Aqua Computer Aquaero Owners thread

Soldato
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I found that one of mine (GPU) was previously set as GPU core temp and needed re-setting to GPU core temp again after the update.
I'm more missing the temperature sensor in the res that was removed with no notice on a firmware update several updates ago.
 
Associate
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Hi All,

I have a Aquaero 5 LT USB and I would like to run my 5x Gamemax ARGB fans and EKWB cpu/gpu/res all ARGB from the Aquaero controller.
Could I do it with the following items?

Farbwerk 360 x1
Aqua computer adapter for RGB ( EAN: 4260473312376 ) x4
Aqua computer RGBpx connection cable 4cm x1
ARGB 2 into 1 splitter cable x4

I'm not sure if any of this would work any help and advise would be great.

Regards,
Martin
 
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I'm seriously contemplating getting an aquaero 6 (just the board as I don't have a front 3.5 inch slot on my lian li dynamic xl). The thing is I want to take advantage of all the temperature options, though im not sure how I'll go about doing this. I have or will have tomorrow a EK front distro board with a d5 pump and i'll be rebuilding my current hardline build, so how easy is it to actually set it up with the temp probes that come with the aquaero 6? I also at some poit would like an rgb controller - is there anything from aquaero that does this too? Any help is greatly appreciated.
 
Soldato
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Dead easy to set up probes. You ideally want some kapton tape which you can find at popular online auction sites. Use that to stick the probe wherever you need to monitor. I have one stuck to each SSD since I couldn't read the temps off them once they were RAIDed - you can now though. I've also got one stuck to my pump's heatsink since DDCs have been known to get toasty under certain loads. You can also use software sensors (read off hardware monitoring) but these only work when Windows is running and the service is alive and well. The hardware sensors will work regardless of the state of Windows.
If you have a particularly long run, you can get 2-pin extensions. In theory they can affect the accuracy since the extra lead introduces a little extra resistance but it's usually negligible or you can set an offset to compensate.
For RGB you can use a Farbwerk and this will talk to the Aquaero. A Farbwek 360 will do RGBpx but (and apologies to mrh2019) I have nothing that uses RGBpx so can tell you almost nothing about those.
The Quadro and Octo are also worth being aware of as they have temperature headers, fan headers and RGBpx headers - so they could handle all of your requirements in one.....or they may fall irritatingly short. The fan headers only support PWM on the Quadro/Octo whereas the Aquaero 6 supports PWM (4-pin) or voltage control (3-pin) on all four channels.
 
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Dead easy to set up probes. You ideally want some kapton tape which you can find at popular online auction sites. Use that to stick the probe wherever you need to monitor. I have one stuck to each SSD since I couldn't read the temps off them once they were RAIDed - you can now though. I've also got one stuck to my pump's heatsink since DDCs have been known to get toasty under certain loads. You can also use software sensors (read off hardware monitoring) but these only work when Windows is running and the service is alive and well. The hardware sensors will work regardless of the state of Windows.
If you have a particularly long run, you can get 2-pin extensions. In theory they can affect the accuracy since the extra lead introduces a little extra resistance but it's usually negligible or you can set an offset to compensate.
For RGB you can use a Farbwerk and this will talk to the Aquaero. A Farbwek 360 will do RGBpx but (and apologies to mrh2019) I have nothing that uses RGBpx so can tell you almost nothing about those.
The Quadro and Octo are also worth being aware of as they have temperature headers, fan headers and RGBpx headers - so they could handle all of your requirements in one.....or they may fall irritatingly short. The fan headers only support PWM on the Quadro/Octo whereas the Aquaero 6 supports PWM (4-pin) or voltage control (3-pin) on all four channels.
Wow - cheers for the comprehensive reply, Cenedd! I want to get my rig up and running as it's in bits at the moment, however, I'll def add some of your ideas to my build once I get the aquaero. Thanks again :)
 
Soldato
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No problem. If you have the setup for crimping pins or alternatively splicing two wires together and soldering them, I'd recommend you make up an internal to external USB lead to configure the Aquaero. Yes, it's possible to do it from the control panel (of you have a model with one) but it's a bit painful. If you take a USB lead, cut one end off and then solder each wire to one of the supplied internal USB wires, you'll end up with a rectangular USB plug on one end and a four-pin header on the other. You can then plug your Aquaero into a USB port on an existing PC or laptop so you can configure it before your build is ready. Not essential but handy....and means you get to play with it quicker.
 
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Soldato
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The Aquaero 5 has four channels for voltage-controlled fans. Just one of these supports PWM.
The Aquaero 6 supports more power per channel allowing things like pumps to be run off the channels and it also supports PWM on all four channels. Since the 5 is an older gen, it's price has declined relative to the newer 6.
The Quadro sits sort of between the two in a way. Four channels, PWM only. You'd have to check the power ratings per channel if those are relevant to you.
The Aquaero can also control other devices (eg a Farbwerk) and can be controlled in slave mode. I'm not sure if the Quadro can do that or not - haven't got one and haven't looked into it.
If you already have an Aquaero and you need only an additional fab channel, you could always look at a PowerAdjust standard since the Aquaero can handle the temperature curves for you. The Ultra version (which is a license key unlock if you do need it) is able to run a fan curve for itself.
 
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Has anyone played around with the Ambientpx stuff with either the Octo or Farbwerk360? I've been trying to get this working as advertised but I've run into a stumbling block which if one of our developers at work had given me as an answer, I'd have flipped out at!

Basically, if you install aquasuite as User A, then only user A will ever be able to use AmbientPx.
If you have multiple users on the machine then they will only get faint white lights instead of the full ambientpx option.
Aquacomputer's reason is that they can't run two copies of the AmbientPx helper so if another user, which I get, but I can only get it to run as the original user the software was installed by! Even if I do a full uninstall and clean re-install as user B, it only runs as User A!
 
Soldato
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Has anyone played around with the Ambientpx stuff with either the Octo or Farbwerk360? I've been trying to get this working as advertised but I've run into a stumbling block which if one of our developers at work had given me as an answer, I'd have flipped out at!

Basically, if you install aquasuite as User A, then only user A will ever be able to use AmbientPx.
If you have multiple users on the machine then they will only get faint white lights instead of the full ambientpx option.
Aquacomputer's reason is that they can't run two copies of the AmbientPx helper so if another user, which I get, but I can only get it to run as the original user the software was installed by! Even if I do a full uninstall and clean re-install as user B, it only runs as User A!

Seems like a pretty serious limitation. I'm all for their licenced suite; it's miles ahead of anything else. Buy tying the registration to a single account, rather than single computer, is crazy.

So if the Mrs logs in she can't have bright pink lights? Christz even the Commander Mini can do that, and they ditched it before it even worked properly.
 
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Seems like a pretty serious limitation. I'm all for their licenced suite; it's miles ahead of anything else. Buy tying the registration to a single account, rather than single computer, is crazy.

So if the Mrs logs in she can't have bright pink lights? Christz even the Commander Mini can do that, and they ditched it before it even worked properly.
It's not the registration that's the limitation, it's the way the software analyses the screen outputs. The helper doesn't seem to work unless you're the original person that installed the software. All other aspects of the Farbwerk stuff works, just not the AmbientPx
 
Soldato
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It's not the registration that's the limitation, it's the way the software analyses the screen outputs. The helper doesn't seem to work unless you're the original person that installed the software. All other aspects of the Farbwerk stuff works, just not the AmbientPx

Spoken to their tech support? Usually awesome.
 
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iv got the 6 LT and iv been loving it for years, however my recent rebuild suggests the water temps wrong, not massively but just seems to high, i could be wrong just does not feel right

vega temps show as 25 and 26
cpu temp 35-40
thats via various software and ryzen master
iv connected the mps high flow which shows water temps at 31c and external at 29c which is connected to another water sensor
iv added an external sensor sits outside the case which shows 25c
room temp is at 19c
i have another sensor on the water which goes to a controller which shows it as 27c
then i have another two open air sensors one on each side of the case, one will have the air from a rad hitting it, the other should match external temps
one is 25c for the air coming out of the rad, the one in the open air shows 26c

they simply dont match up, im trying to come up with a way calibrate them, looking for ideas?
they are all different sensors from various vendors and from different controllers etc
i assume thats why
i have a temp sensor gun which shows a few degrees different on those areas, though thats not unexpected but it does atleast confirm room temp is correct

atm im thinking of leaving the pc off for a few days and try and connect the LT to another pc, though its going to need a much longer 5pin usb cable to reach another machine
i cant seem to find one to buy, or an adaptor which would be easier to connect to a laptop to again set them all to ambient temps and go from there?
 
Soldato
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You can set an offset under Sensors > Temperature sensors > click on the sensor and change the offset on the right. This would allow you to bring the sensors in line but it assumes that they are accurate in scale - ie if you set an offset so they show the same at room temperature and then heat things up by 10°C that they all show a 10° rise and not 10 on one, 12 on another etc. There are different types of resistive sensor and it's based on what the resistance is at 25°C. If I remember correctly the Aqua Computer sensors are 10k ohms....but you can also get 5k or 15k and probably a selection of others.
One thing to bear in mind is that these thermistor type sensors aren't all that accurate so it's perfectly normal for them to read slightly different readings on the same object. You'd have to check whether offsets will fix that by checking what they are at room temp, setting the appropriate offsets and then warming things up and see if they agree.
 
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You can set an offset under Sensors > Temperature sensors > click on the sensor and change the offset on the right. This would allow you to bring the sensors in line but it assumes that they are accurate in scale - ie if you set an offset so they show the same at room temperature and then heat things up by 10°C that they all show a 10° rise and not 10 on one, 12 on another etc. There are different types of resistive sensor and it's based on what the resistance is at 25°C. If I remember correctly the Aqua Computer sensors are 10k ohms....but you can also get 5k or 15k and probably a selection of others.
One thing to bear in mind is that these thermistor type sensors aren't all that accurate so it's perfectly normal for them to read slightly different readings on the same object. You'd have to check whether offsets will fix that by checking what they are at room temp, setting the appropriate offsets and then warming things up and see if they agree.

thats the plan, though im hoping to do so with that pc turned off, so just fire up the controller and connect it to another pc via usb a or via another mobo connector if i have to, but id need a long cable to get away with it, struggling to find one at a decent price thats long enough to reach another pc
iv had a small play, but it means i have to just ignore the temps on the vega due to being so low, and just live with the fact the water temp seems so high, but im now only using aqua computer sensors on the water
 
Soldato
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How are either your crimping or soldering skills? If you have 2.54mm pitch dupont pins and a crimper, you can crimp those pins onto the wires after you cut the square B plug off a USB A-B cable. Alternatively, you can cut the B plug off that cable, cut one end off an internal USB cable and solder each wire together to join them. Either way, you end up with a rectangular USB 'A' plug on one end and an internal 5x1 header on the other. These are really useful for setting up with a laptop before you want power to the main board in a build.
Power to the Aquaero you can get by either external supply or by removing the ATX power connector from the motherboard and plugging it into an ATX jumper (or shorting it with a paperclip) so the PSU runs the Aquaero but not the motherboard. You'll also probably want to remove (temporarily) the GPU power and power to anything else you don't want warming up.
 
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i found a an old longer cable from an old case which let me reach a second pc

i left the room at a constant 24c overnight with just a psu from the other machine running the aquaero, the fans and one of the pumps to get the water to the same temp as the room
changed almost all of the sensors up and down a small amount, but the water sensors were off, 1 by over 2.5c
but thats at 24c

but now at idle im sat with
ambient 22.6
internal left case temp 25.2 (its being hit by the exhaust of a rad
water 26.7
vega 27

still think the vega is slightly too low, the backplate is at 26c, i would expect closer to 30c all at idle

but im happy now, thanks for the help
 
Soldato
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No problem. If you've got a sensor stuck to the Vega, it's only going to register the temp of the outer shell (assuming that's where you stuck it). If you want a more accurate reading of the core, you can do it as a software sensor. I'm assuming that AMD cards expose monitoring info in a similar way to Nvidia cards...but I don't think that's too unreasonable an assumption. The one thing to bear in mind with software sensors is that they only work when Windows is running and the Aqua Computer Service is running. So if, for example, Windows crashed, you wouldn't get a reading of the GPU temp as a software sensor; it would only display the fallback temperature (which defaults to 50°C but can be changed to what you want). On the other hand, if you're basing things like fan profiles and emergency shutdowns off hardware sensors (stick ons or sensors embedded in devices attached by Aquabus) then it'll run autonomously regardless of the state of Windows. I use a mix for making pretty displays but all the controllers (fan curves etc) are keyed to hardware sensors for that reason.
 
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