[Cathar]

Originally Posted by Chew_Toy

1. I would say low-flo would be pretty much anything with a pump under 3~4' head and maybe small tubes also.
2. System with pumps with 5' head and up and large tubes.

I see you included the pumps and tubing. What do we do then call, say, an Eheim 1046 system with 1/2" ID tubing and a low-resistance block and radiator pushing 1GPM, or perhaps a 1048 in the same system pushing over 1.5GPM?

Or for #2), what about, say an MCP600 with a high resistance block, fat tubing, and pushing just 0.5GPM?

I would say that when many people say "low-flow" what they are really trying to say is low-pumping pressure, or perhaps more rarely, moderate pumping pressure matched with restrictive tubing. To define it in terms of pumps and tubing is rather open-ended.

I was more hoping for specific flow rate ranges. How about the following?

< 3 LPM = low flow
3-6 LPM = moderate flow
> 6 LPM = hi flow

Originally Posted by Chew_Toy

3. Tubes 8mm and under.
4. Tubes 10mm and larger.

What about 6mm ID, or even 4mm ID, which are tiny even in comparison to 8mm ID? Like for flow-rates, I'm more tempted to have 3 categories, which also happen to align themselves with the above flow-rate ranges in terms of the tubing not playing a major factor in the system-wide resistance.

<8mm ID (< 5/16") = thin tubing
8-11mm ID (5/16" to 7/16") = moderately sized tubing
>11mm ID (>7/16") = fat tubing

Originally Posted by Chew_Toy

5. I dont think that any middle-ground should be avoided, since I feel both sides will overlap each other just because the tech is getting better and will see each side moving closer to the middle.
6. With the middle-ground I would say that would be systems that fit either mold and would be a win/loss for either.

To me its just like anything else in that things are very seldom black and white, there is usually a lot of grey area and its nothing to get upset over.

I believe that the middle areas should be defined, since they are areas of convergence and grey, and also to provide a clear distinction that everyone can agree upon when talking about hi/low flow, and thin/fat tubing. Such seems to have been the primary issue of contention for past debates where certain "low-flow" setups definitely crept up into the muddled grey-area between the two sides of the debate.

Personally I love the middle-grounds as defined above - they best reflect my own opinion on where water-cooling should be headed to deliver the best of all worlds.