Question Kraken x63 with pwm or dc?

[SteveBeast]

Hey guys, I have the kraken x63 and a MSI z490 a pro mobo.
I connected the aio pump to CPU fan as mentioned in the manual. It is a 3 header cable.
I regulate my aio pump with nzxt cam because I have the nzxt rgb and fan controller.
So my question is, what should I do in the bios? Should I disable smart fan mode for the pump? And should I use pwm or DC? And does it even matter what I have set there, because I use the nzxt controller with cam? I've set the aio pump to fixed 75 percent in nzxt cam

 

[Paperdoc]

Do not disable Smart Mode. And set the CPU_FAN header to PWM Mode, although this should not matter. POWER for the pump and the rad fans all comes from the SATA connector from the pump multi-headed cable to a PSU SATA power output. CONTROL of all that is done entirely by CAM, using the cable from the pump to a mobo USB2 header for communication. The only function of the cable from pump to CPU_FAN header is to send the pump's speed signal to that header for monitoring.

 

[SteveBeast]

Ah ok I just thought I should disable smart fan mode because nzxt cam controls it all. But if you say I will enable smart fan mode and PWM in the bios. Ok and then I will control the rest with nzxt cam. thank you.
It's just weird since a few days theres always a red exclamation mark At the side of the pump and fan monitoring in nzxt cam, which says another program is trying to communicate. Do you know what that could mean?

 

[Paperdoc]

Do you have some utility running other than CAN that is using a USB port to communicate with other devices?

 

[SteveBeast]

I had mystic light with dragon center running to control rgb lightning of the case where I had the rgb lightning of the case connected to JRainbow1, but because it didnt work I closed it and disabled autostart. Other than that nothing.
Could it damage my components if I ignore this warning? Or how can I figure out what's causing this?
And my pump all of the sudden got louder, what could have caused that?
And one question, you said enable smart fan mode, but why?
I want my pump running at a constant speed, and nzxt cam is controlling my pump. So why would I want the bios settings to interfere? And btw the warning in nzxt cam is not from the bios, because I tried with smart fan control on and off

 

[SteveBeast]

Maybe because I can control the pump in the bios ? And also with smart fan mode? Maybe that's the utility which is running. And then I can use also cam. So maybe because it recognizes the bios settings and the cam? Can they interfere if I have different settings in the bios than in cam? And maybe that's why I get this warning?

 

[Paperdoc]

The Why? part mainly is my being cautious because the Kraken manual does NOT tell us exactly how it does some things, AND the mobo manual does not tell us all the things SmartFan does.

This could get complicated in details. SmartFan is the system built into the mobo BIOS (probably not a software utility loaded to run under Windows) that manipulates fan speeds to keep temperatures on target as measured at specific sensors. It also MAY be involved in actually counting the pulses in the fan speed signal lines to display fan speeds, although that function is not needed for fan control. So if you turn SmartFan off, I am not sure whether the BIOS will do the fan speed reading job. An important second function of the CPU_FAN header is to monitor the speed of its fan (in your case, of the Kraken PUMP) for FAILURE and generate a quick alarm and protective action. I expect this would be done whether or not SmartFan is Enabled, but I don't know. Now, CAM can tell you the Rad fan speeds AND the PUMP speed of its system. For sure the rad fan speeds it gets by a counter device built into the pump, which is where you plug in the rad fans. SOME such systems actually get the PUMP speed from the mobo CPU_FAN header since you plug a cable from the pump into that mobo header specifically to sent the pump's speed there for failure monitoring. But it is also possible that, just like the rad fan speeds, the Kraken system simply does its own pump speed measurement rather then get it from the mobo CPU_FAN header, and communicates that back to CAM via its USB data cable. The problem I saw is that we do not know exactly how the PUMP speed is being monitored, and whether that requires SmartFan to be Enabled.

Regarding CONTROL of the pump speed, we can get some info from the fact that the cable from it to the CPU_FAN header is a 3-pin type. Because of the differences in design between 3- and 4-pin fans, when a mobo fan header is set to use PWM Mode, it can NOT alter the speed of its fan, and the fan always runs full speed. So SOME AIO systems use this as the way to power their pump that they WANT to run full speed all the time. However, the Kraken X63 system provides all power for its Pump AND fans via a direct cable connection to a PSU SATA power output, and does NOT need ANY power for the pump from the CPU_FAN header. Fot this reason I suspect that the "cable" from the pump to the CPU_FAN header actually has only ONE wire that connects through Pin #3 (the speed line), and the Kraken system uses its own means to power and control its pump. HOWEVER, the manual does NOT say this clearly, so we are left to guess. So as a precaution I advised leave SmartFan Enabled, and set the CPU_FAN header to use PWM Mode.

 

[SteveBeast]

Ok or should I just stick the cable in pump header, or would that change nothing? Instead into the CPU header. So that I wouldn't have to worry about the bios settings?

And what would you say about this warning in nzxt cam, is this serious or can I ignore it? I dont know where it's coming from.

And then there is another question. Should I set the aio pump in nzxt cam configure for CPU or liquid temps? Liquid temps are mostly around 33 degrees Celsius.

And then all of the sudden my aio pump does a annoying sound, which wasnt there before, could that has been caused by this strange warning in nzxt cam or because of false fan bios settings?

And would you say it's good if I run my pump at constant 75 percent speed?

 

[Paperdoc]

I'd say follow the instructions for the Kraken X63 system. They say to plug the wire from the pump to the CPU_FAN header, not somewhere else. Most certainly the mobo system that monitors the CPU cooler for FAILURE depends on having a speed to check at that particular header. The CAM software also MAY rely on looking at that spot to read the pump speed.

I am not sure what is causing that warning message. Call Tech Support at NZXT and ask them.

I don't have a Kraken system, so I can't advise how to configure CAM.

 

[SteveBeast]

Ok thank you. Yes , I already reached out to nzxt , still waiting for a reply.
For the time being, I just leave smart fan control in bios on as you said ( I hope it does not interfere with cam, and both, bios and cam trying to control the pump), and pump speed on a constant 75 percent.

It's just weird that I can hear the pump now at 75 percent (not loud but noticeable) , and before I put my case to another spot there was no noise, only at 100 percent. But I was really careful when carrying the case to the other spot, and of course the PC was off, so it's weird.