i7 4790k + h100i Liquid Cooler - High Temperatures

didokon

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Dec 28, 2014
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Hi everyone,
I've recently decided to finally solve this issue that has been going on for a while (months).
My temps are way too high than what they should be (I think, at least).
I've tested my CPU with OCCT and after 5 seconds the test stops because the CPU reaches 92+ degrees.
I've changed the thermal paste yesterday, the temps were still high. The radiator was filled with thick dust on the surface (the guys that built the machine apparently set the fans to pull the air INSIDE the case, and the cooler was mounted on the top part of the PC, with its two fans), so I finally cleaned it for good by unmounting it entirely and blowing compressed air on the thing until it looked very clean (not like a brand new one, but still very clean). New test, still the same temps (90+).
I changed the paste again today, thinking I might have missed a spot on the surface to cover, but it was evenly spread... Anyway, I reapplied it even more carefully; on top of that, I changed the fans of the radiator to exhaust air from the top, and removed the rear fan so that I now have 2 fans pulling air in from the front part of the PC and the two fans of the radiator blowing it out from the top (I've been told to always have at least as many fans pulling in as the ones blowing out, so if I hadn't removed the rear one I would have had 3 blowing out and only two pulling air inside the case): new test, still very high temps.
I changed settings in the BIOS (ASUS) in order NOT to match the clock speed on all 4 cores when in turbo mode, and yes, there was a small improvement, in the sense that instead of skyrocketing (2-3 seconds) to 93+ degrees it now takes about 10-15 seconds to reach those temperatures, but it still reaches them, just a tiny bit more slowly...
At this point I don't know what to do, I have a liquid cooler, a K processor that is still excellent, a good motherboard (Maximus VII Ranger), 4 fans, new thermal paste (I followed like 10 tutorials to get which application method was the best, so I was precise in the substitution), yet I'm not even able to perform a stress test at STOCK speeds without getting thermal throttle and sky high temperatures.
Any suggestion on what to do?
Maybe replace the cooler? Replace the liquid (I don't think I can though on this model)? Maybe it was the radiator that was left in contact with a lot of dust for too long and it's now ruined? I have no idea at this point...

I'm quite desperate, I've tried everything that came to my mind.
Thanks in advance to anyone that tries to help.

EDIT: I've also noticed that the fans I have (all of them) seem quite weak at moving air. I mean, I could easily blow stronger than them (they do have a bit of dust sticked to them, but does it matter?). Here is their name, I found it in the email with the components when I was ordering the PC: "CORSAIR SP120 Ventola Cabinet 120x120x25 Low Noise 3 PIN High Performance Edition ND". The ones on the h100i are stock, and seem just as weak, but I don't know maybe I'm wrong and it's how PC fans usually are.
 
Solution


I think your airflow is OK. My best guess is that it is one of these things:
- BIOS settings (resetting your BIOS may help)
- Your...

didokon

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Dec 28, 2014
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I've downloaded Corsair Link, this is what I currently see:



(I only see one fan, labeled as GPU Fan, and the other one labelled as "MB Fan 1"; can't see my other 2 from the h100i and one from the front of the PC, is that a mistake of the Utility?)
 

Ilya__

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Jan 7, 2016
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That is strange, I clearly recall there was a place to see the pump RPMs as well, you should also be able to set pump speed to LOW/HIGH. It might still be hidden somewhere in the menus.
 

didokon

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Dec 28, 2014
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I have rebooted and it now shows "H100i" as a separate section, with the following result:


However, the fans are now spinning faster than usual and very noisy --> Fixed by removing the Software, as I know that the Pump is now working fine.
Anyone knows what may be the issue? The i7 itself? No idea.
 

didokon

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Dec 28, 2014
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This is my airflow as of today, maybe it helps you to think of a possible issue with my temps/CPU:



> On the right you see one fan, the other one is under it, slightly covered by the HDD bay (which is, however, empty except for the first spot, so air should flow decently anyway). These two pull air inside the case.
> On the left, the "blocked" fan I was talking about in my first post, the one I have disabled.
> Above the "Corsair" Logo on the cooler, on top of the case, there's the radiator with its two fans pushing air outside the case.
 

Ilya__

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Jan 7, 2016
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I think your airflow is OK. My best guess is that it is one of these things:
- BIOS settings (resetting your BIOS may help)
- Your water-cooler is toast, there could be many reasons what could go wrong (I would consider replacing it)

PS: I still recommend keeping the Corsair software installed for monitoring purposes. It is probably pushing fans to the limit because it does not like the temperature either. You can change the fan speed configuration using the interface.
 
Solution

didokon

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Dec 28, 2014
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I bought a Noctua NH-D15 cooler and threw the other one in the garbage.
I've now managed to OC at 4.6GHz stable at 1.25v with idle temps 10° lower than before on all cores, and under stress it goes to max 63-64°C.
Amazing temps with respect to the previous 95*C+ of the H100i.
Thanks a lot for your suggestion, I'm very relieved that my i7 works just fine and it was all due to a faulty cooler!
 
May 3, 2018
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This post is pretty much what I am seeing. I changed to the stock intel cooler on the fly since I don't have time to go buy a new cooler. It's still running a bit hot for my tastes though. I will try to do as you did didokon and change the cooler. it is 4 years old after all.
 
you can probably improve your temps a bit more
1st, correct about at least as many fans blowing as exhausting, but that should be - as much air flowing as being exhaust. a) you haven't taken into acct your gpu is exhausting air, and b) your lower front fan is fighting self, most of the air it's trying to blow in is bouncing back (off the HDD cage) and causing turbulence right in front of the fan.

you do want "positive" air pressure inside the computer case - you might try taking one of the top fans and directing it inward and see what happens to temps

2nd, you can go to corsair's web and see what CFM those fans are rated for, and compare them to the Noctua fans - i'd give greater credibility to Noctua's CFM stmts, fyi

should be something of an improvement

hope that helps