What is wrong with my cooler? And are these temps to be expected?

Caporegime
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Hello all,

I have an Antec Kuhler H2O 620 fitted up to my i5 2500k.

My settings are 42 x 100 @ 1.288v

Now it is worth noting that there is an issue with the Kuhler which is causing the pump to emit an extremely annoying and very loud rattling/ratcheting sound like an old fridge (dont worry, i am keeping an eye on my temps all the time and i am filling out the RMA form litterally after i post this), but the sound goes away once the coolant has warmed to above about 50*C and has stayed like that for a few minutes. If it sits idle at about 29*C to 35*C it will rattle constantly, and once it has cooled down to below 50*C it begins to rattle again shortly afterwards.

It is also worth noting that the setup i have is one Lian Li 120mm fan pushing air into the case, so where 'i' is the fan, 'l' is the radiator, and '|' is the back of the case, it would be like this: |il

After running prime 95 (and using the PC generally as well) for 3 hours, my temps are reading 67, 70, 72, 70.

I have read on the web that with this cooler, the temps at 4.2GHz should be closer to 60 - 65, so do you think that the performance of the CPU cooler is limited by the fan, by the fact that it is faulty somehow, both, or neither?

I realise that it is a question with no definite answer, but i want to know your opinions so that i can decide if i want to fit the replacement kuhler or a different one.

I will test it with the original fan at some point and see if there is any difference. (apart from an increase in fan noise :rolleyes: )
 
Is it a clicking sound? I had the same problem with my 620, it went away after a couple of weeks but I did move the case from side to side a couple of times a day and I also removed the radiator once and gave it a bit of a shake. It's due to air being trapped in the loop and shaking the radiator helps the trapped bits of air out. Once the air is bled out the sound goes.

Temps are pretty high but that's dependant on your ambient temps. At 4.4GHz, I was hitting 62-64 max on all cores after about 30 mins on prime95. You could try reseat but you'll need to reapply fresh thermal paste.
 
Is it a clicking sound? I had the same problem with my 620, it went away after a couple of weeks but I did move the case from side to side a couple of times a day and I also removed the radiator once and gave it a bit of a shake. It's due to air being trapped in the loop and shaking the radiator helps the trapped bits of air out. Once the air is bled out the sound goes.

Temps are pretty high but that's dependant on your ambient temps. At 4.4GHz, I was hitting 62-64 max on all cores after about 30 mins on prime95. You could try reseat but you'll need to reapply fresh thermal paste.

No unfortunately it is not that, i have done all the shaking the pump, putting a magnet on the block to re-allign the bearing, mounting it upside down tricks etc etc, nothing works.

It has gotten to the point where its so annoying that i leave minecraft open just to shut it up.

Not sure of the ambient temps, its quite warm in here even with the window open, and the thermal paste is the stuff that was pre-applied.

I used it instead of my arctic silver 5 to avoid having to apply the paste (nervous, first build. didnt want to put too much/too little etc)
 
Personally, I'd try reseat, if that didn't lower the temps i'd assume their was a problem with the unit itself. From there I would probably contact support, either OCUK or Antec. Good luck :)
 
Personally, I'd try reseat, if that didn't lower the temps i'd assume their was a problem with the unit itself. From there I would probably contact support, either OCUK or Antec. Good luck :)

but there is noise coming from the pump also?
 
If you've only just got the unit and its making noise, give it a week or so and see if anything improves. If you've had it a while and it is still making the noise, contact the manufacturer and see what they can do.
 
I've had that issue with a 620, Actually having the case on a slant, only resting one bottom edge. The noise went.

Left the case lent on its side against the a desk, then rma'd the unit.

Seems to depend on the angle, and i'd describe it has a fish tank's pump noise.

Others have said turn it upside down, but with some units i think it needs to be on a strange angle.
 
I've had that issue with a 620, Actually having the case on a slant, only resting one bottom edge. The noise went.

Left the case lent on its side against the a desk, then rma'd the unit.

Seems to depend on the angle, and i'd describe it has a fish tank's pump noise.

Others have said turn it upside down, but with some units i think it needs to be on a strange angle.

mine is definitely more like a fridge, though it began with the fish tank noise. I have had the unit for about 6 months and it started making the noise maybe 4 months ago. Only got bad in the past month, now i'm RMA'ing it.
 
i cant ask questions about how to RMA if i purchased from another company can i? because i would need to mention the name of the company, and that would breach forum rules...

OK so a more generalised question, do i need to contact the distributer at all? or do i do it all via the manufacturer without including the distributer in the equation?
 
My h80 was really bad for a while. I flicked it regularly to get rid of the noise. Then one day it just stopped! I guess the air managed to get stuck in the rad.
 
Dont worry OC, i bought my motherboard from here and that needs replacing too :D

I think i have very bad luck when it comes to computers... The hard drive died on my laptop without warning before i got this PC... and i lost all of my data cos data recovery didnt work properly, and before that my P4 rig caught fire because the idiot who built it managed to clamp the cpu heatsink down on top of a power cable... :p (dont worry, i didnt build that one... i rebuilt it after though... its a bit scorched :p)
 
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just a quick update cos i thought it was quite interesting, it is 17*C in here right now, and the CPU is idling at 36*C.

The pump isnt making any noise... on a cold day however, its a whole other story.
 
Personally, I'd try reseat, if that didn't lower the temps i'd assume their was a problem with the unit itself. From there I would probably contact support, either OCUK or Antec. Good luck :)

unfortunately i did not buy from OCUK... all future orders will be from here though because of the forum network that is going on.
 
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