Hi everybody.
So the watercooler in a desktop I have broke and leaked and I'm not sure how much of the system it took with it or how to further troubleshoot it without putting more money into compatible parts for testing.
It was a really old AIO watercooling unit and the only branding on it is on the included fan from AVC. The copper plate on the CPU block oxidized along the edges and pulled away from the rest of the housing for the pump. This led to the coolant leaking down the motherboard and onto the GPU below. Unfortunately, because the case wasn't windowed, the leak wasn't immediately discovered. (I forget whether it shut down due to reaching CPU thermal limits or because the GPU gave up the ghost.) I'm relatively certain the GPU is dead as a doorknob though. Fortunately, the PSU was fan-side down and was spared. (I have since tested it and it is working flawlessly.)
After the system shut down and power was disconnected, paper towels were used to blot coolant from the GPU and MOBO. (At the time, I was still hoping that the GPU was alive.) They then sat for many days to fully dry so as to avoid any risk of shorting them when later attempting to boot and also because a replacement water cooler was still en route. After installing the new watercooling AIO, I tried to boot the system but was unsuccessful. Thinking it was dead, I then replaced the GPU with a functioning, basic one I pulled from another system.
At this point, I have the new watercooling unit installed, everything dry, and the new, functional GPU in there. As of now, I get the motherboard LEDS to light up when the PSU is switched on. Also, when I attempt to boot the system, the GPU's fan and LED will turn on, the rest of the mobo's LEDs will turn on, and then all of the case fans will spin up. I would think that this is promising; however, no matter what I do, I can't get any output to the monitor. (Yes,the monitor works.) I've tried every PCI-E slot with the working GPU but with the same result each time. I can't forgo the GPU as this mobo does not support onboard graphics and thereby lacks appropriate display connectors on the rear I/O. (Irritatingly, it also doesn't have any posting code readouts and the speaker is long lost, though I am looking for a replacement in case I need it here). My best guesses would be that either all the PCI-E slots are shot or that the CPU died. But then there's evidence that the new GPU is successfully drawing its power through all the PCI-E slots and the CPU didn't appear to have suffered any contact with the coolant. It could also be the mobo but it seems to otherwise be performing as it should be. Needless to say, I'm a bit stumped on this one.
So here are the build Specs:
CPU: I7 970
MoBo: MSI X58A-CD45
RAM: 12BG(6x2GB) ADATA 1600mHz DDR3
PSU: SolyTech 800W
Cooler (new): Corsair H60
Cooler (old): AVC??
GPU (new): Some budget NVIDIA card
GPU (old): Some other budget NVIDIA card
Yeah, it's not flashy and is kind of old, but it mostly functioned as a work PC for years and I'd love to be able to breathe some life into it again so it can be re-purposed as a NAS or something else I haven't already built.
Anyway, thanks for reading and any suggestions or insights would be greatly appreciated!
So the watercooler in a desktop I have broke and leaked and I'm not sure how much of the system it took with it or how to further troubleshoot it without putting more money into compatible parts for testing.
It was a really old AIO watercooling unit and the only branding on it is on the included fan from AVC. The copper plate on the CPU block oxidized along the edges and pulled away from the rest of the housing for the pump. This led to the coolant leaking down the motherboard and onto the GPU below. Unfortunately, because the case wasn't windowed, the leak wasn't immediately discovered. (I forget whether it shut down due to reaching CPU thermal limits or because the GPU gave up the ghost.) I'm relatively certain the GPU is dead as a doorknob though. Fortunately, the PSU was fan-side down and was spared. (I have since tested it and it is working flawlessly.)
After the system shut down and power was disconnected, paper towels were used to blot coolant from the GPU and MOBO. (At the time, I was still hoping that the GPU was alive.) They then sat for many days to fully dry so as to avoid any risk of shorting them when later attempting to boot and also because a replacement water cooler was still en route. After installing the new watercooling AIO, I tried to boot the system but was unsuccessful. Thinking it was dead, I then replaced the GPU with a functioning, basic one I pulled from another system.
At this point, I have the new watercooling unit installed, everything dry, and the new, functional GPU in there. As of now, I get the motherboard LEDS to light up when the PSU is switched on. Also, when I attempt to boot the system, the GPU's fan and LED will turn on, the rest of the mobo's LEDs will turn on, and then all of the case fans will spin up. I would think that this is promising; however, no matter what I do, I can't get any output to the monitor. (Yes,the monitor works.) I've tried every PCI-E slot with the working GPU but with the same result each time. I can't forgo the GPU as this mobo does not support onboard graphics and thereby lacks appropriate display connectors on the rear I/O. (Irritatingly, it also doesn't have any posting code readouts and the speaker is long lost, though I am looking for a replacement in case I need it here). My best guesses would be that either all the PCI-E slots are shot or that the CPU died. But then there's evidence that the new GPU is successfully drawing its power through all the PCI-E slots and the CPU didn't appear to have suffered any contact with the coolant. It could also be the mobo but it seems to otherwise be performing as it should be. Needless to say, I'm a bit stumped on this one.
So here are the build Specs:
CPU: I7 970
MoBo: MSI X58A-CD45
RAM: 12BG(6x2GB) ADATA 1600mHz DDR3
PSU: SolyTech 800W
Cooler (new): Corsair H60
Cooler (old): AVC??
GPU (new): Some budget NVIDIA card
GPU (old): Some other budget NVIDIA card
Yeah, it's not flashy and is kind of old, but it mostly functioned as a work PC for years and I'd love to be able to breathe some life into it again so it can be re-purposed as a NAS or something else I haven't already built.
Anyway, thanks for reading and any suggestions or insights would be greatly appreciated!
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