Dedicated Pump Header Question - Asus z170

[bigdogchris]

I have a 6600k in an Asus Z170A board, which includes a dedicated pump header. The AIO I'm using is a Nepton 140 XL. For the past two years I've had the pump plugged into the pump header and the single fan on the radiator plugged into the CPU fan header, along with two other case fans plugged into CHA fan headers.

I haven't had any issue with temps, normally around 55 degrees under full load with a mild 4.4 OC.

My question is, is there a better configuration for the fan plugs? I want to have something plugged into the CPU cooler fan because I would assume the system will not boot if nothing were plugged in. But is there a better choice to plug the pump than the dedicated slot? Also, should I move the cooling fan on the radiator to the CPU_OPT?

 

[VanGoghComplex]

First off, you're correct; most motherboards will not let you boot if they don't see an RPM coming in on the CPU_FAN header. Some motherboards will let you disable this protection, and some will let you make other fan headers prevent a boot with no tach signal. This varies by UEFI.

From a hardware protection standpoint, your pump spinning is far more important than your fan spinning. Your CPU is not likely to overheat immediately if your radiator fan is not spinning. Radiators are surprisingly good at cooling even with no airflow. It will run hot under load, but it'll approach TJMax very slowly and your machine's thermal protection features will have plenty of time to react.

If your pump isn't spinning, though, you're gonna hit throttling/shutdown temperatures very quickly. Given that AIO pumps are prone to this type of failure, I'd personally put the pump cable on your CPU_FAN header. You wanna know right away if your pump isn't working.

Dedicated watercooling pump headers are generally designed for standalone pumps found in custom loops, and have greater current delivery capacity than a fan header. Your AIO, however, is designed to be plugged into whatever fan header is handy; it doesn't need the extra current.

This is my personal preference, the reasons for which are stated above: AIO to CPU_FAN header, and radiator fan to CPU_OPT header. The CPU_OPT header will control the fan based on CPU temperature, but generally won't prevent the system from booting if there's nothing plugged in.