Purchased Thermaltake Water 2.0 and confused

NudeDragon · **Purchased Thermaltake Water 2.0 and confused -** 08-06-2012, 15:41 | posts: 80

Hey guys I had previously purchased an Antec 620. But I didn't really like it because it was making annoying clicking sounds so got a Thermaltake water 2.0 performer.

My question is there are two connectors for it that go on the motherboard.

The first one is on the water block that goes on the CPU. The connector that goes into the motherboard is for 3 pins.

The second is a Y cable that both the fans go into (this unit has dual fans). The connector that goes into the motherboard is for 4 pins.

Now my question is...where does which go? Does the 4 pin for the fans go into the one marked CPU fan on the motherboard and the 3 pin on the ones marked chassis fan? Or vice versa?

Thank you. Also, if you guys can please explain why it would go in the way you say that would be great. It's a learning process for me so would really appreciate the knowledge

lehtv · 08-06-2012, 15:54 | posts: 3,087

4-pin connectors go to 4-pin headers, 3-pin connectors go to 3-pin headers. The CPU fan header should be 4-pin, chassis fan headers can come in both varieties.

On 4-pin cables, the fourth wire is for PWM which stands for Pulse Width Modulation. It's a method for dynamically adjusting fan speed without changing voltage.

The pump obviously doesn't need PWM, it just needs to draw power from a chassis fan header to operate.

Agent-A01 · 08-06-2012, 15:54 | posts: 5,625 | Location: USA

It doesnt really matter. The 4pin cpu is for pwm fans, meaning it will allow you to measure and control rpms.

lehtv · 08-06-2012, 15:55 | posts: 3,087

3-pin headers also allow you to measure RPM.

BlackZero · 08-06-2012, 17:49 | posts: 8,078 | Location: United Kingdom

Quote:

Originally Posted by NudeDragon

Hey guys I had previously purchased an Antec 620. But I didn't really like it because it was making annoying clicking sounds so got a Thermaltake water 2.0 performer.

My question is there are two connectors for it that go on the motherboard.

The first one is on the water block that goes on the CPU. The connector that goes into the motherboard is for 3 pins.

The second is a Y cable that both the fans go into (this unit has dual fans). The connector that goes into the motherboard is for 4 pins.

Now my question is...where does which go? Does the 4 pin for the fans go into the one marked CPU fan on the motherboard and the 3 pin on the ones marked chassis fan? Or vice versa?

Thank you. Also, if you guys can please explain why it would go in the way you say that would be great. It's a learning process for me so would really appreciate the knowledge

Plug the 4-pin into the 'cpu' fan header and the 3-pin into the 'power' fan header.

NudeDragon · 08-06-2012, 18:08 | posts: 80

Quote:

Originally Posted by BlackZero

Plug the 4-pin into the 'cpu' fan header and the 3-pin into the 'power' fan header.

I don't have a 'power' fan header.

Just CPU header, CPU optional header, and chassis headers 1-4. I'm guessing the chassis header would be okay then since that's what has been suggested?

BlackZero · 08-06-2012, 18:22 | posts: 8,078 | Location: United Kingdom

Quote:

Originally Posted by NudeDragon

I don't have a 'power' fan header.

Just CPU header, CPU optional header, and chassis headers 1-4. I'm guessing the chassis header would be okay then since that's what has been suggested?

The reason it's generally suggested to use the power header is because it always provides constant power, whereas on many boards the general motherboard headers might all be connected by a single or only a couple of bios setting entries.

The 3-pin cable is for the pump and this needs to be at max power always so my guess is the 'cpu optional' header might provide the same functionality. Otherwise if you use one of the other general board headers then you need to ensure it is set to max power; this might mean all other fans also must then run at max rpm.

NudeDragon · 08-06-2012, 19:11 | posts: 80

http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/Int...55/P8Z77V_PRO/

That's the motherboard if that helps =)

So in the end just connect the pump to the one marked CPU opt.

nhlkoho · 08-06-2012, 19:17 | posts: 3,868 | Location: Washington DC

Any of those should work. The 4th pin is for the PWM so by plugging the 3 pin connector into any of those plugs it should run at full power at all times. At least according to the motherboard manual.

BlackZero · 08-06-2012, 19:29 | posts: 8,078 | Location: United Kingdom

Quote:

Originally Posted by NudeDragon

http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/Int...55/P8Z77V_PRO/

That's the motherboard if that helps =)

So in the end just connect the pump to the one marked CPU opt.

I read through the board's manual and it seems cpu optional is the same as the the old power header as it's power setting can not be adjusted, this would be the preferred header for the 3 pin/pump.

It also seems that all the chassis headers are adjustable through the bios but it's probably better to save them for case fans.

NudeDragon · 08-06-2012, 19:39 | posts: 80

Great, thank you!

Also, it's normal for the pump to sort of I guess vibrate and hum? I think that's the best way to describe the sound it's making. The Kuhler I had was a clicking sort of sound but this one is more of a hum.

Everything is okay with it right?

BlackZero · 08-06-2012, 19:52 | posts: 8,078 | Location: United Kingdom

Yes pumps can react slightly differently and 'humming' is probably closer to how a pump should sound. You could confirm the fan is running at the suggested 2800 +/-150 RPM by checking in the bios/monitor section.

NudeDragon · 08-06-2012, 20:11 | posts: 80

Right now the BIOS shows the CPU fan at 1340-1350 and the CPU optional that the pump is in at 1420-1430

I took a pic of that area of the bios for you. Is that normal? Since you mentioned it should be at 2800 unless I misunderstood.

http://oi50.tinypic.com/28j8pp0.jpg

Also, that humming sound is pretty much nonexistent now.

BlackZero · 08-06-2012, 21:11 | posts: 8,078 | Location: United Kingdom

Yes according thermaltake the pmp should run at 2800rpm.

Quote:

Pump Motor speed : 2800+-150 RPM
Rated Voltage : 12V
Rated Current : 220mA

http://www.thermaltake.com/products-...?id=C_00001883

It's possible that the cpu and cpu optional fan header might share the same bios control, the fact that both are reading a similar rpm suggests this. I would try the 3 pin/pump header in one of the other chassis headers ensuring it's set to max/q-fan off.

NudeDragon · 08-06-2012, 22:05 | posts: 80

Okay I set q-fan off for chassis header 3 (which is what I just plugged it into and it's still around 1430.

I even turned it back on and set it so that it always stays at 100% but it was the same amount. I don't think it goes any higher? =/ Interesting thing is that if I do set fan control on it goes down to about 1000 RPM. Do you think the motor speed is rated wrong and it's about 1400 RPM?

PS: I decided to search around and a couple of other people are saying there's shows the same RPM as mine is.

Here is what he/she said.

"Hey, I came across this thread while searching to find out if anyone else had low pump RPM on their Water 2.0 Pro units; in speedfan mine shows up as around 1100 RPM (with all automatic BIOS fan control disabled). I also plugged the pump into a 4 pin molex connector using an adapter and like V3DT I noticed no difference in noise (and likely RPM as well). The cooler seems to be working fine; my i5 2500K at 4.3 Ghz only gets up to 59 C (and only on one core, the others are around 55C) when running IBT on maximum 5 times in a row.

Hopefully either the motor doesn't report speed correctly, or the pump specs are different than what Thermaltake say. Either way, both of our units seem to be working, and I can't really think of any reason a pump motor that is supposed to rotate at 2800 RPM would only rotate at 1100-1400 RPM with full voltage; motors are rather simple and if a motor was broken in some way as to halve the RPM you would think it would have other issues as well (which mine does not have)."

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Should I be worried?

BlackZero · 08-07-2012, 02:53 | posts: 8,078 | Location: United Kingdom

My next suggestion would be, as in the posts quoted, test the pump by using a light load application like a game, but one that uses all cores. I would also plug it back into the optional cpu header.

Once you're satisfied with temps in a game you can move on to testing with a heavier load like prime95 blend for e.g. Regarding the pump rpm, my corsair hydro unit runs at 1400rpm so it could just be that thermaltake used a different motor design on some units.

NudeDragon · 08-07-2012, 05:28 | posts: 80

So I did the stress test that you suggested. Running for about 2 hours and my temps were 50-55 celcius in a house that's about 80 degrees F.

Also, the Asus AI suite software is so terrible!

The Xpert fan control is really bad and doesn't adjust fan speeds properly at all. So what I did was uninstall it, go back into BIOS and set everything to automatic so the motherboard does it.

Since I did that my fans should run the way they were before I installed that software and let it auto tune everything correct? It didn't change anything permanently? Because I noticed that my CPU fan speed didn't increase at all during that entire stress test. So either the temps were low enough so it doesn't need to or it's not working correctly?

PS: Just one more thing. You know how in that picture I linked my chassis fan bars/speed in the bios were in red color instead of blue? Can you please explain what that means? Couldn't find anything in the manual. Thanks! Worried that could mean something bad.

BlackZero · *Last edited by BlackZero; 08-07-2012 at 08:49.*

The temps are spot on. Regarding asus AI suite; terrible, should never be used and there are much better alternatives like real temp, CPU-Z, etc. Also all changes to the motherboard should really be done from the bios/uefi for optimal results and to avoid software complications.

The low fan rpm during the stress test was indeed due to the relatively low temps, this of course would also depend on the choice of q-fan perimeters selected. In standard or silent q-fan mode; most 120mm fans with a 1400rpm max, at 55c, are going to sit at around 900-1000rpm and remain almost silent. You can adjust the fan ramp-up curve to be more aggressive by choosing the q-fan mode likely labeled as 'turbo'. Really no need though.

And the red colour is probably due to the fan rpm being lower than what was set as the fan rpm low-limit.

NudeDragon · 08-08-2012, 01:11 | posts: 80

So should I change the RPM low limit for those case fans so it doesn't show up as red? Or is it no big deal.

Also, since I uninstalled the AI suite and set the default fan settings in the motherboard everything is back to pre-AI suite right? Nothing permanent was changed because of that software?

BlackZero · 08-08-2012, 01:34 | posts: 8,078 | Location: United Kingdom

Yes, you can set the rpm ow limit to something like 200rpm just to avoid an potential boot up warnings or other bios scripts.

As far as the asus ai suite is concerned, once uninstalled it shouldn't be a problem but the asus ai suite software in the past did leave some leftovers/services that may need to be manually removed/stopped. This might not be the case with the latest version.

NudeDragon · 08-10-2012, 18:45 | posts: 80

Sorry for the late response have been really busy.

So I changed the RPM limit and the red is gone. Also, about the CPU block RPM not going to 2800 I decided to contact Thermaltake just to see and this is what they said thought you might be interested.

"Hello,
Thank you for contacting Thermaltake Customer Service. The reason why you are seeing a lower RPM reading is because of the design of the pump coinciding with the sensors of the motherboard. All motherboard fan headers are capable of reading single pulse signals for communication in order to monitor speed. The pump in the water 2.0 unit uses a dual pulse signal which means the motherboard will report the true RPM reading in half. So your pump is actually maxing out at 2860RPM if the reading is 1430RPM."

BlackZero · 08-10-2012, 23:29 | posts: 8,078 | Location: United Kingdom

Thanks for the update. Didn't know about the dual pulse signal. Hope it all works well now

NudeDragon · 08-11-2012, 01:38 | posts: 80

Everything is working perfectly

And thank you sooo very much for all the time you spent giving me info, knowledge, and help. I really, really appreciate it!

Jincuteguy · 09-12-2012, 05:47 | posts: 32 | Location: San Diego

Yea, I just got the Thermaltake Water 2.0 Performer today and installed it. And I also noticed the pump is only running at around 1400rpm, no matter which header on my board i plugged it into. I tried all of them, Chassis Fan, Assistant Fan, CPU Optional, CPU fan. All came out the same as 1400rpm. So I was gonna post a question here and ask about it.

Then I found this thread and the reply from Thermaltake. Glad the pump is running fine.