CPU Fan Error - New Swiftech H320

[DanTheMuffinMan]

Hello guys,

 

First time doing water cooling, I went with a Swiftech H320 with 3 Cougar Vortex fans. Anyway I got it all installed today and booted up to be greeted by my BIOS saying "CPU Fan Error".

 

I went into the boot menu and booted up windows, opened up RealTemp and I'm getting a min of 55 Celsius and a max of 92 celsius. It seem to be ideling around 58-60 celsius. 

 

This is running on a Asus Sabertooth Z87 btw, I've loaded up their Thermal Radar software and it does not detect a CPU fan at all. showing a 0RPM. However the fans on the rad are all spinning (as are the rest in the case).

 

I followed Swiftech's instructions and plugged the pump and all 3 fans into their included splitter and then plugged the splitter into the CPU Fan 4-pin on the mobo.

 

It is running very, very quietly (though that's kind of the point, eh). I've never heard a AIO pump before but this one is just about silent, how can I tell if this thing is working or not?

 

So is this normal for a watercooler? Did I break something? What's going on here?

 

Edit: For future Googler's the problem turned out to be the pump was DOA, it would show as 0 RPM no matter what header it was plugged into on the motherboard. Had to RMA it and NCIX stuck me with the $55 shipping bill

Edit 2: New Post Got the replacement cooler installed and seems to be working fine, still not happy about NCIX's RMA policy though.

[WunderWuffle]

The first thing that I would do is remove the waterblock and see if you seated it correctly. Are there any kinks in the tubing?

[DanTheMuffinMan]

The first thing that I would do is remove the waterblock and see if you seated it correctly. Are there any kinks in the tubing?

No kinks, the water-block felt rock-solid. If I take it off to re-seat it will I have to clean and re-apply thermal paste again?

[Prophet of Entropy]

yes you will need to reapply thermal interface material.

[DanTheMuffinMan]

Could I try plugging the pump's PWM into CPU_FAN, and then plug in the splitter with the 3 fans to CPU_OPT_FAN or would that screw things up?

[tryphaa]

Your pump may be dying. That or it's seated terribly.

[WunderWuffle]

No kinks, the water-block felt rock-solid. If I take it off to re-seat it will I have to clean and re-apply thermal paste again?

 Uh.. I'm not too sure... Just to make sure, I would reapply thermal paste if the current paste is messed up.

[DanTheMuffinMan]

Your pump may be dying. That or it's seated terribly.

Brand new, just installed it

 

Correct me if I am incorrect, but if the cooler really wasn't doing anything, wouldn't my temps be up near 100 celsius?

[tryphaa]

Brand new, just installed it

 

Correct me if I am incorrect, but if the cooler really wasn't doing anything, wouldn't my temps be up near 100 celsius?

If you were idling or only web browsing then no. If you were under load then yes. Notice how I said dying, not dead.

[Prophet of Entropy]

you could plug the pwm and tach cable into your cpu header and the +/- leads into your power supply. 

 

plug your pump into your MB what RPM is showing at in fan expert?

[DanTheMuffinMan]

you could plug the pwm and tach cable into your cpu header and the +/- leads into your power supply. 

 

plug your pump into your MB what RPM is showing at in fan expert?

 

Not familiar with Fan Expert, you have a link to download it? Here is what Asus's Thermal Radar is showing me:

 

 

Thanks for the fast responses guys, this is making me sick to my stomach with nerves

[DanTheMuffinMan]

Here's RealTemp as well, it's been steadily climbing since I turned on the comp about 20 min ago

 

Now the fans in the case are revving up and down...
 

[Prophet of Entropy]

either the contacts aren't making connection with the MB leads or the pump isn't getting enough power to spin (try setting the cpu fan to max speed), or the pump is DOA.

 

 

whats plugged into assistant fan 1 that reading 5k rpm?

[Volbet]

Try grapping one of the tubes and feel if any of the liquid is being pumped through. If not, the pump is dead. You might also feel the water move in an uneven pattern. This would mean that the pump is malfunctioning. 

If the pump is alive, try reseating the CPU block. Also reapply the thermal paste for good measure. Did you remember to only a glob the size of a grain of rice?

 

The CPU Fan error can be fixed by going into the BIOS and telling it to ignore the CPU fan.

[DanTheMuffinMan]

Hey guys,

 

Just turned it off and tightened the screws on the water-block.

 

@Volbet I don't feel anything when squeezing the tube, but I may just not know what I am feeling for. Would it be very obvious if the water was flowing or not?

 

One of the tubes is warm to the touch and the other is cool.  The waterblock itself is warm to the touch as well.

 

I'm going to try plugging the pump directly into the mobo and bypassing their splitter.

 

I've also contacted Swiftech support, don't know how long that will take though.

 

Yes I did a grain of rice and thoroughly cleaned the old stuff off with 99% isopropyl alcohol and coffee filters.

[Volbet]

Hey guys,

 

Just turned it off and tightened the screws on the water-block.

 

@Volbet I don't feel anything when squeezing the tube, but I may just not know what I am feeling for. Would it be very obvious if the water was flowing or not?

 

One of the tubes is warm to the touch and the other is cool.  The waterblock itself is warm to the touch as well.

 

I'm going to try plugging the pump directly into the mobo and bypassing their splitter.

 

I've also contacted Swiftech support, don't know how long that will take though.

 

Yes I did a grain of rice and thoroughly cleaned the old stuff off with 99$ isopropyl alcohol and coffee filters.

When one side is how and the other is cold, that does indicate that the pump is atleast moving water. Whether or not the pump does it effectivly i don't know. 

Connecting the pump directly to the motherboard should allow you to monitor the pump speed, so you should be able to tell if it is running as it should. 

[Prophet of Entropy]

yea try without the splitter, pretty sure that's only included to cover people with crappy MBs.  use the cpu  fan header for the pump and a chassis header for the rad fans.

[DanTheMuffinMan]

Just connected it directly to the mobo and it's reading as 0RPM, the 3 fans on the splitter are responding normally, so I believe that narrows it down to the pump being DOA. The Swiftech tech support guy says it sounds like a DOA pump and to contact NCIX to start a RMA. Very disappointed with my first go a water cooling

[Rheinwasser]

Could I try plugging the pump's PWM into CPU_FAN, and then plug in the splitter with the 3 fans to CPU_OPT_FAN or would that screw things up?

try it.

[DanTheMuffinMan]

try it.

Just did (see post #18)

 

Ok guys, it looks like the pump is DOA and I've launched my RMA request with NCIX. Think I should reinstall my air cooler ot just live without a comp untill the RMA process is done?

Thanks for the hep guys.

[DanTheMuffinMan]

Hi guys,

 

I've got the H320 packed up and have an RMA going with NCIX (apparently I'm expected to pay for shipping though, scummy, I may switch to Newegg/tigerdirect after this). Rather then reinstalling my Noctua I threw on the intel cooler that came with my cpu, damn those things are annoying and weak.

 

Thanks again for the help.

[DanTheMuffinMan]

Just shipped it, it cost $56.16! Definitely ditching NCIX after this...

[Bartmole]

I believe NCIX RMA's are shipped back by Purolator at no charge or prepaid with Canada Post, at least mine was. Info was in the RMA email.

[DanTheMuffinMan]

I believe NCIX RMA's are shipped back by Purolator at no charge or prepaid with Canada Post, at least mine was. Info was in the RMA email.

No such luck for me, apparently they only pay for the shipping you select "Express RMA" when you purchase it in the first place now. Goodbye NCIX. 

[Leonard]

Could I try plugging the pump's PWM into CPU_FAN, and then plug in the splitter with the 3 fans to CPU_OPT_FAN or would that screw things up?

This is what you were suppose to do from the start.