i7-4770k temp creep with AIO - solved, poorly cooler

[hughtrimble]

Hi Overclockers,

Is 56C when in BIOS too hot?

I've a non-overclocked i7-4770k that I've had along with a Corsair H100i for 8 years now.

After some recent issues with my system's stability I've taken the opportunity to apply fresh thermal paste (Arctic MX-4).

I never paid attention to the CPU temp before, but now I can see that when in BIOS, the CPU is sitting at around 56C.

The H100i appears to be working, fans spin, lights come on, pump can be felt, one water cooling pipe much warmer than the other etc.

Is this temperature normal for an i7-4770k with an AIO cooler? Any pointers would be much appreciated.

Edit: now solved, cooler wasn't cooling properly, so now removed and replaced.

 

[hughtrimble]

Delid will solve your problems.
Paste under the IHS must be completely dry.

Sounds drastic! Just had a look and I see there are now vice-like tools for this available from our hosts so I may resort to this if necessary.

I genuinely appreciate you suggesting this as I thought delidding was solely a hardcore overclocker thing. Sounds like it's actually a useful step on some older CPUs given the aging of the thermal paste within. Cheers!

 

[hughtrimble]

What is temp idle in OS?

I'll download some software and check (surprised Windows doesn't offer a basic check!)

 

[hughtrimble]

If your in bios that is hot for that generation of CPU with a AIO unless your running a huge overclock (if you are go back to defaults and see if temps drop). Also make sure it's mounted correctly.

Your last sentence made me go 'Of course I did. I remounted it three times already why would that be a problem.' and then I realised it was correct for when in the case, but it's currently FLAT as the mobo is outside of the case.

And going vertical as it would be in the case has the temp in BIOS at 40C. So I was being a clutz.

Thank you for the re-reminder to check!

However, the pump is now clicking quite a bit, presumably air bubbles. Hopefully they'll dissipate with time.

 

[hughtrimble]

It's not only intended for overclockers, but it lowers cpu temperatures about 12-15c at stock values.
I'm delided my old 8700k and 7700k with thermal grizzly conductonaut.

Try to borrow a delid tool from someone, there are also people who do it for money.

Our hosts do one for £15, and I think I might get free delivery? Makes sense to buy it at that price given postage to and from me plus someone else's packing and postal time. It's way cheaper here than on Amazon!

 

[hughtrimble]

I just delidded a Haswell the other day with one of the delid tools (cheapest one I could find). The tool and included razor blade made it ridiculously easy.
Definitely worth doing, but I'd also be thinking about moving off the H100 soon.

If the pump clicking continues, I may well do so as in my haste and assumption that it was the cooler's fault, I ordered a Noctua NH-U12A and it's now too late to cancel before it arrives!

I must admit that I've always been concerned by water-cooling. Any random shutdown and I open the case and check for fluid leaks! There's something less concerning about just air cooling.

The delid is a definite option. It's a complete waste that I've never overclocked this, and I may well do so to squeeze more life out of it. It's doing everything I need of it though, so I don't want to mess it up unnecessarily. I'll definitely end up trying it though.

 

[hughtrimble]

It makes me wonder what the condition of my Corsair H80 is after 12 years, inside. The pump still runs at 1400rpm and still seems to be holding temperatures ok. It's had a lot of use with a i7 3770K at 4.4Ghz.

It would be good if they let you check the fluid levels or to see the state of the fluid. It's a pity that a small blockage that could be fixed with a bit of careful cleaning could end up with the whole thing in landfill given their lack of user serviceability (though see almost all of the tech world for this same issue!).

Mine does appear to be doing fine though, it was me not paying attention to the mounting angle. Hopefully the clicking goes away, as it wasn't there before I removed everything.

 

[hughtrimble]

You could always undo the coldplate screws and top if up if needed. Gamers Nexus show plenty of AIO teardowns on youtube.

Not heard of that channel before, but I really like their style, cheers

 

[hughtrimble]

Check that the AIO is working. In particular check that the pump is working and check the level of fluid. The simplest way of doing the latter is to weigh the whole thing, which should weigh 1216g. If it weighs a lot less then fluid has leaked or evaporated.



That is not a good sign.

Do you know what parts are included in that weight? I know the kit has different types of screws depending on how you attach the rad and fans etc.

And it is definitely now in a bad way! Hit 100C in Windows.

 

[hughtrimble]

Update: whilst it was at 38-43C in BIOS, by the time I'd booted up Windows and downloaded some temp monitoring software, it was at 100C! This is not overclocked.

I'm glad I preemptively ordered an air cooler!

I'm surprised it didn't cut off. Shouldn't it do so?

 

[hughtrimble]

Another day another water cooling disaster. Its not a matter of if its gonna fail but when. H100 has track record of being unreliable. Whens last time someone posted on here saying their block of aluminium air cooler fell apart?
Water cooling was always a fad when it first came out and everyone was recommending it. Once some years went past and the pump failures and blockages started cropping up people jump back to air coolers having learnt their lesson.
You got 8 years out of and now have to spend more to replace it. Had it been an air cooler at most all you would need to do is replace the fan.

This is a very good point. Unless you get someone using liquid metal TIM on their ali block!

I went with AIO back then as it was my first self-'made' PC and thought it would be the quietest option, short of doing my own loop. Seems like actually Noctua's air coolers may be more effective and quieter, depending on the fan locations of the AIO.

Looking forward to seeing how the air cooler performs. I may still need to do the suggested delid anyway, if this cooler also doesn't keep things low enough.

 

[hughtrimble]

They just clock down to stay at 100c or less

Ah interesting, that would explain why it was going 100 then high 90s then 100 again.

I did set a warning in the BIOS for an alert if reaching over 80 but that doesn't appear to have had an effect.

 

[hughtrimble]

If you have access to a bench vice/vise it's a simple enough process to delid the CPU in preparation for the arrival of your new cooler.

It arrives today, so I'd like to try without delidding first, just to see if it's really necessary. I now understand it's a really quite simple process, but it's still a process that can go wrong! I'd rather avoid that step for the time being whilst I steadily test all the components again (this all started with random shutdowns that I think were caused by the mobo, but I'm checking all parts during the reinstall). I'll then delid once I can be sure all other parts are working as they should.

 

[hughtrimble]

I'd far rather have a decent Noctua tower cooler, like you've ordered. You'll probably find it's a lot quieter with it.

It is very quiet indeed, and so very cooling too. When I first turned it on I thought it was DOA because it was so quiet that I could only hear the PSU!

I also really, really like the way Noctua have done their instructions. They took a minute to completely get, but it's clear they're very particular about getting things right, and want you to be super careful too; much better than some other companies with quite loose instructions that can be rather open to interpretation.

It also came with a tube of their TIM, which I was not expecting! An added bonus.

 

[hughtrimble]

Best thing to do is power it up, and tilty wilty the pc to free all the air from the pump so that it flows to the highest point in the loop which should be the rad.

Thank you for the suggestion - unfortunately I already tried this repeatedly as I'd removed everything from the case, but to no avail. It did stop the clicking when I tapped on the rad, but returned after a few seconds.

I think it may be quite poorly given the lack of cooling it's been doing!

 

[hughtrimble]

Tis a sad day.

If you are looking for recommendations, I am currently using the Arctic Liquid Freezer II with my i7-4790k for the past good few years without any problems.

I have also used the Antec Kühler H2O 920, and continue to in my backup pc since 2012, without any problems at all.

Thank you for the recommendations - I've in fact already installed a Noctua NH-U12A which arrived yesterday, and it's performing admirably thus far. This episode with the AIO was the final push to go to air cooling - do not get me wrong, this Corsair one has done very well the past 8 years, it's been doing exactly what it was supposed to. I just always had a niggling concern that it would leak onto my GPU, so whenever I heard a trickling sound from it, I immediately got into the PC case to check! Of course, it never did do so, but I think I like the peace of mind of there being no possibility of an internal component leaking onto something else now.