Flow sensor for Asus motherboard W_FLOW header

Chili195 · Feb 2, 2021

I am looking to add a flow meter/sensor to my loop more out of curiosity to see how my pump performs at different speeds.

My motherboard (Asus Crosshair VIII Dark Hero) has a three pin water flow sensor which would be ideal to use but I've had a look around but couldn't find any information about what sort of device I would need for this to work. I've come across a few water flow sensors that have an RPM output of sorts but I'm not sure if it's a simple case of plugging those in and getting a reading or whether something else would be required.

Here is the rest of my loop:

EK 150mm Res and D5 combo
Corsair DGX7 3080 FE block
EK Supremacy EVO CPU block
2 x EK 360mm radiators

Thanks

Avacado · Feb 2, 2021

Chili195 said:
I am looking to add a flow meter/sensor to my loop more out of curiosity to see how my pump performs at different speeds.

My motherboard (Asus Crosshair VIII Dark Hero) has a three pin water flow sensor which would be ideal to use but I've had a look around but couldn't find any information about what sort of device I would need for this to work. I've come across a few water flow sensors that have an RPM output of sorts but I'm not sure if it's a simple case of plugging those in and getting a reading or whether something else would be required.

Here is the rest of my loop:

EK 150mm Res and D5 combo
Corsair DGX7 3080 FE block
EK Supremacy EVO CPU block
2 x EK 360mm radiators

Thanks

Really depends on just what sensor you are going to use. If it is an LCD flow meter, such as the Bykski/Barrow variants, that 3 pin is purely for power. If it is the likes of an aquacomputer over aquabus type, then @InfoSeeker or @Shawnb99 or @JustinThyme would be able to help you better.

Chili195 · Feb 2, 2021

Avacado said:
Really depends on just what sensor you are going to use. If it is an LCD flow meter, such as the Bykski/Barrow variants, that 3 pin is purely for power. If it is the likes of an aquacomputer over aquabus type, then @InfoSeeker or @Shawnb99 or @JustinThyme would be able to help you better.

Thanks for the quick reply! Yes I should have specified that ideally I would not want one with a built in screen as I have a solid case so just the most basic flow sensor that can plug in to my motherboard to report the flow (unless I am misunderstanding the purpose of this header).

Avacado · Feb 2, 2021

Chili195 said:
Thanks for the quick reply! Yes I should have specified that ideally I would not want one with a built in screen as I have a solid case so just the most basic flow sensor that can plug in to my motherboard to report the flow (unless I am misunderstanding the purpose of this header).

These Aquacomputer G1/4" Flow Rate Sensor with USB and Aquabus Interfaces are among the best and most accurate you can purchase. I do not know personally if they will work with that particular header or work independently within the aquasuite software.

Avacado · Feb 2, 2021

It would appear that it should work, though I don't know about the independent W_In/W_out 2 pins. Though if all the 3 pin provides you with data wise is RPM, then it won't be what you are after.

BugFreak · Feb 2, 2021

I'm purely guessing here but could they be temperature in and temperature out. So one sensor before the CPU block and one after for example. My fish tank has sensors like that to monitor the water flowing into and out of a point. Definitely interested to hear from someone that knows for sure.

Shawnb99 · Feb 2, 2021

The old model Aquacomputer High Flow sensor is a 3 pin so it “should” work in your MB header.
The W in and out are temp headers.

Section31 · Feb 2, 2021

They should get the new aquacomputer next/highflow2 over the old one imo. Aquasuite figures more useful.

Shawnb99 · Feb 2, 2021

Section31 said:
They should get the new aquacomputer next/highflow2 over the old one imo. Aquasuite figures more useful.

Specially considering it comes with Aquasuite and the old one doesn’t

Chili195 · Feb 2, 2021

Thanks everyone for the suggestions.

Avacado said:
It would appear that it should work, though I don't know about the independent W_In/W_out 2 pins.

Those are just standard temperature sensors, so nothing special aside from how they are named.

I'm looking in to the Aquacomputer Next/Highflow2 and they look like exactly what I need. The High Flow 2 fits the bill but the Next is the one that comes with the USB compatiblity and Aquasite which looks like quite a handy piece of software. I'll wait for either to come into stock and will report back on how it works with the header.

Thanks for your help.

gengar · Feb 2, 2021

Section31 said:
They should get the new aquacomputer next/highflow2 over the old one imo. Aquasuite figures more useful.

Any USA retailers have this in stock yet? I e-mailed modmymods and they couldn't give an ETA.

Avacado · Feb 2, 2021

gengar said:
Any USA retailers have this in stock yet? I e-mailed modmymods and they couldn't give an ETA.

Can confirm that the MMM Next pre-order is relatively fast. I ordered one and got it 40 days later.

gengar · Feb 2, 2021

Avacado said:
Can confirm that the MMM Next pre-order is relatively fast. I ordered one and got it 40 days later.

Thanks, I'll just go with that.

Turgin · Feb 3, 2021

gengar said:
Thanks, I'll just go with that.

I'll second Avacado on this. I also pre-ordered mine from MMM and had it in hand faster than I expected. Still haven't installed it but I have it.

Section31 · Feb 3, 2021

gengar said:
Any USA retailers have this in stock yet? I e-mailed modmymods and they couldn't give an ETA.

Go with what avocado and them reccomended. Me and Shawnb99 ordered from Aquacomputer Direct and waited 2months and our shipping option no longer exists.

sultanofswing · Feb 3, 2021

I just tested my Aquacomputer High Flow USB sensor which uses the 3 pin aquabus and it does NOT work with my Rampage Extreme Encores W-Flow Header and as a matter of fact it looks like it may have killed the flow sensor.
I think I goofed up though because I still had the USB connection plugged into the Flow sensor. Bet that is what killed it, I have another sensor here I can test with though.

Shawnb99 · Feb 3, 2021

Section31 said:
Go with what avocado and them reccomended. Me and Shawnb99 ordered from Aquacomputer Direct and waited 2months and our shipping option no longer exists.

Considering the shipping option started at $45 euros I'm not sad to see it disappear.

Chili195 · Feb 3, 2021

sultanofswing said:
I just tested my Aquacomputer High Flow USB sensor which uses the 3 pin aquabus and it does NOT work with my Rampage Extreme Encores W-Flow Header and as a matter of fact it looks like it may have killed the flow sensor.
I think I goofed up though because I still had the USB connection plugged into the Flow sensor. Bet that is what killed it, I have another sensor here I can test with though.

Ouch, that is not encouraging news but thanks for letting me know. Pin 2 in the header seems to be for PWR so perhaps it is not just a purely passive header. The text for the new Next seems to indicate that this should work though, so I'll give that a go:

The signal output of the high flow NEXT is able to simulate the signals of the popular high flow sensor or to output a speed signal for mainboards (100 l/h correspond to 1000 RPM).

high flow NEXT - The next generation of flow sensors - English forum - Aqua Computer Forum

sultanofswing · Feb 3, 2021

Chili195 said:
Ouch, that is not encouraging news but thanks for letting me know. Pin 2 in the header seems to be for PWR so perhaps it is not just a purely passive header. The text for the new Next seems to indicate that this should work though, so I'll give that a go:

The signal output of the high flow NEXT is able to simulate the signals of the popular high flow sensor or to output a speed signal for mainboards (100 l/h correspond to 1000 RPM).

high flow NEXT - The next generation of flow sensors - English forum - Aqua Computer Forum

I think I goofed up is why it quit working. I still had the usb plugged in and that is probably what killed it. I ordered another one that will be here this weekend so I'll see what that does.

Chili195 · Aug 1, 2021

Just an update on this. I did end up getting a High Flow 2 from Aqua Computer. Plugged it into my loop and the temperature sensor in WATER_IN and the 3-pin flow connector into W_FLOW. The temperature works as expected. The good news with the flow sensor is that it does seem to work - at least it provides a measurement of some sort. The problem is there is no way to calibrate this - it is just using whatever ASUS's assumption is to convert whatever is reported into litres per hour.

With the pump on max it shows as 6l/minute in the BIOS, with a much more accurate figure to three decimals in HWInfo. Once the pump lowers to around 60%, the reading disappears so presumably it then drops below the minimum detection of 40l/hr at that point. The number seems a little low, but then the flow in my loop always felt low to me anyway hence wanting to measure it.

The lowest reported speed at the cutoff point is 2.208 litres per minute. So if the minimum of the High Flow 2 is 0..66 litres per minute that would suggest that the board is interpreting the figures at 2 litres per minute higher than the actual value at this base level (with possibly a higher deviation at higher speed).

Would be great if the measurement could be calibrated in the BIOS but at least it is useful for comparing relative differences in flow at different pump settings. I might get the Aquaero anyway down the line which hopefully should provide the accurate flow figures.

My loop by the way:

TechN AMD CPU block
Corsair XG7 3080 block
EK 150/D5 pump/res combo

Flow sensor for Asus motherboard W_FLOW header

Chili195

Avacado

Chili195

Avacado

Avacado

BugFreak

Shawnb99

Section31

Shawnb99

Chili195

gengar

Avacado

gengar

Turgin

Section31

sultanofswing

Shawnb99

Chili195

sultanofswing

Chili195

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