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- When will backorder/pre-order Innovatek items arrive?

Check the Innovatek Stock Updates page for details.

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Why is the stock tubing/fittings only 8mm ID and why is this good? Isn't bigger better?

Innovatek designs all their water cooling gear to be most efficient using high pressure/low flow rate/narrow gauge, balanced perfectly with the Eheim 1046 and 8mm tubing. Consider that innovatek can out perform the competition using only 79 g/h! :-) Changing the balance too much can cause negative effects on the cooling performance such as causing back pressure. However, we have found that if more than one water block is used (like CPU + motherboard and/or video card) then there is a benefit to using a slightly higher flow rate pump like the Eheim 1048 (158 g/h) and the next size up fittings/tubing which is 10mm (3/8" ID, 1/2" OD tubing). The 10mm fittings and tubing can be found in our Water Cooling section and the 10mm fittings are only available in barbed-type.

Changing the stock 8mm (ID) fittings to the 10mm barbed fittings will allow you to use standard 3/8" ID tubing (1/2" OD is common), currently those are the largest metric fittings Innovatek offers.  If you can locate 1/4" BSP threaded fittings you could use any size...  (We're still searching for a source for them)

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It's a bypass plug to power on the pump without the rest of the PC.... It's a very useful tool when you want to fill your system (with distilled water and innovaProtect) after all components are installed.  It gives 12 V power to the pump - but not to the mainboard!  It's a "jumper/loop" connector that you connect directly onto the ATX PSU mainboard connector once pulled of the mainboard.

The steps: Shut PC off !!
a) Disconnect the ATX connector plug that goes from the PSU to the mainboard.
b) Attach the ATX-connector (jumper) from the kit onto the now open end coming from the PSU. now you are able to get power from the PSU to the 12 V pump but not to the mainboard. Your cpu will not heat up now as there is no power going to it while filling your system. Warning !! Don't run PSU WITHOUT any sort of unit attached to it like the pump or a fan for instance, to avoid your PSU condensators burning out !
c) Once your system is finished being filled, disconnect the ATX jumper plug from the PSU to the mainboard connector plug. 
d) Reconnect your PSU mainboard connector back on to the mainboard. Turn your computer on and your good to go.

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You could use the Graph-O-Matic Rev2.0  on the i875 Northbridge but the two-point spring clamping mechanism we've seen for the i875 don't offer a way to mount the Rev2 (or probably any waterblock) with a mechanical clamp.  You could however use Arctic Alumina Adhesive to attach it, and diluting this mixture with 50/50 Arctic Alumina Thermal Compound will slightly weaken the bond if you want to remove the waterblock later.

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Which is best and which you should get depends on your cooling demands. 

The dual 120mm fan version is very powerful and will offer better cooling performance over the single fan version because of the increased surface area. If you're overclocking and cooling more than one heat source such as CPU/GPU or running a MP system consider this one.  External case mounting recommended.

The single 120mm fan is perfect for the average overclocked system cooling a single heat source and even a GPU or Northbridge and its small enough for installation inside the PC case.  

The convection radiators are beautiful, huge, externally mounted, and intended for use where absolute silence is demanded. (they are passively cooled with no fans needed.)   These rads can easily handle one or two heat sources.  If you have very high ambient room temps consider forced air cooling.   

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Top end cooling power:  XX Flow
Midrange: Rev3 and 4
Midrange: X Flow
Midrange: Plex-o-Matic
Budget:    FlatFlow
Server:     FlatFlow XEON

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In our How-To Guides section

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You could if the fitting sizes match, but it's always best to use the Innovatek system as it was designed (as a system) for optimal performance. 

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There are some things that could be done to improve the performance of your innovatek system, such as:

Using a larger, more efficient radiator (like innovatek's Dual 120mm radiators) or a more powerful (i.e. louder) fan on your radiator will aide in shedding heat from the water. Be sure to have the fan pulling air through the radiator, preferably from air outside the case. 

InnovaProtect helps water release heat faster and of course guards against corrosion which will hamper performance in the long run.  A larger capacity tank (like the tank-o-matics) will allow the water longer time to cool before recirculating and heat has less impact on an increased water volume.  Innovatek has recently introduced a new high-end water block the XX Flow, and also the Rev4 (in stock now). 

As mentioned above under certain situations slightly increasing flow rate with the Eheim 1048, 10mm fittings and compatible tubing can also show some benefit.

If you'd like to talk more about this or have any questions we're here to help, feel free to let us know which parts you are using and we can go over the options.

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The Eheim 1046 DC powered pump is very efficient (we also carry the 1048 AC powered pump and DC pump controllers in our pumps section).   The 1048 nearly doubles the flow rate of the 1046 and is the highest flow rate we recommend for Innovatek's gear. 

The intake stem of the 1250 is too large for the plugon tanks.  The flow rate of the 1250 is much too high, back pressure would be a problem and would overflow the small tanks.  The standard 8mm or 10mm tubing is relatively narrow it would also not let you see the benefits of a higher flow rate than the 1046/1048 can deliver. Innovatek's water blocks and tanks are designed for optimum cooling using higher pressure, lower flow rate.

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Since there are many factors involved it's tough to say what kind of results you'll see with an MP setup or with CPU/GPU/Northbridge waterblocks.  Obviously cooling several heat sources will have an impact, more so if you use a second water block "in-parallel" (split lines using Y connectors), but you will see less difference running them "in-series" (looping from one block to another).  The same is true of adding in the North Bridge "in-series", but running the lines "in-parallel" would compound the performance hit.   See tips above

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The CMS Water Cooling Kit will easily installation in the Chieftec line of ATX cases which  includes co-brands like the X-Alien cases that we carry, Antec, Aspire, Raidmax, Chenming, Uneec and Thermaltake's XASER II ATX cases

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The packet is gummie candies compliments of Innovatek.  Do not dissolve these in your water cooling system, just your mouth!

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The first picture below shows the mounting bracket attached to the radiator in the upper left corner of the picture. It's an "L" bracket that uses three simple push-to-lock rivets to hold it to the radiator and another three to hold it to the PC case.  There are two sets of L brackets included for top and bottom (or left and right depending on orientation)  Just drill three holes in the case for each bracket's rivets, using the L bracket as a template to mark the holes makes it easy.

The next picture is an example of running the tubing through the PCI slot.  

To duplicate this you'll need the following items from our Fittings Section:
3 8mm inline elbow compression fittings
2 8mm threaded elbow compression fittings (Replace the rad's fittings with elbows)
also a length of 8mm ID tubing and PCI slot cover.

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It's an easy fix.  Just rotate the water block 90 degrees (either way) until the fittings are clear of the bracket.  You're orienting the block to the socket by the indent on the contact surface, like we've all been programmed to from previous CPU's.  The water block itself is multi-directional on the AMD64 CPU's.  The indentation on the edge of the water block's contact surface won't rest on the motherboard's ZIF socket since the AMD64's built-in heat spreader will keep the block elevated above the edge of the socket. 

The new HPPS 12v pumps reach a flow rate of 1.2 liters/min and have a head height of over 1.65 Meters @ about 2.5 Watts. For comparison a standard 1046 will be around 0.7 l per minute, and the 1048 has a pump height of about 1.5 Meters, a 1250 nearly reaches HPPS levels but requires roughly 28 Watts !!! This new HPPS pump also has automatic oscillation detection (smoothes out flow), automatic restart, gradual starting procedure to go easy on the spinning wheel -> prolonging their life as well, and pure 12 V electronics, no high AC/DC running through a system anymore making them highly reliable.

-> In simple words, this pump will outperform a 1048 anytime and features almost same rates as a 1250 by only using nearly a 10th of the Watts ......

Fact is that Innovatek water blocks only require a minimum of 0.3 liters/min to provide successful cooling. So reaching a value of 1.2 l/m like the HPPS pump is 4 times greater then actually needed and is a great rate. For example, we have a system running with a CPU and a GPU cooled using a HPPS pump and we are around 1.1 liters. The amount of l/hr is also pending on how many components are included in the system (closed system). Keep in mind the manufacturer's published pump rates only apply in a open system, like a pump in a pond or fish tank.

A note about pumps' published flow rates:

The values regarding l/hr or even gal/hr are totally irrelevant that you get officially from Eheim or any other pump manufacture. What's that mean ?

All those data numbers that are provided only reflect the turnover liter-rate of the pump if it where used as intended. All those numbers like 300l/hr would only apply if you were to take the pump as is and drop it in a fish tank/bucket/pond ..... In other words in a open system. Then and only then these numbers would be relevant. If the AC 1048/1250 pump were really better/more efficient/reliable Innovatek would have made them stock with their gear. Innovatek is the biggest Eheim- "dealer" worldwide (next to Eheim itself ! ;)

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The 12v to 7v fan power adaptor is included in the complete kits because Innovatek's tests have shown that there is an insignificant performance difference between running the fans at full 12v speed and at 7v speeds (less that 2C for the single 120mm rad and 1C for the dual 120mm rad), while giving you the advantage of significant reduction of noise! 

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