Using Smaller Pumps for ITX Custom Loops: The Alpha Cool DC LT Pump

In recent videos, we've built and showcased several custom ITX water cooling loops using various pumps. Today, we're going to focus on another option that's particularly suitable for these tiny builds - the Alpha Cool DC LT pump. This smaller pump offers several benefits over traditional CPU pump blocks, making it an excellent choice for those who want to create a compact, full-custom water cooling loop in their ITX case.

One of the main advantages of using the DC LT pump is that it's a lot easier to obtain than larger pumps like DDC or D5 solutions. Additionally, this pump allows you to use any aftermarket CPU water block you prefer, which opens up a world of possibilities for customization and performance enhancement. Our goal in this article is to explore the benefits of using the DC LT pump, its features, and how it can be integrated into an ITX custom loop build.

To begin with, let's take a look at the parts required to set up a similar build. As you may know, creating a full-custom water cooling loop requires several components, including a pump, radiator, reservoir, tubing, fittings, and a CPU water block. The DC LT pump is an essential component of this system, and we'll be focusing on how it can be used in conjunction with other parts to create a highly efficient and compact loop.

We've recently purchased the Alpha Cool DC LT pump, which comes in two versions - a low-noise 2600 RPM model and a faster, but louder 3600 RPM model. Both pumps are powered by DC and have a relatively narrow RPM range. While the higher-speed model may seem appealing for its increased performance, we've found that it's actually quite loud and not recommended for use in most applications.

On the other hand, the 2600 RPM model is virtually silent and noticeably quieter than traditional CPU pump blocks like the LT Solid Pump Lock. We've put both pumps through extensive testing to determine their performance and noise levels, and our findings suggest that the DC LT 2600 is indeed the better choice for most applications.

The DC LT 2600 is technically identical to the LT Solo pump used in the Alpha Cool LT Solo, but its packaging appears to have a significant impact on its noise levels. The DC LT pump packaged in the I Station 40 reservoir is significantly quieter than the LT Solar CPU Pump Lock, even though both pumps are essentially the same. We're confident that this will be our go-to compact pump solution for ITX water cooling builds moving forward.

In addition to being quiet and highly customizable, the DC LT pump also offers several practical advantages over larger pumps like DDC or D5 solutions. For example, it's incredibly easy to fill and drain the reservoir, which makes maintenance a breeze. This also means that you can use any aftermarket CPU water block you prefer, including monoblocks, which will cool your motherboard's VRMs.

In our testing, we've found no measurable difference in performance between the DC LT 2600 and the LT Solar CPU Pump Lock when used with a single radiator loop. However, we did note that the DC LT pump does require some planning and careful consideration to ensure proper fitment in your build. You'll need to obtain the correct fittings, extenders, and possibly even rotary fittings to accommodate this smaller pump.

Overall, we're extremely pleased with the performance and quiet operation of the Alpha Cool DC LT pump. If you don't have space for a larger DDC or D5 pump, we highly recommend considering this compact solution for your ITX water cooling build. We've included links to further information on this topic in the description below.

As always, thank you for watching our video, and we'll see you all in the next one!

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enrecently we've built quite a few itx custom loops on the channel and one of the secret pieces of hardware that allows you to build a full custom water cooling loop in such a tiny case like this one is by using a smaller pump like the alpha cool lt solar that we've got in here if you need something more powerful take our dual radiator custom loop in the encase m1 for example you can still use a relatively small pump solution like the swiftech apogee drive 2 as opposed to another ddc or d5 solution somewhere in the case but today we're going to take a look at another option that you have for powering itx custom loops and that is alpha calls dc lt pump there are actually a few benefits of using this over the lte solid pump block that i'm using in my current rig the main ones being that the dc lt is a lot easier to get your hands on and also that you can now use whichever cpu water block that you want so we're going to be dropping this into my own compact machine in the t1 and let's first break down all the parts that you'll need to know if you want to do something similar and then we'll take a look at the performance so believe it or not this is the pump right here alpha calls dc lt gaming mouse on the left for a bit of a size reference and this should actually have no problem powering an itx custom loop with a single radiator of course you do need to fit the pump to something so that it can actually be connected to the rest of the loop and alpha will make a few different housings specifically for this this one here is the eye station solo top it's a relatively compact housing for the dc lt pump one inlet port one outlet and also a fill port all you need to do is remove the cover at the back install the pump and then you've got your super compact pump solution for your water cooled itx rig the housing that i'm using though is a bit slimmer it's called the eye station 40 dc lt reservoir but same basic idea this one connects directly to the back again creating this ultra compact pump solution also shout out to user fabio from smallformfactor.net he was the first one that i saw using this pump solution and he just so happens to be using the same case big props to him his build is absolutely unreal so with that background info out of the way let's get this tiny little pump installed and see how it performs so the pump installation went exactly to plan i installed it just in front of the graphics card which meant that i did have to remove the rgb lighting from the water block i also had to shift the power supply back a couple of centimeters something that i was not expecting to have to do and i did that with the included standoffs that come within the t1 kit and that was just to make room for the pump and the pump housing so with the loop all hooked up with the new pump it was time to fill the loop and i noticed that it was so much easier to fill the loop and get all the air out of the loop with this pump compared to the cpu pump block that i was using before getting all of the air out of the loop was a much simpler process and seeing as we are using a reservoir here although it is a very small one it does pour directly into the pump so filling the loop itself was also a much easier process this was always one of the harder parts on my previous water cooled builds accessing the port on the lt solar pump lock was always an extra point of consideration and usually quite difficult but the big question is how is the noise because after all smaller pumps are noisier than larger ddc or d5 pumps and i'll first note that there are actually two versions of the alpha cool dc lt pump a low noise 2600 rpm version and a faster and much louder 3600 rpm version both are powered by dc and have a fairly narrow rpm range i tested both and let's just say that you want to stay away from that faster 3600 rpm model it is very loud the 2600 rpm model on the other hand is virtually silent and noticeably quieter than the lt solid pump lock for some reason so it's safe to say that the 2600 rpm model is definitely the one to go for and it's the one that i'll be using in my personal rig for the foreseeable future now one thing to note alphacool do say that the dc lt 2600 is technically the same pump that they are using in the lt solo which i find a bit weird because although the performance is the same as far as i've measured the noise levels are a bit different in the lt solo it is at least audible it's by no means loud but as i've illustrated in previous videos you can at least hear it this one on the other hand you can't hear at all so although the pumps are the same how they are packaged probably has a big effect on how they sound and at least in my experience the dc lt when packaged in the i station 40 reservoir here is much much quieter regardless i'm confident that this will be my compact pump of choice for itx water cools builds moving forward granted that it stays in stock the dc lt 2600 is a much easier solution when it comes to filling and draining it's incredibly quiet and it also means that you can use whichever aftermarket cpu water block that you'd like for your build that also includes monoblocks which will also cool your motherboard's vrm granted you can find one for the board that you're using the cpu water block that i ended up using on there is alpha cools ice block xpx overall pretty happy with how it looks and there doesn't seem to be any measurable difference in performance from the lte solo that i was using previously same goes for gpu thermals when considering the new pump there's no measurable difference for this build between the dc lt 2600 versus the lt solar cpu pump lock and that would make total sense since they are the exact same pump so moving forward this is easily my favorite compact pump solution for tiny itx water cooled builds and for any single radiator sort of itx build out there this is definitely what i'd recommend if you don't have the space for a ddc or d5 pump ideally you would be using one of those larger pumps because they don't need to spin as fast to get the sort of same level of flow rate but i think we've clearly illustrated here that this thing is dead silent and the performance can be backed up and for those wondering how this performs to a ddc pump i have actually tested that previously and found no difference for a single radiator loop the only tricky part when it comes to the dc lt is whereas with the cpu pump lock it's pretty evident where it's going to go in your build you do have to do some planning with this solution so kind of plan ahead make sure you get the correct fittings the extenders and maybe a rotary fitting there as well but given just how small it is i don't think you're gonna have a problem fitting it into an itx build so i will leave some links down below in the description for those interested as always a huge thanks for watching and i will see you all in the next one\n"