Mini Test Report: Koolance COV-PMP450A

[skinnee]

Koolance COV-PMP450A
Laing D5 Pump Top




First off, I would like to thank Dean and Tim at Koolance for providing a production sample of the Koolance COV-PMP450A for testing purposes. Dean and Tim were generous enough to send along 2 sets of nozzles/fittings and some additional goodies. A big thank you goes out for their generosity and the opportunity to work with Koolance products.

For the full review, please visit skinnee labs



The Koolance COV-PMP450A is the Acetal version of the Original COV-PMP450A that was made out of aluminum. Aluminum is being removed from the Koolance line up thanks in part to the Liquid Cooling community's obsessant campaign to get all of the companies producing liquid cooling components to cease and desist. Koolance has been listening and is revising the majority of their product line, this is fantastic news for the Liquid Cooling community and I look forward to testing more Koolance products in the future.


The Koolance top fits the Laing D5, which is re-branded by Swiftech (MCP655) and Koolance (PMP450). This top is a full replacement for the stock top that we all have become used to on the D5. Aftermarket tops have become standard for the Laing DDC series, but the D5 is new territory, and I am happy to see Koolance as one of the companies leading the way and making tops for the extremely popular D5.







Fittings/Nozzles pictured are for size comparison only, not included with purchase.





Configuration Options















Performance Test Results (compiled)

For the full test report on each configuration, you will have to visit skinnee labs. These are the compiled results for all configurations, each configuration has a full test report.


















Conclusion

Overall the Koolance COV-PMP450A was an excellent test subject, with a variety of inlet and outlet configurations that all perform within a few percentage points of each other. Meaning, no matter what inlet/outlet combination you decide to use, you will maintain good overall performance. Another craving of D5 users has been the need to use fittings over the plastic barbs that are standard on the D5, these stock barbs are a pain to get tubing over and take tubing off, problem solved with the COV-PMP450A. The design and look of the top coincides very well with the original D5 motor, you will not need to hide the pump out of sight any longer. While the performance gains were not stellar, the Top Inlet/Top Outlet configuration had a gain across all speed settings and the gains were in the right area for a "real world" system. The only real gripe I have is the mounting method, the stock mounting bracket cannot be used and if you have already drilled holes in your case you will need to drill at least one more.

[Kayin]

excellent review! Nice to see the efforts of Koolance to clean up their reputation...

[afX]

hmmm so it seems the stock pump top is pretty much well designed, the only benefit i can see from these aftermarket tops for the d5's is being able to use your own fittings.

[Boogerlad]

is this the next martin? j/k nice job skinnee

[Bojamijams]

Good review but.. am I the only one that is drawing a diff conclusion here? The gains are even smaller then what the EK X-TOP Rev1 (have no data on rev2) did so this is the 3rd worst performing top out of 3. Cost wise, maybe its better.

[jollyjoker]

Thanks for the review.

[Pellepel]

Again great review, you're the man! Wow performance drop on setting 5 compared to stock...

[zlojack]

Good work Skinnee.

Good to see a nice versatile product for various mounting setups.

[MpG]

Good review but.. am I the only one that is drawing a diff conclusion here? The gains are even smaller then what the EK X-TOP Rev1 (have no data on rev2) did so this is the 3rd worst performing top out of 3. Cost wise, maybe its better.

The reason the DDC tops show such amazing gains is because the stock setup is factory-borked, especially on the inlet side. Whereas the D5 doesn't suffer from that problem, hence the smaller gains. It's like adding performance parts to an engine - an older, poorer-designed engines show better gains than the newer ones.

Still, well done on the testing. IIRC, Koolance's top for the DDC doesn't perform the same in all barb configurations, so it's good to know that this has a lot more flexibility without sacrificing performance.

[Aberration]

Correct me if I am wrong, but looking at the pics 5&6 you can see the 2 holes on the side. Would these not be used for the stock bracket? They dont appear to go all the way though. Or is it too wide for the stock? Its hard to tell when comparing to the DetroitAC.

[Utnorris]

Nice review.

[twwen2]

Good stuff Skinnee, the photos look great and the graphs are just like... you know who's.

Keep it up mate!

[antiacid]

[CENTER]Koolance COV-PMP450A
Laing D5 Pump Top

While the performance gains were not stellar

Err, sorry to be doing thread necromancy here but I was looking at d5 tops and stumbled on your reviews (which I'm assuming are still valid) and this particular sentence made me wonder wtf was going on, considering that this particular top shows a decrease of performance across the board.

In your comparison review of all 3 blocks, it's the only one who consistently performs under the stock option. I wanted to make sure I wasn't misreading the graphs so I went to check each individual block reviews and I just can't seem to understand why you say the following line in your PMP450A conclusion:

Dynamic Head Pressure gains were in the proper flow ranges for "real world" systems

The only "evidence" of that would be a 0.05psi increase after 1.5gpm at power setting 2... That's pretty much statistically insignificant anyway

So anyway, just wondering if you want to check over your data and see if you didn't mix up colors for the charts or something...

[bundymania]

That´s a really nice product ! I use it too.

[Eddy_EK]

The product is nice for sure, but all configuration are under stock pump configuration

Eh... forgot to say, the review is nice Skinnee! Waiting to get more pump tops, including dual DDC and dual D5

[Utnorris]

I have used it and it performs on par with the stock. It looks sweet, but after using them for awhile and also using the MCP355 with after market tops I got rid of my D5's and I will not be using them ever again. I just do not see the point when the DDC's perform better and are half the size.

[Church]

Utnorris: point = more quiet operation. Depends on personal preferences in each case. As to what is more important .. compact casing/better performance in most common restrictive loops because of high head pressure of DDCs and lesser power draw, or quieter operation and higher flow (in unrestrictive loops) with D5, though with bigger size, power draw, heat dissipation. I see another good point to D5s - their operating voltage range is wider then that of DDCs - easier to regulate speed by changing it in wide range then for DDCs, where minimum voltage is 8 volts, which is hard to get with using just voltages provided by molex pins (12/7/5/3) so usage of some rheobus/controller is prefered.

[skinnee]

The write-up was done after testing with 1 D5 and a Dwyer 470 Mark III, later retested using a different D5 (stronger performer too) and a Dwyer 490-3. Then tables and charts were updated but the text was not. The results from the retest are worse than stock, and this my conclusion is out of whack from the charts. Yup... the statements you sliced up are incorrect.

This pump top (COV-PMP450A) has been discontinued and replaced by the COV-RP450, so if one thing did come of this review it is that Koolance redesigned their D5 top.

Edit: Yes, more pump testing is coming soon as Eddy pointed out.

[the finisher]

Oh Goodie can't wait

Utnorris: point = more quiet operation. Depends on personal preferences in each case. As to what is more important .. compact casing/better performance in most common restrictive loops because of high head pressure of DDCs and lesser power draw, or quieter operation and higher flow (in unrestrictive loops) with D5, though with bigger size, power draw, heat dissipation. I see another good point to D5s - their operating voltage range is wider then that of DDCs - easier to regulate speed by changing it in wide range then for DDCs, where minimum voltage is 8 volts, which is hard to get with using just voltages provided by molex pins (12/7/5/3) so usage of some rheobus/controller is prefered.

Pretty much agree with all this. churchy, you getting PA160's from UK?

[Church]

Nope. I considered it at one point, but back then i couldn't found it anywhere sold so got impression that it's discontinued product. I'm gonna build my single loop arround 560 SR1 and in other case then i originally wanted to use 160 in, but who knows, when/if i'll ever extend eg. split loops/add more gpus, it's nice to hear that PA160 can be considered aswell from rad choice. It's often easier to fit rad a little bigger then 120.1, yet with heat dissipation area almost that of 120.2.

[the finisher]

Yes such as in the top of a Antec 1200(1) or CM ATCS 840 (2). At any rate, I'm glad I've found a way to get more if I want,[1 in stock w/more to come]
Considering getting 1 or 2 more, as these might not have much of a production life ahead of them.

[Church]

I thought about using two of PA160 when i considered Silverstone Fortress FT02 case with tripple 180 fans on bottom of case, as those seemed better fit to be used on them because of extra width/heat dissipation area then 2 separate 120 rads (one cannot use full length rad there as long gpus like 5970 separates that area in two). But since then i switched my plans to obsidian && SR1 560. But even there PA160 would be interesting addition in eg. bottom compartment if i'll ever run short of rad capability

[NKrader]

looks really good.. makes me wana get one for my second loop.. intstead of DDC with EK top :0