Question Asetek 7th Generation AIO Pump Noise - Is this normal? (MSI MEG CORELIQUID S360 & Asus Ryujin II 360)

[Lumberjack88]

I recently bought an MSI MEG CORELIQUID S360 AIO CPU cooler and noticed a strange, high-frequency noise coming from the pump. The speciality of this pump - and most probably the source of this noise - is a little fan on top of the CPU water block, that cools down the VRAM and RAM heat in the vicinity. Here's a video so you can hear what I mean:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/t17stmrar6cuyvw/MSI_Noise.mp4?dl=0

Since this is an Asetek 7th generation pump which is not only used on this particular MSI AIO, but on others like the ASUS Ryujin II etc. , I'd like to hear other users experiences with these type of AIO cooler.

Is this noise normal or is my unit damaged?

As far as cooling goes, my 5950x temperatures are at about 70° when cinebench is running, so I guess the MSI AIO must be doing it's job correctly.

 

[Karadjgne]

With an aio, there's only 2 things that make noise. The fans and the pump. Generally, any pump noise (if any at all) is totally lost in the noise of every other fan in the case, same as the psu fan.

So that whine you are hearing is not from the pump. It's from that tiny fan mounted to the pump. It is somewhat useful for cooling VRM's, but if that's not necessary, it's customizable on the msi software, I believe.

The smaller the fan, the faster it spins to create any kind of airflow. The faster a fan spins, the noisier it gets.

 

[Lumberjack88]

With an aio, there's only 2 things that make noise. The fans and the pump. Generally, any pump noise (if any at all) is totally lost in the noise of every other fan in the case, same as the psu fan.

So that whine you are hearing is not from the pump. It's from that tiny fan mounted to the pump. It is somewhat useful for cooling VRM's, but if that's not necessary, it's customizable on the msi software, I believe.

The smaller the fan, the faster it spins to create any kind of airflow. The faster a fan spins, the noisier it gets.

That was my initial guess, too. It just had to be this tiny pump fan that produces this high-pitched noise, almost HDD clicking sound.

But what worries me is that there's still noise from the pump even when I set the "water block fan" (I think that's the fan that is supposed to cool the VRAM and RAM) to 0 RPM inside MSI Center and Pump fan to it's lowest possible setting (the pump fan won't go lower than 50% of max RPM even in custom mode).

You can hear that custom minimal mode around 1:00 in the video above.

There's still that high-pitched noise, albeit it a bit less noticeable. But even at 0 RPM, I can still hear it. That's why I think that something might be wrong with my pump fan. If other users are experiencing the same thing with their 7th gen Asetek AIO, then it must be the norm, but so far I'm a bit skeptical...

 

[Karadjgne]

Well pumps vibrate, a lot. And your pump has additional stuff attached to it, the fan and OLED display.

Sometimes pumps do make a little bit of noise, being 7th Gen is irrelevant, happens with any pump, all it takes is one vane a fraction of a degree, or a nanometer out of perfect alignment motor, and you'll get noise.

But I'd check for a good seat, all screws tight, no possibility of a loose mount on the OLED or fan etc before freaking out about a noisy pump. Every generation of asetek,apaltek, CoolIt, EK, swiftech, AlphaCool and others who make any kind of liquid cooling pump, can make noise.

Most don't, but it does happen.

 

[Lumberjack88]

I checked the seating, the screws etc. and everything seems to be alright. The cooling function is also good, which leads me to believe that everything is alright. The only thing left is the confirmation of other users that use the same type of pump with a fan on top of it, as not many AIO coolers feature that type of pump.

So, is there anybody out there with either an ASUS II Ryujin 360 or an MSI S360 that can confirm this noise as normal? Does yours sound the same as mine?

 

[evilspleen1213]

Glad I found this. I'm new to AIOs and experiencing a similar noise with a Ryujin II. Like yours, it seems to be working just fine otherwise. Here's what it sounds like when I crank the pump speed all the way up:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/qbrikxs4bzl4lp3/ryujin2.mp4?dl=0

I'm also curious as to how normal this is.