H80i REALLY high temps on stock.

twera · 28 Feb 2013 at 20:12

Hi everyone,

I dont know what's going on - I've just installed my h80i and the temps idle around 38 Celsius. When I run prime95 for 5 seconds it shoots up to 100c and I quickly turn it off. I live in London, windows open - room pretty cold.. I dont know what else to do?

Blue160 · 28 Feb 2013 at 20:24

Well either it's faulty or you've not fitted it right

Take off and reseat the heatsink with fresh thermal grease. Make sure the fan and pump are both plugged in to the relevant headers and try again.

twera · 28 Feb 2013 at 20:26

which thermal grease is best?

Ill have to order tonight.

Blue160 · 28 Feb 2013 at 20:30

Lots of opinions on that! I use MX-2 because it's good and not too expensive. Others will have different ideas

CinderzFTW · 28 Feb 2013 at 20:46

i got some prolimatech for my 965 today and its pretty good

twera · 28 Feb 2013 at 21:21

No other opinions?

Blue160 · 28 Feb 2013 at 21:28

The quality of the thermal paste isn't really the issue here. Your cooler is either not on your CPU properly or the fan or pump aren't running or it's faulty. You need paste to reseat the cooler but don't get too worried about buying the absolute best stuff. Good thermal paste is only worth a couple of degrees, whereas your temperatures are tens of degrees out.

LtMatt · 28 Feb 2013 at 21:31

Your pump is most likely not making good contact with the cpu. You need to take it apart and refit. Check the backplate. Make sure the screws are all in place correctly. I had to put two little rubber washers that came with my bitfenix 120mm fans on each of the four backplate threads. This was because otherwise when i tightened the bolts to the backplate the backplate was loose.

twera · 28 Feb 2013 at 21:59

I did notice that when I screwed on the backplate it was loose a little, but when i tighten the cpu cooler on, the pump doesnt budge at all.. could it still be the back plate?

LtMatt · 1 Mar 2013 at 07:56

twera said:
I did notice that when I screwed on the backplate it was loose a little, but when i tighten the cpu cooler on, the pump doesnt budge at all.. could it still be the back plate?

The problem is if you do it corsairs way the threads from the backplate stick through the motherboard so when you tighten the bolts down there is a gap. If you push the washers there when you put the threads through the motherboard they cann't be seen or felt so when you screw the bolts in you get a much tigher fit. Doing it this way brought my temps down considerably as its a much tighter fit.

Let me show you in pictures what i mean.

In picture one we have the stock backplate thread.

In picture two we have how the thread sits on the motherboard at default.
As you can see the thread sticks through. This means that no matter how tight you get those bolts, you will never get as 100% efficient tight as the thread sticks out above the motherboard.

Picture 3 shows two washers being used. Note, i used rubber washers so that i could just add them on the top rather than put them underneath the stock plastic washer.

Picture 4 shows how it will look on the motherboard if you do this.

End result? You get a much closer and tighter fit on the pump and temps improve. Try it and report back.

twera · 1 Mar 2013 at 07:59

Cheers, I'll try this on the weekend. Can you suggest size of washers? I dont want to dissassemble to get the size

LtMatt · 1 Mar 2013 at 08:09

twera said:
Cheers, I'll try this on the weekend. Can you suggest size of washers? I dont want to dissassemble to get the size

I originally bought some M4 washers off of an auction site but to my shock they did not fit over the thread. The hole was too small, so be careful. If you go somewhere to buy them take the backplate with you so you can make sure they fit.

I actually got mine from some 120mm bitfenix spectre pro fans i bought from ocuk. They came with four rubber washers to reduce vibration. However you can probably buy them on an auction site or at your local hardware store. You need 8 in total, two on each thread.

I should really start a thread about this as i see so many people with this problem with the H80i/H100i getting higher temps than expected.

twera · 1 Mar 2013 at 12:21

Crap so you can't tell me the size?

Also how tight should I screw the Cpu on? Until I can't screw any tighter with my hands or use a screwdriver?

richardirv · 1 Mar 2013 at 12:31

I am no expert here but I would advise not adding washers.

Recently I installed a H60 2013 Edition and experienced the same loose backplate issue. Once the pump is tightened its fine and temps are great.

I think adding washers will add pressure when tightening the thumb screws up and increase the probability of them snapping if your not careful. I have heard people having these issues with the corsair mounts/screws are breaking because they are trying to tighten to much. Hand tight only is supposed to be sufficient.

This has been mentioned in several reviews of various Corsair hydro products if you have a search around.

It sounds like the pump isn't working to me, investigate your pump RPM in bios before attempting to modify the backplate. If its like the H60 the pump should read around 4600rpm.

Good Luck!

twera · 1 Mar 2013 at 13:08

How can I investigate in the bios? Where would I see that info in bios?

richardirv · 1 Mar 2013 at 13:12

There should be a Monitor menu in your BIOS. Its will display all RPM's from fans connected to the 3/4 pin headers on your motherboard. It may be called something else like Hardware Monitor. If your BIOS has an easy & advanced mode it will most likely be in the advanced area.

LtMatt · 1 Mar 2013 at 13:14

twera said:
Crap so you can't tell me the size?

Also how tight should I screw the Cpu on? Until I can't screw any tighter with my hands or use a screwdriver?

I can't sorry just try to guess from my picture of take the back plate with you.

richardirv said:
I am no expert here but I would advise not adding washers.

Recently I installed a H60 2013 Edition and experienced the same loose backplate issue. Once the pump is tightened its fine and temps are great.

I think adding washers will add pressure when tightening the thumb screws up and increase the probability of them snapping if your not careful. I have heard people having these issues with the corsair mounts/screws are breaking because they are trying to tighten to much. Hand tight only is supposed to be sufficient.

This has been mentioned in several reviews of various Corsair hydro products if you have a search around.

It sounds like the pump isn't working to me, investigate your pump RPM in bios before attempting to modify the backplate. If its like the H60 the pump should read around 4600rpm.

Good Luck!

Adding washer will not break it. All it means is you get a close fit to the motherboard as the threads will not come so far through. It improves temps dramatically.

twera · 1 Mar 2013 at 13:14

Richard, I did it the normal way and no lo luck with good temps. With the H80i I'm getting 40celcius, im in a cold room under 15degrees I would say. Radiator is cold to the touch. I can hear the pump when I boot up though.
On prime95 for literally 5 seconds, we are up to 90-100 degrees. Stock settings. Even with fans on extreme.
I dont know what else to try

I wish I knew people locally that could help me.

richardirv · 1 Mar 2013 at 13:18

If you add washers your just going to have to be careful and tighten up slowly. I can't hear my pump at all but I know its working only by the RPM.

twera · 1 Mar 2013 at 13:23

Ill try without washers this weekend, I'll take it off, clean with tim cleaner, apply a BB pellet sized amount of MX-4 and push on the block.

Hopefully that will make a change.