A few questions about installed water cooler.

[Archer27]

So tonight I installed my water cooler(Lepa Aquachanger 240) and for my first liquid cooling install I think I did a decent job.

I removed the CPU from it's socket to clean the old paste off more effectively and am powering the pump directly from the power supply via Sata/Peripirhal to Molex .

Upon booting up after the change I got a few messages:

"Overclock failed"
"Asus anti-surge was triggered to protect system from unstable power supply"
"Keyboard"
"New Processor Installed"

After a reboot, these messages went away and haven't come back. Is it because I reseated the CPU and added the pump and 2 radiator fans to the electrical load? Is it normal? Should I be concerned?

Power supply is stable, voltages read what they are supposed to. VCCIN has actually increased from 1690 to 1740 at idle however actual core voltage remains roughly the same as before.

Ran Short FFT in Prime 95 for 10 mins, stable with core temps maxing out at 58c...much better than before.

 

[Archer27]

The driver clean install didn't help. Going to try the clean install of Windows. Hopefully this will work.

 

[Archer27]

UPDATE: I have completely reinstalled Windows. Currently running Nvidia Driver 362.00. Checked all wiring inside the case as well as ran chkdsk on both drives. To late tonight to test the clean install out on some games tonight, however I will get back to you tomorrow night with the results. Here's hoping we fixed it!

 

[Darkbreeze]

Fingers crossed, prayers up to the PC Gods!

 

[Archer27]

This:

http://www.tomshardware.com/faq/id-2767677/clean-graphics-driver-install-windows.html


And if that doesn't work, despite the PITA it might entail, I'd say start fresh. Reset BIOS to optimal default settings, do a CLEAN install of Windows (Not just a reinstall, refresh, reset or rollback, but a clean install, including deleting all partitions on drive 0 boot drive and recreating the boot partition. Be sure to do this with all other drives disconnected so there are no problems with previous boot partitions that may be on other drives that have had Windows installed on them in the past, and are hidden):

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/1649-clean-install-windows-7-a.html



And then reinstall all your applications. I hope it goes without saying that you should back up any important documents, files, settings and make sure you know your product key, before doing the clean install so you can reactivate Windows afterwards.

Fingers crossed, prayers up to the PC Gods!

We are forsaken 🙁. While some aspects seem to have improved, the spikes still occur.
Again ironiclly the CPU and GPU benchmark the same, if not better(Heaven and CPU-Z)
The spike seems to be far more prominent in the online games however I heard that lag and fps are unrelated.
I do use a wireless internet connection because that is my only option. Ping doesn't affect actual fps right?
The fps issue seems to manifest itself randomly...not attributed to anything in particular(although I have noticed it's worse when rendering certain environment types in the games).
My wireless card has been making noise a bit when transmitting large amounts of data, it is possible the high pitched frequency is upsetting my graphics card's operation as they are right next to each other?

I ram memtest as well. Perfect...no issues. I assume with all the hardware tests I've run on the CPU and GPU an issue would have manifested itself right?

Could the water pump still be affecting the CPU?
The fps issue is spikes, rather than a constant low fps. It will be 59-62 fps and then all of a sudden drop to 44-50.. then right back up to 60. Frankly it makes no sense.

If only computers were as easy as cars....lol

UPDATE: Out of Paranoia that it is CPU related, I just ran Short FFT on Prime for a half hour while monitoring all vitals. No errors, no slowdowns, stable clock speed, stable voltage and excellent temps sub 60c.
Can we rule out the CPU? lol

 

[Darkbreeze]

I don't THINK the CPU is the problem. Never know though. Even after 25-30 years of working with computers, it never fails to amaze me how something new and previously unseen can manifest itself, or things that have worked 100 times before, literally, fail to work on one particular occasion.

Are you on the latest bios version? Most recent is 0802. What version are you on?

 

[Archer27]

I don't THINK the CPU is the problem. Never know though. Even after 25-30 years of working with computers, it never fails to amaze me how something new and previously unseen can manifest itself, or things that have worked 100 times before, literally, fail to work on one particular occasion.

Are you on the latest bios version? Most recent is 0802. What version are you on?

I am not, actually I was holding off on it because I was afraid it might mess things up more.
Keep in mind, until this week, everything was working flawlessly.
My Bios is what came with the board, dated 2015ish

If it helps, Ill give you more information about my system. I run the OS off a SSD while all my games, installs and data is on a regular HDD(it is a brand new HDD as this computer is all new, just built two weeks ago).

When I say everything except the OS runs off the drive, I do mean everything including the antivirus. However, it hasn't been a problem before. Chkdsk did come up clean on it and I doubt it needs a defrag at 0% fragmentation.

 

[Darkbreeze]

I'd update to version 0802 immediately. There have been like eight revisions, most of which deal with stability and compatibility, as well as some microcode revisions. Could easily be relevant to your problem. You only need to install the latest version, not all the versions in between.

 

[Archer27]

I'd update to version 0802 immediately. There have been like eight revisions, most of which deal with stability and compatibility, as well as some microcode revisions. Could easily be relevant to your problem. You only need to install the latest version, not all the versions in between.

Why would the problem suddenly emerge though? It was working fine...although I get what your saying about things getting finicky.

I updated my last post on my hard drive setup, just to give you more info about my rig.

As far as updating the BIOS, what is the best way to go about it?
Should I put the update on an external drive and install upon boot?
What's the chance it will brick my system?

 

[Archer27]

UPDATE:

Per your suggestion, I successfully updated my system BIOS to 602(My Mobo has the USB 3.1 so 802 is not compatible).

Will test games tomorrow as once again, it is a little late. I did run two more graphics intensive benchmarks, one in Heaven and the other in EVGA OC Scanner. No obvious problems and same scores as usual. Update on game performance tomorrow.
We will trace this gremlin in my system down!

 

[Darkbreeze]

What version of Windows are you running?

Kudos on getting the BIOS updated. It's always a good idea to be on the most recent bios and it's not that anything would suddenly start happening because of being on an older version, although it can if a Windows update effects specific changes that affect or require a certain microcode version, but it's just senseless to try and track down a problem that may have already been resolved though changes to the firmware.

At least that way, you know THAT isn't the problem.

And just for the record, can you please review what is and is not working correctly now? I know you have some serious dips in frame rates, but are there any of the original issues still happening?

 

[Archer27]

What version of Windows are you running?

Kudos on getting the BIOS updated. It's always a good idea to be on the most recent bios and it's not that anything would suddenly start happening because of being on an older version, although it can if a Windows update effects specific changes that affect or require a certain microcode version, but it's just senseless to try and track down a problem that may have already been resolved though changes to the firmware.

At least that way, you know THAT isn't the problem.

And just for the record, can you please review what is and is not working correctly now? I know you have some serious dips in frame rates, but are there any of the original issues still happening?

Windows 7 64 bit Professional.
As far as what is working correctly, I have not seen the "New CPU Installed" message or any of the others since they displayed the one time(after the water cooler install).

My Power Supply is a top of the line Seasonic Platinum 760W

After the watercooler install, my benchmarks improved(for example Heaven went from 838 to 850 consistently with MORE FPS and a higher minimum and maximum as well as average) on every front from GPU to CPU.
My system boots faster(since clean OS install), not sure why as the install was pretty clean to begin with but I'm not complaining.
BIOS settings are Optimized
By original issues, I believe you mean't the POST messages.
The day before I installed the cooler, I did indeed update Windows.

Still at work, but I will play some games when I get home, to see if the BIOS update helped at all.

 

[Darkbreeze]

If it still has this issue after everything you've done, I'd say it is a problem with the card.

 

[techgeek]

If you think you've narrowed it down the graphics card, do you have another system that you can try the card in? If the behaviour continues in another system then you can be certain that it's the graphics card.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Not necessarily. We've seen plenty of cards that seemed fine in another system, but exhibited problems in the primary one, that when replaced no longer had issues. Just because they SEEM to be ok in another system doesn't ALWAYS mean that the card is not the problem. Differences in chipset, bios firmware, power considerations, the operating system and what is actually being done WITH the card can all magnify a flaw and may not do so on a separate system that doesn't have the exact same configuration.

That being said, USUALLY, you would be right. In fact 9 times out of ten if it does it on one system it will do the same thing, or SOMETHING, to indicate it has a problem, when moved to another system. Most people don't have a second desktop to test it out in though, and a lot of people don't have friends or family willing to allow you to put your potentially faulty hardware in their system. If you do, then it's great. If not, then other methods needs be employed.

 

[Archer27]

Alright, so I can finally give an update.
It would seem things have improved....slightly.

The most noticeable improvement was in Guild Wars 2, however there is still a slight stutter.

Most noticably, in Guild Wars 2 in particular, when I make a quick turn of the camera, or look in certain directions, the FPS drops.

In Streetfighter V, the drop is much more pronounced, however, the stutter is now between 50-60fps rather than 40-60.

Is it possible for a brand new card to do this?

Can overtightening cooler screws cause this? I made the cooler really snug when I installed it, I'm so used to high torque working on cars, I tryed to be as careful as possible. I tightened the screws like I would an intake manifold or lug nuts in sequence.

The CPU usage DOES NOT correlate to the stutter and drops as far as I can tell.

The pump is resting on the capacitors near the cpu socket, I assume that's ok?

 

[Archer27]

If you think you've narrowed it down the graphics card, do you have another system that you can try the card in? If the behaviour continues in another system then you can be certain that it's the graphics card.

I don't have another system capable of running a GTX960 to its potential. No CPU here at the house is as good as my OC'ed 4460 either. Everyone else here has a Dell machine lol.
I'm the only one with a custom built PC.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Can you post pics of the pump "touching" the caps? That doesn't sound right, and I've never heard of any water block that should be touching anything else on the board aside from the CPU, unless it was a monoblock intended to also cool other components of the motherboard.

It's also possible you are too tight. Fasteners should be tightened exactly as outlined in the installation manual. No more, no less. More can be bad. I've seen MANY air cooled systems that had a variety of ghost issues due to overtightening of the heatsink bracket. Could even damage the motherboard that way.

 

[Archer27]

The manual was not specific at all about tightening...all it said was "tighten".

The screws are spring loaded and they thread into standoffs that go on the board which in turn are threaded through a backplate.

 

[Archer27]

What happened to the pictures I posted?

 

[Darkbreeze]

Sorry, had to delete your post. It was causing page errors. You can't post HTML code into the page. You must use only the image tags and you must link to an image hosting url such as www.tinypic.com/mypic.jpg. I did see the images though, and it's hard to call. Let me check something and I'll be back.

 

[Archer27]

Sorry, had to delete your post. It was causing page errors. You can't post HTML code into the page. You must use only the image tags and you must link to an image hosting url such as www.tinypic.com/mypic.jpg. I did see the images though, and it's hard to call. Let me check something and I'll be back.

Understood. I look forward to your reply.

 

[Darkbreeze]

You can repost them using the regular image tags if you like. I'd suggest using a regular image hosting site like imgur or tinypic and post them like this:

 

[Darkbreeze]

So, that LEPA cooler says it's compatible with LGA 1150, so it SHOULD be ok. I'd say if the water block/heatsink is just lightly resting on those caps then it's probably fine, might even help them dissipate some heat, but anything more than light contact is questionable if it's not specifically designed to do that. I could be wrong too. I've never seen a water block have intereference issues on a board it was designed to fit, although just because it's designed to fit the socket doesn't mean it will work with the board configuration. We see problems like this with certain air coolers too where one board model in a certain chipset/socket will accept a cooler, but another in the same one won't because the memory slots or something else is too close.

I'm afraid I don't have a definitive answer on that one. I think it's ok, but I can't say for 100%. Let me get our water cooling guru to offer an opinion. See if you can repost those images too.

 

[Archer27]

You can repost them using the regular image tags if you like. I'd suggest using a regular image hosting site like imgur or tinypic and post them like this:

So, that LEPA cooler says it's compatible with LGA 1150, so it SHOULD be ok. I'd say if the water block/heatsink is just lightly resting on those caps then it's probably fine, might even help them dissipate some heat, but anything more than light contact is questionable if it's not specifically designed to do that. I could be wrong too. I've never seen a water block have intereference issues on a board it was designed to fit, although just because it's designed to fit the socket doesn't mean it will work with the board configuration. We see problems like this with certain air coolers too where one board model in a certain chipset/socket will accept a cooler, but another in the same one won't because the memory slots or something else is too close.

I'm afraid I don't have a definitive answer on that one. I think it's ok, but I can't say for 100%. Let me get our water cooling guru to offer an opinion. See if you can repost those images too.

Gotcha. Working on the repost now

 

[Archer27]