I need help with a German res.

[Deviant]

Is there anyone that knows if http://www.aqua-computer.de ships to North America?

I want that beautiful reservoir Ausgleichsbehälter aquatube

I figured that a 10mm fittings is a 3/8" one. Problem is that my system is all 1/2" so I would need to replace the fittings on the res.

I was looking at 1/4" MIP brass pump fittings adaptor to replace them but I have no idea if that would fit...
http://www.criticool.com/7fittings.html

I could really use your help with this....thanks. Any ideas?

[lukasz70]

sorry cant help you



that site blows away just about every watercooling store online. really sweet parts, and that hdd cooler looks amazing!

[Deviant]

Thanks anyway lukasz! np. I ended up searching other forums and found that we are not alone.....basically they don't ship outside Germany .... BUT I did find a store in the UK that is a reseller of them....and YES they do ship internationaly! I'm getting me that German beauty! Expensive yes but beats the hell out of a DD res....lol

[lukasz70]

DD, whats that?

i think its hard to compare anything to the designs and detail in the things on that site, i mean how many sites that make their stuff actually have the name (exludeing swiftechs bulky engraving) and the "Made in...." on the product,

but these goodies do come at a price.

[Blackeagle]

Could you post a link to that British site that has thier products please.

[Deviant]

Originally posted by Blackeagle
I'd try just sending them a e-mail first off. Many germans speak english, bet you'd get a response. I'd be very surprised to find that a guy(s) running a site didn't have at least one that is fluent in english.

One guy speaks english but they are already overwelmed with the demand in Europe and they don't ship in Nort America. So I'm bypassing them and I'm getting some of their stuff from one of their reseller in the UK.

DD=Danger Den

[koslov]

Is "Ausgleichsbehälter aquatube" German for overpriced jug?

Just realize this before you go throwing all that money away: It's nothing more than a souped-up jug that has a window and barbs. Really, what does a reservoir do? It's not a "tank" to store cool water in... just having that much more water will not impact your temperatures at any reasonable flow rate. The way I see it, all a res is for is to trap air bubbles. You can also use it for filling and draining, but you don't even need a res for that either. If you are going for looks, one can be made that's just as good from some acrylic. If you need it for pure utility, then a PVC pipe is good as anything.

Obviously, if you are looking at stuff like that, you belong in the former category. You don't need any more tools than a hacksaw, drill, and acrylic glue to make a good-looking res. Hell, you can even add an LED to it if you want.

Just gets me worked up when people spend so much time and effort trying to buy overpriced stuff that they could easily make. I'm not trying to insult you, just trying to help you save some dough. Less than a year ago, I was new to the WC scene myself and probably would have squandered my cash on the same crap. But now I realize there is a lot more to cooling than fancy reservoirs and shiny things with LEDs.

[Deviant]

Originally posted by koslov
Is "Ausgleichsbehälter aquatube" German for overpriced jug?

Just realize this before you go throwing all that money away: It's nothing more than a souped-up jug that has a window and barbs. Really, what does a reservoir do? It's not a "tank" to store cool water in... just having that much more water will not impact your temperatures at any reasonable flow rate. The way I see it, all a res is for is to trap air bubbles. You can also use it for filling and draining, but you don't even need a res for that either. If you are going for looks, one can be made that's just as good from some acrylic. If you need it for pure utility, then a PVC pipe is good as anything.

Obviously, if you are looking at stuff like that, you belong in the former category. You don't need any more tools than a hacksaw, drill, and acrylic glue to make a good-looking res. Hell, you can even add an LED to it if you want.

Just gets me worked up when people spend so much time and effort trying to buy overpriced stuff that they could easily make. I'm not trying to insult you, just trying to help you save some dough. Less than a year ago, I was new to the WC scene myself and probably would have squandered my cash on the same crap. But now I realize there is a lot more to cooling than fancy reservoirs and shiny things with LEDs.

I totally respect your opinion and appreciate your concern. Is it overpriced? yes. I totally agree with you. You have to understand that I own a modding store and that looks are real important to me (and my customers).

Watercooling for me is to reduce noise and have a nice look. For others like you it's about pushing the limit of your CPU and that's fine too. I like and appreciate quality parts and there's no way that I can make a beautiful aluminum res crafted like that. Of course I could make an acrylic one.....I'm quite capable of that....I've been modding for a lot of years...I even make a living out of it! The point is that I don't want an acrylic one....

Yes a res is just a res....I could just use a T and that would do the job. But I'm not looking only for something functionnal. I'm looking for special beautiful pieces of work and that's what it is. We simply do not have the same goal...and it's perfectly ok.

[Deviant]

Well I just saw the dimension of it and it's way too small of a container. It's beautiful but too small....

[pippin88]

Why is it that all the european blocks and bits feature small diameter tubing?

[Blackeagle]

Because silent or at least near silent PCs are the goal. Thus low volume of circulation is fine as many have no intention of O/Cing anyway. Means smaller more silent pumps and low volt fans.

aaaaaaaaahhh the sound of silence. Also why you see so many of the EU sites carrying that sound matting that few carry elsewhere.

[Blackeagle]

Another site with some really cool water cooling equipment.

www.cool-case.org

Check out the hhd cooler there, very good looks and would no doubt do a good job as well. Blocks, res and just about everthing at this site has a really fine look to it.

[Deviant]

Originally posted by Blackeagle
Another site with some really cool water cooling equipment.

www.cool-case.org

Check out the hhd cooler there, very good looks and would no doubt do a good job as well. Blocks, res and just about everthing at this site has a really fine look to it.

Maybe the site is down but for me the link doesn't work...

[pippin88]

Originally posted by Blackeagle
Because silent or at least near silent PCs are the goal. Thus low volume of circulation is fine as many have no intention of O/Cing anyway. Means smaller more silent pumps and low volt fans.

aaaaaaaaahhh the sound of silence. Also why you see so many of the EU sites carrying that sound matting that few carry elsewhere.

Yet I can achieve very near silence with 1/2" tubing. Most of the time they have to scale down the pump outlets and inlets, like for example on the eheims.

I cant see how you can claim Europeans just want silence and not to overclock?

[Gerwin]

I don't see that it has anything to do with europeans wanting silence, not oc, but I see this: In a discussion on this forum some time ago, people still seemed to have wild theories about high waterflow equaling better cooling. Graphs and bars were presented, "proving" that higher flow gives a cooler cpu. But all these theories where untested, just theories. The irony of it is, that this discusion was initiated by someone who saw his temps rise after installing a bigger pump. It all turned out rather Hegelian, some trying to alter reality to make it match their theory. On this german aqua-computer site, there is a forum, on which a well educated technician has tested, not theorised, the relation between flowrate and cpu temperature. And, surprise surprise, between reasonable limits, there is no relation.
Point is: the heat capacity of water is so great, that at a reasonable flow, water doesn't even significantly heat up with one pass through a waterblock. In theory, a faster pass through the waterblock will heat up the water even less, but a faster pass through the radiator will also make it cool down less. The average temp of the water remains the same.
With 8mm watertubes, you can easily get enough waterflow to keep the cpu cool. If not, the waterblock is probably very inefficient in releasing its heat to the water. I have an Eheim 1046 pumping water through 8 mm tubing, a cpu block, a vidcard block, a norhbridge block, 2 harddisk blocks and through a passive radiator wich consist of 12 meter of copper tubes with a diameter of 10mm. My cpu, a p4 2GHz, runs at 30 C. That's why everybody in Europe runs 8mm tubing and those small barbs. Keeps your case tidy

[Deviant]

the link is http://www.cool-cases.org

[PaperPlate]

Here you go Dev! Wizard Designs ships the AC stuff outside of Europe. Rather pricey, all in British pounds so you have to use paypal or something like it (all explained on the page). They do not have a online order form, you have to email them.

I just ordered mine this week. Ordered the res, uv led, and the plate. Came to about $120! EKK! But I really liked the way it looks and money really wasn't an issue. Unreality (AKA "BitchSlap" in IRC) ordered his from there also not to long ago. You can rush delivery if you want, he did took a few days. I just shipped my standard, should be here in a few weeks. No big deal, but at least theres someone out there for us.

Edit: Noticed you already found the UK site after rereading post..blah! But at least now it's here for anyone else thats interested.

[Deviant]

Originally posted by PaperPlate
Here you go Dev! Wizard Designs ships the AC stuff outside of Europe. Rather pricey, all in British pounds so you have to use paypal or something like it (all explained on the page). They do not have a online order form, you have to email them.

I just ordered mine this week. Ordered the res, uv led, and the plate. Came to about $120! EKK! But I really liked the way it looks and money really wasn't an issue. Unreality (AKA "BitchSlap" in IRC) ordered his from there also not to long ago. You can rush delivery if you want, he did took a few days. I just shipped my standard, should be here in a few weeks. No big deal, but at least theres someone out there for us.

Edit: Noticed you already found the UK site after rereading post..blah! But at least now it's here for anyone else thats interested.

Thanks PaperPlate. The problem is that all my system is in 1/2" in. and the biggest fittings they have is 10mm = 3/8" so I'll end up restricting my waterflow. Also when you look carefully at the dimensions of the res witdh is 3.5" and height is 3". Don't you think it's rather small for a res? This can't hold much water in it....

[PaperPlate]

If you need to change the fittings on it to 5/8 or get some adapters, I believe Wizards carries some adapters to 12mm and 15mm (check under their parts list, I could be wrong).

3/8 will be fine for my set up luckily and the size of it shouldn't really matter, depends on what you're going for I guess...or I'm just retarded...

[Blackeagle]

Deviant,

Sorry about the link, a missing s can screw things up.
I hope the res offers what you are looking for in one of it's sizes.
Was that about the wildest looking hhd cooler you've ever seen?

Very pricy but some really cool looking stuff at that site.

Pipen88 & Gerwin,

Guess I could have worded that better. But my own impression from reading at a number of eu sites is that many are more interested in noise reduction that O/C. "MANY" not all. And prehaps my impression is wrong at that. The tidy case point that Gerwin made is a good one, and one I hadn't given much thought to.

As to larger pumps. When multiple blocks & or pelts are involved I do think they can lower temps. But would be interested in reading the results of that mans tests if you could post a link & it's in english. A even those like myself, who like the larger pumps have to admit that they only give diminishing returns for the added costs. Im many cases it isn't really cost effective at all, just a search for the extreme limits of water cooling.

[Gerwin]

Originally posted by Blackeagle
Deviant,

Pipen88 & Gerwin,

Guess I could have worded that better. But my own impression from reading at a number of eu sites is that many are more interested in noise reduction that O/C. "MANY" not all. And prehaps my impression is wrong at that. The tidy case point that Gerwin made is a good one, and one I hadn't given much thought to.

As to larger pumps. When multiple blocks & or pelts are involved I do think they can lower temps. But would be interested in reading the results of that mans tests if you could post a link & it's in english. A even those like myself, who like the larger pumps have to admit that they only give diminishing returns for the added costs. Im many cases it isn't really cost effective at all, just a search for the extreme limits of water cooling.

About the oc/quiet: I think you can get the impression that eus are more interested in quiet than in ocing because there are some major (well, relatively) manufacturers in Europe, mainly in Germany, that manufacture well designed, but rather expensive watercool equipment. The market for that kind of expensive stuff probably exists of people who are not so much tinkering with their computer to get that last Mhz out of it, but who want a quiet and trouble free computer. That's why they are willing to spend money on it to get tested and tried stuff that doesn't look like it's homemade. Ocers may be more inclined to do it all themselves, be creative and make their own waterblocks, and take some trouble for granted. Those (German) manufacturers also host messageboards that became communities for watercool enthousiasts, and we eus keep reffering to them on Procool and other message boards. But you know I don't like speculating without testing the conclusion afterwards, so about flowrate:
Unfortunately, this guy(Henrik Reimers), only writes in German, but I give you the link anyway, and I have attached the diagramm, and some explaination:
http://www.henrik-reimers.de/kuehlung
Reimers has a setup with a waterblock, three pumps that are switched to alter the flowrate. There is a measuring device in the loop (I wish he was my neighbour )to measure flow rate, and the water is kept at a steady temperature.
When varying the flowrate between 32l/h to 72l/h, the temperatures of the cpu vary no more than 1 C, the highest value not necessarily appearing at the highest flowrate. Given how hard it is to keep the watertemp steady and to measure cpu temps, he puts the variance down to the measuring, with which I must agree.
Later in his article, he does the same with a radiator, with the same results.
I also must agree with you that it can be just nice to do everything to get your flowrate up, and that those fat tubes look impressive in a case. But I rather keep my case tidy with narrow tubes, helping airflow and keep my temps down that way.

[pippin88]

But its also about block design then.

Many blocks see no difference with different flow rates.

Take Cathars as an example. He has stated that there is hardly (>1ºC) difference when using a Eheim 1048 (600lph 1.5H) or a 1250 (1200lph ?H).

Yet he could design a block that uses large pumps effectively.

I'd prefer to use 1/2" tubing as it allows for a better range of components, and optimisations, in my opinion. Different pumps, blocks, etc. easily.

[Gerwin]

Originally posted by pippin88
But its also about block design then.

Many blocks see no difference with different flow rates.

Take Cathars as an example. He has stated that there is hardly (>1ºC) difference when using a Eheim 1048 (600lph 1.5H) or a 1250 (1200lph ?H).

Yet he could design a block that uses large pumps effectively.

I guess you're right, I've never tested that. But wouldn't that just mean it's "not really good at low flow" ?

I'd prefer to use 1/2" tubing as it allows for a better range of components, and optimisations, in my opinion. Different pumps, blocks, etc. easily. [/b]

It's more down to that really: I can get everything I need and want for 8mm tubing, and it fits my small case, so I'll use that. But if it's really hard to get 8mm stuff, but you can get everything for 12 mm, and when you want to use car heatercores with big barbs, it's just a lot more practical to use 12 mm. And it certainly gives your pump an easier life because of the lower pressures. It's senseless to make an Eheim 1250 try to pump its full capacity through 8mm tubes. It would suffocate it and make it noisy, and even break down on the long run.

[pippin88]

Originally posted by Gerwin
I guess you're right, I've never tested that. But wouldn't that just mean it's "not really good at low flow" ?

No, exactly the opposite. Doubling the flow only sees a small gain. The block was designed for the pumps commonly used in our types of applications though. But has a design for a high pressure pump AFAIK.

[Blackeagle]

Gerwin,

It is possible to use a overly large pump that puts so much heat in the water that it overwhelms the rads ability to remove it to the point that the higher flows still result in higher temps.

But on the other hand, .53-1.2lpm are the other extreme as they are very low flows. That is clearly why he had temps of 48-49 C. Those are not real good air temps, and with water they are sad. The graph, if anything, proves the value of higher flows. If he was the carefull tester you say, why didn't he test at more and higher flow points? Had he also tested at say 2, 3 & 4lpm the benifit of higher flow rates (within sane levels) would have become very clear. And 2-4lpm flow is still modest. But 4lpm would have gotten his temps out of the high fortys, and down somewhere in the 30's if his rad was of any value at all.

If you go to this link you will find a testing article by Bill Adams on the proper testing of waterblocks (amoung others). His testing maintains very tight controls. Yet his conclusions on how high a flow rate is helpfull are very differant than the ones that graph would have you believe. Here is the link.

www.overclockers.com

I'm not looking for endless debate here. Just thought I'd offer a link showing the other side of the coin. And by a man who isn't a fan of extreme pump set ups. I do wish I could read german as I've seen enough referances and just pix at their sites to know there are some good things going on there.