Alright guys... I've just signed up for the LTT forums in the hope that you knowledgeable legends will be able to help.
So a while ago I purchased a PC from CyberPowerPC (yeah, already regretting that move). The PC came already built and worked straight out of the box, but recently I've noticed a problem with the cooling of my unit.
The unit came with an AIO Liquid Cooling unit (non-de script CyberPowerPC brand). The unit is mounted on the CPU (Intel Core I7-8700K 3.70GHZ) and is plugged into the CPU_FAN header of the motherboard (ASUS Prime Z370-P). The radiator is mounted on the chassis along with one 120mm fan (also non-de script brand). The fan, however, isn't connected to the AIO Cooling Unit, or to the motherboard. Instead, the 3-pin connector meant to plug into the motherboard has what I can only describe as an "attachment" that is connected to a cable coming directly from the Power Supply (EVGA 600 Watt 80 Plus).
The pump works just fine. It cycles the coolant from the CPU to the radiator as it's supposed to. But the fan that is supposed to get air flowing through the radiator does not. In fact, the fan simply doesn't run at all.
I read up online and thought that I could switch the Pump to the AIO_PUMP header on the motherboard, and I could simply plug in the fan to the CPU_FAN header (using the 3-pin connector). But when I do that, the computer refuses to boot up. A quick look at the BiOS shows that there is nothing plugged into the CPU_FAN, even though the fan is evidently plugged directly to it.
Long story short, it appears that while building my PC, CyberPowerPC decided that instead of plugging the pump into the AIO_PUMP and the fan into the CPU_FAN, they would plug the pump to the CPU_FAN and MacGyver the ONLY FAN MEANT TO BRING AIR THROUGH THE RADIATOR to plug it directly into the power supply.... rendering the 3-pin connector useless. I believe the fan did work at first when I got the PC, but it doesn't anymore, and I can't seem to be able to fix it.
My question is: Should I buy a new 120mm fan that can simply plug into the motherboard (as it should), or should I investigate this whole Power Supply set-up?
Single fans are not all that expensive so I am tempted to just buy a good replacement one that will actually work as intended. The rest of the system works absolutely fine, though I am still confused my what's going on with the Power Supply but I fear my limited knowledge will not be of use there.
Please let me know what you guys make of it. I really don't wanna accidentally incinerate my CPU if I can't get this sorted out.
