Am I missing anything?
- Is a QUADRO/OCTO the only way to get more than 4 distinct PWM signals into the Aquaero?If I group fans per radiator, that’s 3 PWM connections. The pumps will run at the same rate, but I’d like to monitor them separately. That’s 5 total PWM connections and the Aquaero only has 4. Considering the $50 difference, I think I’m better off using a Splitty9 to group 6 fans and a 3-way splitter for the other 3.
- Should I just go with an OCTO instead of the Aquaero?
I haven’t been able to find a good breakdown of what the exact limitations are of one vs. the other. The main reason I’m leaning Aquaero is because of this post which makes it sound like QUADRO/OCTO require the Aquasuite software to be running in order to use virtual sensors. However, I didn’t see any mention of that in the OCTO manual. 4. Is the Aqualis XT a good option?
Aquacomputer themselves seem to recommend their Ultitube line instead, but those don’t come with a built-in fill sensor. I know they sell separate sensors, but that’s another part to hook up to the loop and space near the res is limited. I guess the newer alternative is their LEAKSHIELD, but that by itself costs near half as much again as the Aqualis XT and I’m not really interested in the leak-prevention features.
That was a lot of writing 😫 If you made it this far, thanks! I appreciate it. If not,
TL;DR: Aquacomputer stuff is complicated and confusing and I’m tired and just want someone to tell me it’s all going to be ok.