Aqua Computer turboplex USB - departure into a new era?

Normally I would just post this into the Aqua Computer thread but I think it's to interesting to hide it from all other users

It is three years ago that the turboplex USB was handed in to the german patent office.

Download the patent document

It was a time where nobody was thinking about the combinaton of a cooling block with the pump. Aqua Computer entered absolute new ground. Such a product is technically very challenging because no vibrations should be audible.

Meanwhile some competitors like Intel or Coolermaster have similar solutions (after AC already got the patent), so Aqua Computer want to give you an insight in their development. The photo shows the level of development before approx. 2 years.

The capacity of the pump can reach 3 meters pressure head and the water rotates directly over the ground plate. The cooling capacity beats all available waterblocks with a passive design.

However, a soundless operation have not been achieved yet.

Just the question: how many audibility is acceptable?

I'm also very interested to hear this from the american side because here it seems that performance goes over noise.

Here's another shot at this thread, in the interest of keeping the masses happy and learning about an interesting product. As a gesture of good faith, lets try to keep the mods happy as well this time.

well, following what i said in the previous thread.

the figures that i would like to know, with regards to this block/pump, are:

- noise level as measured 30cm from the top of the pump housing, with coolant flowing through about 2m of tubing and a rad suited for 2x120mm fans.

- a full flow vs head curve

- the thermal resistance vs flow curve of the solution assuming a constant coolant temp of 25 C

if it can do better than about 0.055 C/W thermal resistance (CPU to coolant) at coolant flow rates consistent with running tubing and rad as above, with noise levels as low as 24 dba, i think you could very well have a winner.

It looks really cool!

The only thing that comes to mind is how much more effective is it really? To my mind, waterflow is waterflow so I guess I'm not understanding how waterflow from this pump is necessarily better than waterflow from any other pump.

Water rotating on the ground plate was mentioned, but again, I am wondering if this is any different than a block that is designed so that the waterpressure rotates inside of it. If you have a pump providing water pressure through a block it is not a passive block, its active, so the statement that this unit is better than any passive block is misleading. What difference does it make if the pump is on top of the block or somewhere in the loop, you have moving water and hence you have active cooling.

Again, I am just trying to understand the logic behind certain claims in the post.

WOW! thats GREAT for SFF machines and other small footprint projects, VERY interesting.

I can't wait to see if this will work in my Shuttle.

As far as sound, it shouldn't be much louder than an Aquastream....

It "looks" cool and if it measures up to other AC gear I'm sure it'll perform well also.

My only issue is the same reason I don't own a TV/DVD combo. If the TV burns up I'm not likely to keep the unit sitting around to play DVDs on another set. I can only assume this thing is going to be near the price of a CPU-WB + Pump, if the pump fails I have to replace it *and* the WB?

Also, I don't understand, I thought pumps created a small amount of both ambient heat as well as in-coolant heat. I always pumped coolant into a radiator before it made it to the WB to compensate for any heat picked up from the pump itself.

I'm no hydo-dynamic expert or anything... is the point of it to have the max head pressure right at the block? I've heard description of water "spraying" over cooling surfaces, etc... is that the point?

What's the heat transfer layer look like? Is it pins, waves, fins, paths, etc?

Shoggy said:

The capacity of the pump can reach 3 meters pressure head and the water rotates directly over the ground plate. The cooling capacity beats all available waterblocks with a passive design.

Click to expand...

I don't understand that line. I think I'm missing something... so it cools better than a passive HSU, or it beats all available watercooling solutions using active radiators and only requires a passive radiator? If it has a pump I wouldn't call it passive.

Shoggy said:

Just the question: how many audibility is acceptable?

Click to expand...

I'd say if I can get great cooling with one or two 120mm fans cranked down to 5-7v, then I'm happy.

I'd love to see it hit the US market. If I hear good things about it I'd love to give it a go in the Shuttle build I'm planning next, otherwise I think I'd prefer to stick with seperate (low profile) components.

i'm pretty sure that the advantage of including the pump in the block itself is to take advantage of turbulence created around the moving impeller blades.

normally, because of water's natural tendancy to stick to surfaces, there's a thin layer of water in contact with the block that remains largely stagnent. heat moves really easily through the metal of the block, and heat moves at the speed of the water through most of the loop. the place where you get a lot of temperature differential is at the surface where water and metal meet, because heat moves slowly through that stagnent layer of water. all of the fancy shapes that people use in waterblock internals are there to both increase surface area and swirl up the water and minimize the thickness of that stagnent layer.

this would be why it can be termed an "active" waterblock, since the turbulence is generated directly by the movement of the pump impeller, right next to the wet side of the base plate, rather than using a change in flow path to induce turbulence in a stream of flowing water as is done with a conventional waterblock. normal waterblocks would then be termed "passive" since they don't have moving parts.

as for how much heat the pump dumps into coolant and the importance of rad placement.......we high flow people have been saying that cooling order doesn't matter for some time now. yeah, yeah.....lower flow rates in A-C gear means a larger difference from the "cool" parts of the loop to the "warm" parts, but i don't think it's something you would even be able to measure.

once again.....i'd like to see this thing's stats. it looks interesting. if it works as well as the hype, this is an A-C product that i might consider owning.......IF it works as well as they say, and they get the numbers out there to prove it.

This is definately interesting. It's something that I would consider for the HTPC. Like the others though, I'd want to see some numbers on how well it cools and how loud it is. I don't think it would take off too well for the mid or full size PC but in the SFF area it might very well become king if the numbers are right.

If the pump is like the Aquastream as far as sound goes, then it will be close to silent. I for one dont care about a silent PC, but that is just me. I like AC gear because of the quality and the looks. If it was just about OC'ing, then we would all go to phase-change, peltiers or something exotic. As I have stated many times, people buy what they want, not what they need. I guess what strikes me the most about the low flow-high flow debate is that no review or comparison shows a real "race-horse". Seriously, are there any reviews that show American products stomping German products? If there are I have not seen them. Its like comparing a Ford GT to a Ferrari F430 or a Porsche Turbo to a Corvette Z06. In the end they all do what they are designed to do, some cost more, but they all get the job done. The same can be said for H2O cooling, for the most part they all get the job done. While there are those that do not like AC gear, which I totally understand, you must admit that they are pushing the envelope and they are definately passionate about what they do. They have a mission and a vision, which is great for those us that enjoy this hobby. Having said all that, it is time for another Scotch!

Here is the link to the AC forum where this is also being discussed. Stephan Willie (AC Big Cheese) has stated that the pic as orginally shown is about two years old. They "may release" this device later this year is the only information they seem willing to give out at this point in time. For those who want to register at the AC Forum there are directions in English on the first page of The new Aqua Computer discussion thread.

As an aside they seem to be thinking of releasing a new Hipersys device mid 2006. For those who don't recall, this is a very high end EXOS style stand alone watercooling device. I expect to see the Aquabox and an Aquaero LT mated to it.

A Delrin(Acetal)/Acrylic version would ROCK! Eversince I heard of cu/al corrosion horrors around the [H]forums, I'm abit skeptic on the whole AC setup especially if you would account on their high price markup as well...

How can we have a no aluminum loop with AC products?

Sound? Well, as long as it's not much more then a MCP350, I'd buy one for my shuttle that I'm planning as a file server. It would sure beet having to find a pace for a separate pump in the thing.