CPU cooler pump dying?

Valentyn · August 15, 2016

I have a corsair H110i GT that's now idling my system in the high 60's at stock speeds and mid 80's when overclocked.

Specs are
i7 5820K 4.3Ghz 1.25v Been running this since the system was built March 2015

Asus X99 Deluxe

Fury X mounted at the back of the chassis

Corsair 32GB RAM DDR4

Corsair H110i with two Noctua Industrial 2000rpm AF14s. Mounted on the top.
EVGA G2 1000W PSU

Well I recently noticed my system was running hotter than usual while rendering and encoding in Premiere Pro, at first I thought it was just the summer. We've been having a hotter than usual one in Ireland where I am,

Then my system started hitting the 90's, then mid 90's and then 104! Well over specs, and it used to max around 80's during long encoding and rendering times.

I took off the cpu block, as I thought something might have gone wrong there. Cleaned it off, applied new Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut using credit card technique/thermal grizzly spreader

Temps were still hot, so took it all apart again, and tried the X method. Still nothing.
I noticed a bit of a rattle from the CPU block after that installation as well, and I'm now running the CPU downclocked just to be able to post there.
It's currently idling in the high 60's, and so is the pump. The pump is apparently at 64 degrees as well, and also at ~3150RPMs. Although if I change the pump speed lower the temps skyrocket even more.

I've also tried loosing and tightening the CPU block down more to see if it was possibly a contact issue, but each time I took the block off the spread looked decent.

I take it I just need to replace the entire closed loop cooler to get this sorted? It also doesn't help I'm using the H440 chassis, although I was considering replacing it soon'ish with the Enthoo Luxe.

Does anyone have any ideas or suggestions?

TheAmazingCookieFromSquare · August 15, 2016

yes pump dying

Valentyn · August 16, 2016

Someone on OcUK said they recently had a similar issue; and they suggested it might be some trapped air, or particle in the pump, and that they took out the cooler and gave it a good shake.

I just shook the thing with all my pent up rage and installed it again. On the system now after 15 minutes at Stock speeds and voltage I'm idling at 45 degrees in Core Temp and 50 degrees in Corsair Link. A massive improvement; but still hotter than it use to be.

I use to get an average CPU temp of 48 in Firestrike Ultra at 4.3Ghz 1.2v, and it peaked at 69 degrees after an hour of encoding in Handbrake and Premiere Pro.

The pump itself is also at 44 degrees, it use to be much cooler than the CPU package.

Although when I started the system back up I heard a god awful LOUD "WHIR" coming from the pump. I tapped the pump a bit harder than expected and the awful sound stopped.

Although I can now hear the pump; there's still a little whir sound, but it doesn't sound like a small blender anymore. I was never able to even hear the pump with it at Performance mode ~3150RPM.

I really does look like the pump is going, either from wear and tear, or as mentioned it had a stuck particle or some trapped air in there; which has caused the motor to wear out.

My comparison my Fury X is idling at 31 degrees.

Either way it looks like I'll have to replace my H110i soon; as that annoying slight whir sound is there, and louder than the fans.

My main issue with large air coolers is the access to other parts. The Noctua NH d15 on my motherboard means it'll be impossible to remove my GPU without first removing the cooler. A massive pain to be sure, and the better AIO coolers like the EK 240 are extremely thick, making installation a hassle in most chassis.

For the first time in years I feel kinda lost as to what to get