i thought id attach myself to this thread instead of making a new one, but what pump would be good for a setup where i plan on having the pump/fan/res in an external case?

i know height matters a bit in flow, but what will an extra 2-4ft of tubing do to the flow?

The eheim compact is a very weak pump. Only place Ive seen it actually recommened is a shuttle mini case. It definitely was never made to deal with that restrictive zalman setup. If I had to stab in the dark Id say 90% of the guys at silentpcreview.com's forums that say they watercool their computers use the zalman. If you go to their forums and the h2o subforum that thing is litered with people saying their pump is either rattling too loudly or is just dead. Someone made the pump external for some reason (no clue) and you'll see a lot of others replace it with an external 1048 or 1250. Eheims are good pumps. Can take a fair amount of abuse too. Can't judge all eheim pumps by their absolutely cheapest product...

edit-----

http://forums.silentpcreview.com/viewtopic.php?t=22570
Which makes sense. Zalman actually told people it would void the warranty if you put AF in the mix with a reserator.

why would that affect the performance of the pump?

I just don't see the "restriction" at Zalman has anything to do w/ the performance.

Regardless, bottom line, what can replace the Eheim for quietness, and equiv. performance and size?

The Swifttech looks very good but I don't think it'll fit.

well judging by the pics here http://www.pc-max.de/forum/article.php?&a=256&p=2
(in an article about converting a 600 to inline) if it is installed upside down then there is an airlock at the top of the chamber (i.e the bottom of the pump if it were the right way up) which i would have thought gives a real risk of cavitation....
http://www.pc-max.de/images/tests/eh...ine/800/04.jpg
http://www.pc-max.de/images/tests/eh...ine/800/05.jpg
the outlet would prevent this if it were upright.
given the way it is installed in a reservator
http://img.hexus.net/v2/cooling/wate...inside_big.jpg
i cannot see how you would avoid this - unless you inverted the whole reservator maybe... but i imagine that when full it's a bit heavy for that to be much fun...

The best effort I've seen with the compacts is http://www.alphacool.de/perl/shop.pl...130&art_kz=131

They really aren't inline pumps so a pump/res is the sensible way to go.

Their "flow indicator" all the screw fittings the block, take your pick...

Eheim 1048 is still widely accepted as the quietest pump. Seems like the CSP-MAG is giving it a good run though. silentpcreview forum'ers tended to side with the 1048 over the DDC. MCP655/D5 will be in the same area as the DDC.

James, the MAG is closer to Ehiem 1250 in performance, about equal to 1048 in noise.

Some say less, others more, demands on mounting more then anything else.

Still given it is an external pump application, you may want to go with AC, in which case 1048 will likely do you. It is hard to get ahold of a MAG, and you seem to need something ASAP.

Dave

http://www.systemcooling.com/images/.../image7big.jpg

For a better view, this is what it looks like enlarged. So the only 2 soln I can think of is:

-) buy 2 extra 300 locally, keep switching them under the 3 yr. warranty, during that time, hoping some other equvialent brand has a pump that fits and works

-) go external and find a quiet external that has the same ID tubing

can you guys give me a dB level on the 1048

I don't think you'll find a dB level, but, as long as it's not allowed to vibrate against something, you'll be hard pressed to find a pump that's more quiet.