Liquid Flow Restriction

I use a Swiftech MCP50X pump with a FrozenQ 400mL cylindrical reservoir. The pump is powered by a direct SATA connection to an EVGA 1300G2 PSU and is controlled by an Aquacomputer Aquaero 6 XT. There is a previously calibrated in-line flow meter and a Dwyer 490 Series 1 wet-wet manometer to measure the pressure drop of the component being tested. Every component is connected to the manometer by the way of 1/2" x 3/4" tubing, compression fittings, and two T-fittings.


Given this is the first and likely only memory water block being tested, I sought to compare it to a few other things as well. For context, I have here an average for the other three primary categories that contribute to flow restriction in a typical custom loop - a CPU water block, GPU water block (for the NVIDIA GTX 1080, but this really does not matter), and triple 120 mm radiator. In what is no surprise, the higher the microfins on a waterblock, the more restrictive it is, so we see the XSPC Neo memory block here being less restrictive than a GPU or CPU block on average. In addition, the thinner tubes on a radiator end up more restrictive despite the higher number of parallel channels there compared to the eleven thicker channels here, and to where even a typical radiator ends up being slightly more restrictive as well. At a meager 0.18 PSI of pressure drop for the coolant at 1 GPM average flow, a memory block such as this one from XSPC is not really going impact your choice for a pump and can be added without affecting cooling performance.