Need help with extremely hot CPU(liquid cooling)

[JackofSpades113]

Heres my current situation, for about a year and a half Ive had a computer I had custom built by www.digitalstorm.com, and completely negleted all tasks that are required to keep a computer running strong, and I definitly missed some.

About 2 weeks ago after installing Far Cry 3, my CPU choked, and my motherboard shut off the computer, (Ive never had anything like this happen before, with this computer or any) so naturaly I was shocked. I turned it on again only to behold that it could only get to the windows startup menu before crashing.

After some quick looking around I discovered it was my CPU overheating(Ive never been a computer expert, hence my getting it built by others), immediatly I did some research and discovered thermal paste was a root cause of many overheating CPUs, so I went and bought some Arctic Silver 5, and carefully reapplied it to my Liquid Cooling system hooked up to the CPU.

The PC ran much longer, about 10 minutes in the desktop before crashing, but still, it crashed. Naturally I was furious, and had it sent to a computer repair shop downtown, obviously I dont think they knew what they were doing, seeing as how they took a day to tell me it was overheating, when I figured it out in 5 minutes.

2 days later they told me that they had been running the computer for 16 hours straight and couldnt seem to get it to overheat at all, this surprised me, seeing as how I couldnt do the opposite before I sent it to them (my theory, and Ive heard this, is that it takes time for the thermal paste to "melt" onto both the heatsink/waterbox and cpu.

I got my computer back friday to discover (because Ive never checked before *hits head on wall*) that my CPU is running on IDLE, and a dangerous 80 degrees celcius, and with any stress, close to 85.

My theory behind this is that the thermal paste managed to barely push the cpu back over the border to where it could function again, but barely.

Now Im stuck, because I dont know whether its the water cooler at fault or whether there is some sort of virus my antivirus (malwarebytes and avg) cant detect :[

I know Ive probably missed some details, make sure to ask me if youre not sure.

Im really sad because I cant even play garry's mod, I had 100 FPS before my CPU choked and now its down to about 20, where its unplayable because of the frameskipping.

If any help can be offered I would be extremely grateful. Thank you in advance! Meanwhile I will continue to try and find my issue.

 

[JackofSpades113]

I have a coolIT eco 120FB cooler, pretty sketch. (if I replace it Im thinking h50)
and an i5 2500k

I can provide any other specs if people want them.

 

[Rammy]

Definitely sounds like a broken cooler.
If you want to avoid the hassle, get an air cooler. There's a bunch of reasons to get all-in-one water things but in general air is just easier. It's also a lot easier to see when they've gone wrong and you can clean out a heatsink+fan easily.

 

[ccovemaker]

Some watercooling guru will have to step in and advice but I am guessing a open loop water cooling system would probably require some maintenance in a year and a half.

Depending on how and what the watercooling loop was set up with (mixing metals, odds coolants, DI water no kill coil). I am guessing there is most likely something gunked up in the loop.

Again I will differ to the watercooling crowd but that would be my guess.

 

[Rammy]

It's an all in one closed loop thingy, the pump has probably gone or something like that.

 

[amuffin]

Some watercooling guru will have to step in and advice but I am guessing a open loop water cooling system would probably require some maintenance in a year and a half.

Depending on how and what the watercooling loop was set up with (mixing metals, odds coolants, DI water no kill coil). I am guessing there is most likely something gunked up in the loop.

Again I will differ to the watercooling crowd but that would be my guess.

It's a CLC (closed loop cooler), 0 maintenance.

 

[amuffin]

Does the cooler make any noise itself? Such as noises from the block itself?

How much paste did you put on?

 

[ccovemaker]

It's an all in one closed loop thingy, the pump has probably gone or something like that.

Well all good. Still most likely this is still to blame.

Good news is if you are skilled enough to apply the thermal paste properly then you likely have what it takes to install a new CPU cooler. :lol:

 

[Mousemonkey]

This topic has been moved from the section CPU & Components to section Overclocking by Mousemonkey

 

[JackofSpades113]

Does the cooler make any noise itself? Such as noises from the block itself?

How much paste did you put on?

The cooler makes noise(at least I think it does)
I think the culprit IS the pump though, the radiator stays ice cold whereas the waterblock is quite warm to the touch.

I have a bad feeling I may have put too much thermal paste on, even though before I did replace it the cpu overheated, and now it is just sitting at about 65 idle, and near 85 with a load.

 

[JackofSpades113]

Well all good. Still most likely this is still to blame.

Good news is if you are skilled enough to apply the thermal paste properly then you likely have what it takes to install a new CPU cooler. :lol:

A new cooler install wouldnt be the problem, buying it would be

 

[hapkido]

Make sure you clean any dust out of the radiator fins and fan. If you think you put too much thermal paste on, try again. I'm partial to putting three small lines and then using a credit card to spread it thinly over the entire surface, but there are a variety of methods. The important part is not too thin so you're getting good contact, but not too thick as to inhibit heat transfer; and make sure the heat-sink has enough pressure. It's possible the pump has gone out as well -- I'm not really sure how to test for that as I've never owned water cooling, but I'd imagine it makes a small whirring sound when it's running. I would check all power connections as well.

 

[JackofSpades113]

Ive recently cleaned all fans and the rad as well, so its not a problem there.

Unfortunately Im now having trouble getting the computer to boot, for reasons I dont know.
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/360989-28-computer-doesnt-boot-time#t2740929

Im getting really bothered by this, I may just send it in a SECOND time to a better repair service.

 

[cbrunnem]

Make sure you clean any dust out of the radiator fins and fan. If you think you put too much thermal paste on, try again. I'm partial to putting three small lines and then using a credit card to spread it thinly over the entire surface, but there are a variety of methods. The important part is not too thin so you're getting good contact, but not too thick as to inhibit heat transfer; and make sure the heat-sink has enough pressure. It's possible the pump has gone out as well -- I'm not really sure how to test for that as I've never owned water cooling, but I'd imagine it makes a small whirring sound when it's running. I would check all power connections as well.

thermal paste should be as thin as possible. not to thin is impossible as you want just enough to fill in the smallest of ridges and divets in the metal surfaces.

Ive recently cleaned all fans and the rad as well, so its not a problem there.

Unfortunately Im now having trouble getting the computer to boot, for reasons I dont know.
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/360989-28-computer-doesnt-boot-time#t2740929

Im getting really bothered by this, I may just send it in a SECOND time to a better repair service.

i think you have a broken pump. try unplugging the fan to the radiator and see if the temps go up at idle. if they do your pump seems to be fine but if the temps stay the same thats an indication that there is no water flowing.

 

[JackofSpades113]

Ill do that today, thanks for the test.

 

[steddora]

You're experiencing a failure somewhere. What really scares me is that 2500k is running at 80C idle. There's a heat issue like none other and it lies within the water cooler.

I can almost guarantee you that the pump in it is shot. Let's see my reasoning.

First the thermal paste wearing out in a year and a half, doubt it highly. And that doesn't just "pop my thermal paste is gone". It deteriorates. Your issue is a failure as it goes from working correctly to "pop".

If the pump was working the cooler would easily keep the processor cool enough to boot to windows and run idle as the amount of water it has in it would be cool enough to keep it from overheating in the sixty seconds to boot on a loaded machine. However if the pump is shot or has failed, it will only take that chip about 10-15 seconds to heat the water in the water block up and crash out.

So it sounds like the pump in the CLC in all honestly and unless you really spiked the voltage in the BIOS or the like; it is almost the only possible reason. If you indeed do have an h50, I recommend just biting the bullet and buying an air cooler as that h50 isn't going to do much for cooling in the first place as they are typically outperformed by the $25 coolermaster hyper 212.

I hope this helps you out, but like I said, short of you spiking the voltage into that processor; your cooler is shot.

 

[JackofSpades113]

Exactly steddora. I initially thought it was a virus of some sort.

Long story short I bought Far Cry 3, but Ubi was a dick and didnt give a replace for the DRM code that didnt work, so I torrented. After about 5 minutes of playtime thats when I had my first crash, and after that it wouldnt run for more than a few minutes before overheating.

I was an uber computer noob at the time so I had no idea what the problem was other than the cpu overheating. I think the reason it sticks at about 80 now is solely because I replaced the existing sketchy thermal paste with arctic silver 5.

After this thread, and many of my IT friends telling me the same thing, Im going to order a corsair today. Most likely an h50 or h60. I know people on this forum dont like corsair, but regardless Im sure it will be much better than the one I have now made somewhere in the outskirts of Canada.


Edit: On a further note I actually did format my drive last night, just to be SURE I had no serious cpu-killing virus, such as the ones Ive heard of in many horror stories. So its impossible its software (unless its bios, which Ive reset to default).

 

[JackofSpades113]

And, I dont remember saying I HAVE an h50, I was actually going to order one.

My current cooler is a coolIT eco II 120FB, which doesnt even exist according to Google, and the most similar one being discontinued for a while now. Id say its definitely time for a replacement.

I would have gone for air cooling like the Silver Arrow Extreme, but Im almost positive that behemoth is too big for my little case. xD

 

[Lutfij]

I'll try chiming in and work my way gradually until this lil glass fills up.
1| Coolit don't officially make cooling systems for the end user anymore, if they do manufacture units its for OEM's and server operators. They also scrubbed their EOL products off of the net and have other alias' that's why its hard to find via Google. Now they have some ventures with various CLC makers.
2| I've moved from a H50->H50mod->custom watercooling solution and after my initial run-in with hyped up advertising of owning watercooling with no maintenance whatsoever, I'll happily instruct/guide and persuade people to get the real deal instead of a plate full of salted spaghetti.
3| We don't hate corsair products, its just that after you realize the truth of a loop under performing for its price, you'll look elsewhere as steddora has mentioned - going with a Hyper 212 air cooler. + we like prescribing parts/stuff that are budget and performance friendly aka more bang for buck.
4| please understand that there are more factors involved when you gun for a watercooling loop or even a watercooling product. Its not just install and smile throughout your life...
5| and now onto your issue with the cooler, I believe what you're seeing is an airlock in your pump chamber. Remove the entire cooler from mobo and have the pump running off a spare psu or a jumpered PSU to rule out that the pump is dead. To remove the air lock, hold the rad up and the pump unit below the rad with the tubes allowing the unit to dangle. Shake vigorously (first the pump unit and then the rad)and you should hear a few air bubbles swishing up top at the rad.

for about a year and a half I've had a computer I had custom built by www.digitalstorm.com

6| have you asked digitalstorm regarding the coolers warranty period?
7| if you haven't purchased a cooler yet, can you shoot us a pic of your case and its innards?


btw,

for about a year and a half I've had a computer...and completely neglected all tasks that are required to keep a computer running strong, and I definitely missed some.

...?

also sounds like you don't have an anti-virus onboard...

 

[RetiredChief]

As one of the posters stated, the h50 is not a very good system, as several of the better air coolers are equally, or better.

Currently using a Zalman 9900 max air HSF and it keeps my temps arround 65 -> 68C at 4.6 and @60 C, give or take a couple of degrees @ 4.2

The diff between 4.6 And 5.0 is ONLY 8.6% which means in most cases it's more a benchmark/bragging point as opposed to noticing a reall performance Jump.

 

[JackofSpades113]

I'll try chiming in and work my way gradually until this lil glass fills up.
1| Coolit don't officially make cooling systems for the end user anymore, if they do manufacture units its for OEM's and server operators. They also scrubbed their EOL products off of the net and have other alias' that's why its hard to find via Google. Now they have some ventures with various CLC makers.
2| I've moved from a H50->H50mod->custom watercooling solution and after my initial run-in with hyped up advertising of owning watercooling with no maintenance whatsoever, I'll happily instruct/guide and persuade people to get the real deal instead of a plate full of salted spaghetti.
3| We don't hate corsair products, its just that after you realize the truth of a loop under performing for its price, you'll look elsewhere as steddora has mentioned - going with a Hyper 212 air cooler. + we like prescribing parts/stuff that are budget and performance friendly aka more bang for buck.
4| please understand that there are more factors involved when you gun for a watercooling loop or even a watercooling product. Its not just install and smile throughout your life...
5| and now onto your issue with the cooler, I believe what you're seeing is an airlock in your pump chamber. Remove the entire cooler from mobo and have the pump running off a spare psu or a jumpered PSU to rule out that the pump is dead. To remove the air lock, hold the rad up and the pump unit below the rad with the tubes allowing the unit to dangle. Shake vigorously (first the pump unit and then the rad)and you should hear a few air bubbles swishing up top at the rad.

6| have you asked digitalstorm regarding the coolers warranty period?
7| if you haven't purchased a cooler yet, can you shoot us a pic of your case and its innards?


btw,
...?

also sounds like you don't have an anti-virus onboard...

1: The coolIT was redesigned as one of Digita lStorms own watercoolers, all they did was change the pump from saying coolIT to Digital Storm, (There is a sticker on the radiator marking as coolIT)

2: After much thought yesterday I ordered a corsair h60, but if it doesnt live up to actually cool very well then I will probably return, and try my hand at a custom kit(I like closed loops because no risk of hosing down my parts accidentally)

3: I think I exaggerated a bit when I said "hate" but, yea. A lot of my friends love corsair, and with so much criticism from EVERYONE it seemed a bit like that to me when I first visited the site.(My friends are no computer experts, so Im probably choosing the wrong opinions to go with, haha)

4: I hope to smile as long as possible

5: Ive tried the ol' dangle-shack method to no avail, it seems the pump is completely dead. I also unhooked the radiator fans just to see if the cooler had ANY affect, and it didnt change the temps at all. SO yea, completely dead. Unfortunately Digital Storm didnt send me the stock cooler with the CPU, so Im stuck with this corpse of a cooler until my corsair arrives in the mail.

6: The cooler had a one year warranty sadly, but I wouldnt really want a replacement of it anyways.
7: Sadly Ive already bought the cooler, if you still want pictures I can oblige.

also,

By completely neglected I meant hardware wise, so no I dont have any viruses.
I can also confirm this considering last night I wiped my hard drive.

Im now running AVG and MalwareBytes, but I WILL be scanning more, just in case it actually WAS a virus.

 

[Lutfij]

my feedback to:
2| you'll be disappointed very soon and hopefully you'll have a thread opened about advice into (real) watercooling - I'll save you the trouble and you can check out the watercooling sticky in my sig, even has a CLC section in case you'd like to make sure you've done the H60 its due rights and understood its not for
4| If you get it right, it'll be nothing but happy overclocks from there
7| well I don't think we'll need it now.
far cry 3 is said to be a demanding game a notch down compared to what we can expect Crysis 3 to be...so maybe snowover your rig when crysis 3 is released - so next time this happens it won't be due to a virus, or maybe you don't have a good antivirus

 

[cbrunnem]

did you ever turn the fans off to see if the temps rose more? just to verify if the pump was bad?

 

[JackofSpades113]

did you ever turn the fans off to see if the temps rose more? just to verify if the pump was bad?

Unplugged radiator fans, just started computer so temps rising as usual.

Ill let it run for a bit and give some stats.
(I did get a cpu fan error in boot but, why would that surprise me or make a difference.)

 

[JackofSpades113]

Running a stress test because I dont want to wait (Im a terrible abuser of my CPU child) and its preettty much the exact same temps, around 85-94c with 100% load.

This is an obvious sign the pump is not working, and that I need a replace.

Thank you cbrunnem