Issues With ARCTIC LIQUID FREEZER II HIGH PERFORMANCE CPU WATER COOLER - 120MM

FioKron · 25 Oct 2020 at 12:53

Hello Watercooling forum,

I recently got my hands on this cooler from OverclockersUK.

I have had this installed on a Gigabyte G97X Gaming 3 motherboard, for an Intel i7-4790K (~4GHz) CPU. It is set to boot to a Samsung 860 EVO 250 GB SSD with Windows 10 Professional installed as the operating system on that drive.

The fans for the radiator and the component placed over the CPU work fine (having plugged the appropriate cables into the sys_fan and cpu_opt headers, respectively). But the pump system for this AIO watercooler is not consistently operating.

It has come on for between 30 seconds and 1 minute (with the cooling effect being noticeable), but has not stayed on for much longer when going into BIOS. It has also not come on either when the drive has booted to Windows, or when logging in.

I have made sure the backplate is fasted securely to the motherboard and that the component placed over the CPU, is fasted securely with the 4 screws provided, over the CPU chip that has a fairly even layer of thermal paste applied to it.

If I am able to login to Windows, using Speccy to check the temperature of the components. I can see that the temperature of the other components is quite low (~30 degrees Celsius or less, as expected), but the CPU temperature is at least 95 degrees Celsius, on a consistent basis when starting up.

Would anyone have any idea of what the problem is? I can provide more information as required.

Thanks in advance for your help Watercooling forum

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FioKron · 25 Oct 2020 at 16:00

Brizzles said:
Try using these 2 headers and not sys-fan ;

1 x CPU fan header

1 x water cooling fan header (CPU_OPT)

Ok Brizzles, I will try that as soon as possible. Thanks for the advice

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FioKron · 25 Oct 2020 at 19:50

I tried using those headers instead (cpu_fan and cpu_opt), the fans for both components would spin up no matter which header they were connected to, but the pump only came on for about 45 seconds, then went off and never came back on again (in that boot attempt or any further attempts), no matter which component I connected to either of the 2 headers. This would suggest that the product has faults in it, or my setup is not cutout for this bit of kit.

FioKron · 25 Oct 2020 at 19:51

Would anyone else have any other suggestions?

FioKron · 25 Oct 2020 at 20:34

Ross Thomson said:
you are using the right bracket and have taken the clear plastic protector off the cold plate.

If the pump wasn't working it shouldn't shoot right up to 95C just on idle right after you had switched it on.

This is correct, I set it up according to this video (which includes taking the clear plastic protector off the cold plate): Instruction Video on YouTube.

FioKron · 26 Oct 2020 at 09:34

Defy Belief said:
Sounds like it needs to be sent back

I would think so too. There is just 1 more avenue that I can use IRL. A guy from a* computer maintenance company will come round tomorrow, pick up the system and then take it back to his office to see if he can get the pump system working.

FioKron · 26 Oct 2020 at 14:22

WJA96 said:
You should have more confidence in yourself. If you've installed it anything like it should be then it should work. It sounds like you've done the correct amount of fault diagnosis and you really should just send it back because it very much sems to be defective. Getting someone else involved is rarely a great idea. A lot of these so-called technicians are just unqualified people with a little more than average experience and a lot of self-confidence. At least if you pull the motherboard and remove the cooler you'll know it was done carefully by someone who cared. I've seen 'professional' technicians removing 3.5" spinning rust hard drives with a magnetic tipped screwdriver etc.

Thanks for suggesting I just have it sent back and not bother with sending this over to this technician. In all fairness, he has been quite helpful to other people in my neighborhood, but I will consider just have the system removed and sent back for a refund.

it might be something simple causing this issue, but I would not know what, having more people look at it can help in finding the cause of the problem if it is something I have missed, but if it is indeed fault ridden, then I will just have the system removed and sent back for a refund.

FioKron · 26 Oct 2020 at 14:23

Brizzles said:
Try this ;

In BIOS, go to Smart Fan and change the fan headers you are using to PWM ( Fan Control Mode )

Temperature Input should be CPU ( not pci-ex16 as in picture )

Speed Control MANUAL > then set the curve to a flat 40% for testing ( you can amend this latter )

( ignore the other settings in the screenshot - it just a random pic from the internet)

The fans are working fine, will this help with the water pump system though?

FioKron · 26 Oct 2020 at 15:26

Brizzles said:
Yes, the pump will react to the setting here

The header for the pump needs to be set to PWM

If it still doesn't work on PWM, then its faulty

BIOS would not look like what is shown in your screenshot for me, would I to set it to classic view or?

FioKron · 26 Oct 2020 at 16:49

freddie64 said:
Thought the Freezer ii only had one power cable?

The video you linked confirms this. (or are you using 2 fans in push pull?)

Two* 4 pin connectors is what I meant*, should there also be a power cable?

FioKron · 26 Oct 2020 at 16:49

Setras said:
I know it sounds stupid... But you did remove any plastic film off the bottom of the CPU coldplate prior to fitting?

Yes, as shown in the video.

FioKron · 26 Oct 2020 at 17:12

Brizzles said:
The connector from the fan connects to the pump block and the other 4 pin connector connects to the motherboard

( thats how i understand from the video and comments )

Right, so if only 1 connector is to be connected to a motherboard header, where would the other connector be placed? (There is one 4 pin connector from the Fan/Radiator combo and one 4 pin connector coming from the CPU fan that is placed on top of the CPU chip).

FioKron · 26 Oct 2020 at 18:00

Brizzles said:
I've just watched another vid, there is only 1 cable that needs to be attached ;

The cable pictured above goes to the cpu_fan header and thats it.

The fans are already connected to the pump and the wires are hidden under the black/white sleeving so nothing else to connect

Ah...how come one is able to detach the connector on the radiator from itself and attach it to the motherboard? If one is to leave it attached to itself for it to work, that is annoying.*

FioKron · 26 Oct 2020 at 18:09

Ah, it would seem as though it is supposed to remain attached to itself (even though one can remove it), as shown here: https://youtu.be/KzTeyahFXMs?t=125 (have the video paused for the point that it's at to see what I am referring to*). I will try reconnecting it to itself later and get back here on how that has worked out. Thanks for highlighting that video Brizzles

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FioKron · 26 Oct 2020 at 19:42

After tying to have the radiator connected to itself (as it was when I first unpacked it) and 'The cable pictured above goes to the cpu_fan header and thats it.'. This, once again, caused the pump to come on for a few seconds, deactivate itself afterwards and then not come on again for that boot attempt, or any future boot attempts (even after getting to the Windows login screen and logging in).

I am not sure what else to try, I have the 4 pin connector coming from the radiator connected to the other connector that's part of the radiator/fan combination, but still nothing.*

FioKron · 27 Oct 2020 at 11:44

Yes, after getting a PC technician to come in and have a look at it, they would not have even taken it away. They were quite certain that the pump is fault ridden and that I should get it replaced. I am going to get a refund for it and try this one: Corsair Cooler. The issue has been resolved.*