i5 12600k too hot with Arctic Liquid Freezer II

Viinchh · 11 Apr 2022 at 04:35

Hello, I come here because I'm worried about the temperature of my i5 12600k, it fluctuates between 50 and 70°C at rest and goes up to 90° in the menu of a game until 100° in game. It is yet cooled by an Arctic Liquid Freezer II 240 ARGB. However, I followed the instructions to mount it with the lga1700 kit (I removed the plastic pump cover if asked haha), it is connected to CPU-FAN and JRAINBOW (the pump and the fans are connected on these models) on an MSI z690-A Pro motherboard and the drivers are up to date but impossible to know where the problem comes from:/

I hear sometimes, not always, noises like something tapping due to vibrations (see link below for audio) but I don't even know if it's from the watercooling.

Hoping to be able to find a solution to this rather annoying problem. And sorry for my English, I'm French. thank you, Vinch.

Link for the sound : https://soundcloud.com/vincedelaber...d&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing
Direct link for the screen : https://imgur.com/8YbDeQw
https://imgur.com/5PL52Xr
https://imgur.com/tdNsPWJ

Glanza · 11 Apr 2022 at 08:44

If your temps are that high it's not mounted correctly.

JRS · 11 Apr 2022 at 13:59

@Viinchh - l'air des ventilateurs du radiateur, est-il chaud? Si ce n'est pas le cas, je suis d'accord avec @Glanza que le bloc de refroidissement n'est pas monté correctement.

Viinchh · 11 Apr 2022 at 16:03

JRS said:
@Viinchh - l'air des ventilateurs du radiateur, est-il chaud? Si ce n'est pas le cas, je suis d'accord avec @Glanza que le bloc de refroidissement n'est pas monté correctement.

Yes the air is hot, but occasionally it is cold while the cpu is at 70°, is it because the liquid is not yet hot enough for the heat to be extracted from the fans or is it because I mounted it wrong I don't know :/ But what would I have done wrong in this case? 'Cause I feel like I did everything right

JRS · 11 Apr 2022 at 17:23

Viinchh said:
Yes the air is hot, but occasionally it is cold while the cpu is at 70°, is it because the liquid is not yet hot enough for the heat to be extracted from the fans or is it because I mounted it wrong I don't know :/ But what would I have done wrong in this case? 'Cause I feel like I did everything right

Le bloc de refroidissement, est-il resserré au maximum? Et avez-vous utilisé le matériau d'interface thermique fourni avec le refroidisseur ou en avez-vous utilisé un autre?

Viinchh · 11 Apr 2022 at 17:48

JRS said:
Le bloc de refroidissement, est-il resserré au maximum? Et avez-vous utilisé le matériau d'interface thermique fourni avec le refroidisseur ou en avez-vous utilisé un autre?

What do you call thermal interface materials, thermal paste? If so, I used the one supplied with the watercooling which was mx5. And yes I tightened well in the cross, little by little by hand until I couldn't anymore.

Haz123 · 11 Apr 2022 at 20:05

There are a few things that could be going wrong and causing the high temps.

1- Fan header not working and not sending correct power to the pump. Plug into a different fan header and check that header is set to PWM in the bios.

2- Incorrect mounting. If the above makes no difference take the block off and reattach it. You should not have to reapply the thermal paste , it will be ok to reuse it. This will allow you to see how the paste has spread and give you an idea of what sort of contact you are getting between the headspreader and the block. Make double and triple sure that you have used the correct mounting kit and done it correctly.
I have fitted a Arctic Liquid II and I was at first confused with the AM4 kit.

3- Faulty AIO. Every company sometimes sends out a dead product that does not work properly.

Yes your temps are too high but it is best to use a benchmark to test temps because you then have a standard test that is always the same. Cinebench or Prime95 will fully stress the cpu. Run one of these and check your clocks are up near 5ghz. If you are getting 100 degree temps and not hitting close to 4.5-5ghz all cores then there is a serious issue with your cooling.

Sorry I cannot advise in French.

Viinchh · 11 Apr 2022 at 21:12

Haz123 said:
There are a few things that could be going wrong and causing the high temps.

1- Fan header not working and not sending correct power to the pump. Plug into a different fan header and check that header is set to PWM in the bios.

2- Incorrect mounting. If the above makes no difference take the block off and reattach it. You should not have to reapply the thermal paste , it will be ok to reuse it. This will allow you to see how the paste has spread and give you an idea of what sort of contact you are getting between the headspreader and the block. Make double and triple sure that you have used the correct mounting kit and done it correctly.
I have fitted a Arctic Liquid II and I was at first confused with the AM4 kit.

3- Faulty AIO. Every company sometimes sends out a dead product that does not work properly.

Yes your temps are too high but it is best to use a benchmark to test temps because you then have a standard test that is always the same. Cinebench or Prime95 will fully stress the cpu. Run one of these and check your clocks are up near 5ghz. If you are getting 100 degree temps and not hitting close to 4.5-5ghz all cores then there is a serious issue with your cooling.

Sorry I cannot advise in French.

Hello, thank you for your response. Yes the fan header is of course PWM and the power does not seem to have any faults, the fans turn correctly even at 100%. Tomorrow I should receive mx4, so I will see if the application of the thermal paste was correct. I have also looked at the assembly for the lga1700 kit several times so I think and hope that is not it. And doing a bench on a product that gets too hot won't risk damaging it?

Viinchh · 11 Apr 2022 at 22:18

Haz123 said:
There are a few things that could be going wrong and causing the high temps.

1- Fan header not working and not sending correct power to the pump. Plug into a different fan header and check that header is set to PWM in the bios.

2- Incorrect mounting. If the above makes no difference take the block off and reattach it. You should not have to reapply the thermal paste , it will be ok to reuse it. This will allow you to see how the paste has spread and give you an idea of what sort of contact you are getting between the headspreader and the block. Make double and triple sure that you have used the correct mounting kit and done it correctly.
I have fitted a Arctic Liquid II and I was at first confused with the AM4 kit.

3- Faulty AIO. Every company sometimes sends out a dead product that does not work properly.

Yes your temps are too high but it is best to use a benchmark to test temps because you then have a standard test that is always the same. Cinebench or Prime95 will fully stress the cpu. Run one of these and check your clocks are up near 5ghz. If you are getting 100 degree temps and not hitting close to 4.5-5ghz all cores then there is a serious issue with your cooling.

Sorry I cannot advise in French.

Here is the result of the cinebench (I put the screens in link I don't know how to integrate them directly). I do not understand all these figures, I just notice that at rest, the cores are at 4888mhz and 3392mhz between 40 and 50° then during the test the cores were at 3700mhz and at 100° for a final score of 14557 points.

Screens : https://imgur.com/1Q8WAng
https://imgur.com/IBZXqcv
https://imgur.com/KtUmBx6

Haz123 · 11 Apr 2022 at 23:11

The score of 14557 is on the low side, you should be expecting 16k or over. This would indicate you are experiencing thermal throttling with the cpu protecting itself by lowering clocks. This is how cpus protect themselves and normally works very well but there has been issues with Alderlake sockets warping due to excess heat so I would say do not test too much until you have your temperatures under control.

I chose a random review to check for expected temps and they were using a 240mm AIO for cooling so is comparable to your system.

https://www.techspot.com/review/2354-intel-core-i5-12600k/

"When it comes to cooling, we've used the Corsair iCUE H115i Elite Capellix for our temperature results, rather than the bigger 360mm MSI model used to cool the 12700K and 12900K. Using this more modest 240mm AIO, the 12600K peaked at 71C for the package and 72C for the cores" - I copied the relevant text so you do not have to read the review.

As you can see your temps are way higher than expected. I would wait for the new thermal paste and remount the cooler.

Viinchh · 11 Apr 2022 at 23:17

Haz123 said:
The score of 14557 is on the low side, you should be expecting 16k or over. This would indicate you are experiencing thermal throttling with the cpu protecting itself by lowering clocks. This is how cpus protect themselves and normally works very well but there has been issues with Alderlake sockets warping due to excess heat so I would say do not test too much until you have your temperatures under control.

I chose a random review to check for expected temps and they were using a 240mm AIO for cooling so is comparable to your system.

https://www.techspot.com/review/2354-intel-core-i5-12600k/

"When it comes to cooling, we've used the Corsair iCUE H115i Elite Capellix for our temperature results, rather than the bigger 360mm MSI model used to cool the 12700K and 12900K. Using this more modest 240mm AIO, the 12600K peaked at 71C for the package and 72C for the cores" - I copied the relevant text so you do not have to read the review.

As you can see your temps are way higher than expected. I would wait for the new thermal paste and remount the cooler.

Thanks for the summary. Yes these temperatures are not normal for a watercooling of this quality. I asked someone who did tests with a 12600k, he went up to 75° max with a simple 50 euro cooler on a bench table. Even at rest my 40/60° are too high :/

SirConfused · 11 Apr 2022 at 23:18

The only other thing to have a look at is possibly the pump. If you take the cooler off and confirm the mounting is correct as you think then that's the only thing left to try.

Can you hear the pump running when the fans are running at a low rpm?

It isn't clear from the images you linked whether one of those fan headers is a pump rpm readout but that might be something to check if your aio has it.

Viinchh · 11 Apr 2022 at 23:20

SirConfused said:
La seule autre chose à examiner est peut-être la pompe. Si vous retirez la glacière et confirmez que le montage est correct comme vous le pensez, c'est la seule chose qu'il vous reste à essayer.

Entendez-vous la pompe fonctionner lorsque les ventilateurs tournent à bas régime ?

Uhhh I don't know what I should hear, apart from the sound of air blowing and the occasional strange noise I linked, nothing. But even at low revs I see the pump fan spinning.

Haz123 · 11 Apr 2022 at 23:28

Viinchh said:
Uhhh I don't know what I should hear, apart from the sound of air blowing and the occasional strange noise I linked, nothing. But even at low revs I see the pump fan spinning.

The fan you can see spinning in the middle of the block is nothing to do with the pump. That little fan is there to blow air over the VRMs and helps keep them cool. If you touch the tubes you should be able to feel a vibration as the water passes through them. If the pump is not working properly it would explain your temperatures.

I will go upstairs and check my system with an Artic Liquid freezer and see whether the pump rpm is available to be seen in the bios. I cannot do this till the morning because my son is busy playing on that pc at the moment.
You have done a good job hiding the wires and they cannot be seen on the picture, there is a connector of some sort if I remember correctly, is that still correctly connected properly?

Viinchh · 11 Apr 2022 at 23:49

Haz123 said:
The fan you can see spinning in the middle of the block is nothing to do with the pump. That little fan is there to blow air over the VRMs and helps keep them cool. If you touch the tubes you should be able to feel a vibration as the water passes through them. If the pump is not working properly it would explain your temperatures.

I will go upstairs and check my system with an Artic Liquid freezer and see whether the pump rpm is available to be seen in the bios. I cannot do this till the morning because my son is busy playing on that pc at the moment.
You have done a good job hiding the wires and they cannot be seen on the picture, there is a connector of some sort if I remember correctly, is that still correctly connected properly?

This is the work of Arctic, everything is connected, there are only two headers, one ARGB and the other which is connected to the pump and fans on CPU FAN. So, I removed the glass to touch the cables, I feel a slight vibration and one cable is cold, the other hot. On the other hand, I launched a game to hear the fans and I heard this...(see soundcloud link) it seems to come from the small fan at the level of the pump. Only at high rpm and not when it revs less.

Link Soundcloud : https://soundcloud.com/vincedelaber...d&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing

SirConfused · 12 Apr 2022 at 08:47

Viinchh said:
This is the work of Arctic, everything is connected, there are only two headers, one ARGB and the other which is connected to the pump and fans on CPU FAN. So, I removed the glass to touch the cables, I feel a slight vibration and one cable is cold, the other hot. On the other hand, I launched a game to hear the fans and I heard this...(see soundcloud link) it seems to come from the small fan at the level of the pump. Only at high rpm and not when it revs less.

If one is hot and the other is cold, that suggests the flow is incredibly low. If the pump is working properly they should both be about the same temperature as the loop will equilibriate so to me, that would suggest a pump issue.

Have you tried tilting the case in several different directions to make sure there's not an air pocket trapped in the block somehow? If that isn't it then I would be inclined to suggest getting an RMA set up.

Viinchh · 12 Apr 2022 at 19:41

Haz123 said:
The fan you can see spinning in the middle of the block is nothing to do with the pump. That little fan is there to blow air over the VRMs and helps keep them cool. If you touch the tubes you should be able to feel a vibration as the water passes through them. If the pump is not working properly it would explain your temperatures.

I will go upstairs and check my system with an Artic Liquid freezer and see whether the pump rpm is available to be seen in the bios. I cannot do this till the morning because my son is busy playing on that pc at the moment.
You have done a good job hiding the wires and they cannot be seen on the picture, there is a connector of some sort if I remember correctly, is that still correctly connected properly?

Below the screenshot from my thermal paste. I tilting the watercooling in different directions before putting it back together and I send a message to Arctic for RMA. But there seems to be little thermal paste, no? And should I remove the processor to see if it is bulging from the heat?

Screenshot : https://imgur.com/a/bYYFxVw

SirConfused · 12 Apr 2022 at 20:10

There's a little extra paste coming out the side of the cold plate on both sides so you're fine on coverage imo. From the spread it looks like you've got good mounting pressure too.

I'd be pretty confident in calling it an RMA job at this point, especially with your comment about one tube being hot and the other cold. That makes me think sketchy pump.

Haz123 · 12 Apr 2022 at 21:05

Looks like a good spread of thermal paste so the contact was good. I agree with SirConfused, pump doesnt seem to be working correctly so RMA the AIO.

Viinchh · 12 Apr 2022 at 21:47

SirConfused said:
There's a little extra paste coming out the side of the cold plate on both sides so you're fine on coverage imo. From the spread it looks like you've got good mounting pressure too.

I'd be pretty confident in calling it an RMA job at this point, especially with your comment about one tube being hot and the other cold. That makes me think sketchy pump.

Well, after moving the watercooling in several directions for the air bubbles and reapplying thermal paste.. update on Windows update and just with that the temperature rose to 90°.. I hope that Arctic answer quickly