Corsair h100i v2 heat transfer problem?

[saprzyuski]

I just got an h100i v2, expecting better cooling than my super loud old air cooler. Installing it sucked, cause it took me forever to figure out that my old asus motherboard is thinner than other ones and I had to use a different backplate, but i eventually got it installed. I put it on with only the pre-applied thermal paste and a normal amount of pressure. When I ran intelburntest to check temps, they were exactly the same as with the air cooler, around 80 degrees. I was disappointed by this, but still happy because my computer is much quieter, but when I installed corsair link I saw that even when cpu temps were really high, the "h100i v2" sensor never broke 30 degrees, and when i put my hand over the radiator, there was almost no heat coming out.

Ambient temps 20 degrees celsius or lower
Running an i7-920 (ancient I know but it does what I need it to with a light overclock at stock voltage) on an asus p6t

 

[devbiker]

First, the backplate should be a little loose or "wiggly" before you mount the cooler. This is normal and using washer or other things to make it tight before you mount the cooler can cause contact issues. This will have a direct impact on heat transfer.

Second, you need to make sure that the fan header that the cooler is connected to (usually the CPU header) is set to 100%/full speed. If you do not, the cooler will not get the full 12V that it needs to operate properly. What were your pump speeds in Link? They should be ~2000 RPM for "Quiet" mode and ~3000 RPM for performance mode. If those aren't the pump speeds that you are seeing, then you aren't giving the pump the correct power.

 

[saprzyuski]

First, the backplate should be a little loose or "wiggly" before you mount the cooler. This is normal and using washer or other things to make it tight before you mount the cooler can cause contact issues. This will have a direct impact on heat transfer.

Second, you need to make sure that the fan header that the cooler is connected to (usually the CPU header) is set to 100%/full speed. If you do not, the cooler will not get the full 12V that it needs to operate properly. What were your pump speeds in Link? They should be ~2000 RPM for "Quiet" mode and ~3000 RPM for performance mode. If those aren't the pump speeds that you are seeing, then you aren't giving the pump the correct power.

I looked up the loose backplate thing when i was installing it and people were saying asus motherboards were a bit thinner, and even though it's supposed to be a little wiggly, washers are necessary for these. Idk if that's truly the case, but even if it isn't, the backplate that came with it doesn't really fit in my case, and wouldn't be wiggly at all on one side if I jammed it in there. I am going to try remounting it a little less hurriedly with some aftermarket thermal paste though.

As for the fan and pump speeds, though I don't think that would be the problem because the coolant is too cool, yes I have it plugged into the cpu fan header, with the pump at ~2800 rpm and the fans going up to ~2000 (though these sound like helicopters at that speed).

 

[devbiker]

Yeah, I've seen a lot of stuff on the Internet that isn't quite accurate. I've had that cooler installed on an Asus Maximus IX. It was wiggly at first but tightened right down and worked like a charm, no washers required. I would remove the washers and see how it mounts without them.

And yes, I agree that the coolant temps didn't indicate a problem with power but that is something that is so common that I'd be remiss if I didn't mention it. Failure to power the pump correctly is a major source of issues as well as pump failure. Just make sure that you check that header to make sure it's at 100%.

And I disagree. They don't sound like helicopters. They sound like a 737 at takeoff. I did replace mine with ML-120's and they were much, much quieter.

 

[saprzyuski]

Yeah, I've seen a lot of stuff on the Internet that isn't quite accurate. I've had that cooler installed on an Asus Maximus IX. It was wiggly at first but tightened right down and worked like a charm, no washers required. I would remove the washers and see how it mounts without them.

And yes, I agree that the coolant temps didn't indicate a problem with power but that is something that is so common that I'd be remiss if I didn't mention it. Failure to power the pump correctly is a major source of issues as well as pump failure. Just make sure that you check that header to make sure it's at 100%.

And I disagree. They don't sound like helicopters. They sound like a 737 at takeoff. I did replace mine with ML-120's and they were much, much quieter.

I don't have washers on it at all, I'm just using the backplate from my old cooler. The biggest problem I had with mounting it though was just that the backplate doesn't fit in my case, which is as old as my cpu.