Corsair H100i v2 HOT CPU but COOL LIQUID

[flashybios]

Hello,

EDIT: TL;DR Liquid always cool around 35°C that's normal. Read rubixs answer below. Reapplying thermal paste (since it was not even the first time) and mounting the thumb screws without any pressure helped a lot. I did it with just one finger. My temps went down by about 7-8°C! Be sure to get good quality thermal paste. Someone below recommended Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut for OCing. I shook the pump aswell as it was mounted off. Don't know if it help. (Trying to get possible air from the pump to the radiator.)

since there is no cooling category I'm posting here. This is my first time with a water cooling system. (Corsair Link is running and working.)

I installed the Corsair H100i v2 yesterday. Thermal paste is correct and it's right on the cpu. There are no gaps, all 4 thumbs screws are tight. I can see how the paste was pressed out to the sides.

I have noticed that the liquid temp is around 30°C when idle and 35°C under load.
While the cpu is at 25-35°C idle and 65°C under load.

So under load there is this big difference between the hot cpu and the cool liquid in the corsair. The liquid just doesn't seem to get any hotter. That doesn't make any sense to me. It never went over 40°C when the cpu was literally over it's thermal margin.

I'm OCing @4.7GHz. I stopped there since the corsair seems not work right or does it?

Pump and fans of the corsair are both maxed out on load. Pump has always 2970rpm and the fans turn up to 2820rpm which is the maximum. Still a poor cooling effect.

I've in this forum that somebody had air in the pump. He took out the corsair and held the radiator above the pump and then gave it a good shake. Could that be it?

Also: can you guys recommend any other SILENT (at least like <80-60%) SP fans for the radiator? I've read the Noctua NF-F12 are good.

Greets, flashybios

specs:
Mainboard: Gigabyte GA-970A-UD3P
CPU: AMD FX-8350
GPU: MSI GTX 660Ti
OS: Windows 8.1 64-bit
PSU: Thermaltake Berlin 630W

 

[tomotomov92]

Hi,

Can you give a little bit of clarification about how do you test the temps?
I've currently bought the same cooler and OCd i7-6700k to 4.5GHz @ 1.3V and my readings while stress testing shows maximum of 70C with about 22C room temp.

The coolant in the cooler is mostly staying under 35C because of the rad that is cooling it pretty efficient.

For reference - I had an 120mm rad CPU cooler before and while not OCd while gaming the temps went way above 85C so the H100i v2 looks way better.

 

[flashybios]

@Tom:
Thanks for your answer. So your cpu runs hot when your coolant is under 35°C. Never water cooled before so I didn't know this is usual.
Got normal room temp aswell about 21-23°C.
I'm reading the temp sensors with HWiNFO64. In the BIOS the cpu temp is jumpy or jolty. 30, 38, 33, 40, 36, 42°C and so on. The only jolty temp I can read out is the cpu package. So that has to be my cpu temp.

I'm really disappointed if this is how the corsair cools. If these temps are normal for water cooling with the corsair h100i v2 then I don't understand the whole fuzz about water cooling an OCed cpu.
My Scythe air cooler was handling 18-30°C while normal use and usually up to 5°C under ambient when idle. I can only refer to no OC meaning 4GHz (vcore 1.28v or sth).
The corsair handles 35-43°C while normal use but I'm @4.6GHz (vcore 1.406v) right now.

Now I'm reading stuff like "No CLC has ever thermally outperformed an equivalently priced air cooler." and getting really mad I brought this thing. hehe
The main reason to get the corsair was to cool my NB heatsink with a fan because I was just melting at stock settings. So wanted to get a good airflow on the mobo. Best way I thought was to get rid of the massive cpu cooler blocking all the airflow. Now my mobo is cool except the cpu 🙁

 

[tomotomov92]

What tests are you using to test your cpu? I've used AIDA64 Extreme, Asus RealBench and Prime95 v26.6 as my main stability and temperature tests.
Most of the time the temps maxed out around 65C. It is still well below the recommended temps and as these are the worst case scenario temps - in the real world you will be at max of 55C.

Also you should not over tight the screws on the CPU. It may make some issues. You should just tight them strong enough by hand and this should work properly.


About the way to check your temps - you can try the Corsair Link Software (http://www.corsair.com/en-gb/landing/corsair-link-dashboard#page=download).
The only thing that you need to do is connect the pump with the cable to the USB 2.0 header on your motherboard and you will be able to collect a lot of data about it.

I've done some testing with 8 hours of Prime95 v26.6 Blend stress test during the night (please note that the temps in my room get from 22C at the beginning of the night to 12C in the morning) and the temps went from 65C at the beginning of the test to 55C in the morning.


I've done some logs of my tests but they are in CSV format right now so I'll try to make a graph of the temps later with the avg and max temps and the percentage that each temp occured.

 

[rubix_1011]

Liquid temps do not equal your CPU die reported load temps. You CPU load fluctuates so quickly and the reported temp isn't always 100%. Also, liquid has the ability to absorb a large amount of thermal load before actually increasing in temperature itself, aka, specific heat and thermal conductivity. I have a section on this in the watercooling sticky.

 

[flashybios]

I use prime95. Small FFTs maximum heat.
Thumb screw are tightened by hand with both my thumb and pointer finger as much as I could and felt comfortable (not much pressure idk).
As stated above I'm using Corsair Link and everything.

I got 5min prime95 stable @4.6GHz and 1.406vcore. Temps are around 60°C under load.
I got 5min prime95 stable @4.7GHz and 1.475vcore. Temps get around 65°C and it's just way to high to continue.
I don't understand how people get this cpu on 4.8 or 5GHz easy and my temps are just jumping through the roof.
I can't go any further with OCing. Worker stops within first couple of seconds.
I thought this watercooler would allow me to push this cpu a lot. I probably could get a air cooler half the price with the same temps.
What is wrong here? :/

If the liquid temp is normal then I have know idea why the cpu running so hot. It's an amd chip which is melting under load ofc but...
If I can compare this other users with FX8350 and h100i: (from here http://www.overclock.net/t/1318995/official-fx-8320-fx-8350-vishera-owners-club)
5.1ghz 1.46v load temp 61 (my goal lmao)
4.76ghz 1.53v load temp 69 (a bit like mine but he is 0.055v higher than I ever was with 65C)
5.1ghz 1.559v load temp 54 (asus board but still wtf? he is over 1.55v and still cool? room temp 22. maybe he is just playing minesweeper)
4.7ghz 1.475v load temp 47 (EXACTLY what I have, see above. and I'm 65°C on prime)
4.8ghz 1.44v load temp 58
4.6ghz 1.46v load temp 58
4.5ghz 1.43v load temp 59
The last four and all under 1.5v and all under 60C. I'm well over 60C.

My workers stop in prime and my temps are way too high to go further. Fans and pump maxed out. The corsair can't handle my FX-8350. My PSU in only bronze. LLC is on medium always. Can't change it higher because I get blackscreen. Should there be manual RAM timing for my 4x2GB 1333MHz?
I only used multiplier. Tested FSB and it works but one should get it to 4.8GHz with multiplier. Apparently I can't thanks to corsair -.-

Any ideas? Why is the corsair not cooling? Air in the pump? It's 3 days old.

 

[Vellinious]

You can try a really high quality thermal paste, like Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut, to try to bring temps down a tad, but.......as Rubix said, your AIO unit appears to be operating just fine to me. Temps and all.

Also, you should ask those guys what THEY'RE loading with. Prime95 is a heat machine and loads processors far beyond what you'll EVER use in daily use. ASUS Realbench is more of a "daily load" type stability tester.

 

[flashybios]

Apparently the blend test in prime is much more forgiving. I have always choosen small ffts since I watched in a yt video. He said 10-15min with that test show stability when testing OCs. The small fft test crashes after a few secs. I scaled up the vcore until I could run mine like 3-5min and then stopped because of the high temp. I don't see any reason to test hours like other users do. My games don't stress my hardware as much as 8h prime.
I'm right now @4.8GHz and 1.5v. If I test small ffts it instantly crashes but the blender test works for 2min. Haven't tested longer since the cpu is at 61°C which is considered the maximum temp for this chip. Usually it would throttle @61°C.
How do ensure stability? Let's say I want to run my system 5h gaming non-stop with medium high load. If could run 15min or more of prime small ffts I should be fine right? My temps just block this whole thing.

 

[flashybios]

Thanks rubix_1011 I've read your sticky on closed loop water cooling.
My temps would match the delta temps shown in the charts and diagrams. On stock speed!
On stock speed 4ghz 1.28v it's 23°C-30°C idle.
When OCing (4.7&4.8) I get easily 38-50°C idle. While browsing and watching yt it's at 60°C.

I use Artic MX2 atm. It's not the best but with my Scythe air cooler and the MX2 I was 5-7°C LOWER than ambient when idle at stock speed. I'm gonna try to get a premium thermal paste like Vellinious recommended. While I have the cooler out I will shake it, shake it, shake it 😀
Trying to get possible air from the pump to the radiator.

Otherwise last option is to return the corsair. Trying to get it switched out.

 

[Vellinious]

Thanks rubix_1011 I've read your sticky on closed loop water cooling.
My temps would match the delta temps shown in the charts and diagrams. On stock speed!
On stock speed 4ghz 1.28v it's 23°C-30°C idle.
When OCing (4.7&4.8) I get easily 38-50°C idle. While browsing and watching yt it's at 60°C.

I use Artic MX2 atm. It's not the best but with my Scythe air cooler and the MX2 I was 5-7°C LOWER than ambient when idle at stock speed. I'm gonna try to get a premium thermal paste like Vellinious recommended. While I have the cooler out I will shake it, shake it, shake it 😀
Trying to get possible air from the pump to the radiator.

Otherwise last option is to return the corsair. Trying to get it switched out.

You can't cool to lower than ambient on air, and the only way to get there on water, is if you're running a chiller. AMD processors don't read temps correctly at idle, and may tell you that you're running less than ambient, but.....you're not. It could easily be said that AMD's temp readings at idle and close to idle speeds are WILDLY inaccurate.

 

[flashybios]

You can't cool to lower than ambient on air, and the only way to get there on water, is if you're running a chiller. AMD processors don't read temps correctly at idle, and may tell you that you're running less than ambient, but.....you're not. It could easily be said that AMD's temp readings at idle and close to idle speeds are WILDLY inaccurate.

Wow, I learned how to quote 😉
As I read through a lot of article on other forums yesterday I found out the exact same thing. I was trying to find out more about the temp sensors on my board. Most of the messages were about temps in OC with FX chips. I read:
"No normal air/water cooler can cool lower than ambient."
And a LOT of people were advising not to take the AMD temp for real.
"Bruh, the AMD readings under 40°C are shiat." 😀

My air cooler was the Scythe Grand Kama Cross 2 which blows air onto the cpu and not out of back like other cooler. Forget the terms for that. 😛
One time as it was idle I reached behind the cooler at the heat pipes connected to cpu. They were way cooler than anything else I could touch like the case etc. For me they felt significantly colder than ambient. That's why I believed the reading of 15°C or so was correct (normal room temp). I was really stunned how cold the pipes were tbh. However as you said, AMD reading are erroneous.

What I did this morning aka trying to get better temps:
I unscrewed the corsair pump and realized that one third of the lower part of the cpu was not covered in thermal paste. I image I screwed the lower two thumb screws too "hard" on the bracket. I took off all the thermal paste from the copper plate of the pump and put it back on the cpu (since it's like 2 days old). I added a tiny bit to the bottom of the cpu. I tried to get the layer thick enough to provide cooling and thin enough to not see the chip. As I said it's the Arctic MX2. It's a really cheap one and some day I will probably try some high end thermal paste for overclocking like the Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut.
After redoing the paste I put my case on its feet. The radiator is at the top and the pump was hanging down. So I shook the pump a few times and had it hang there for some minutes. Didn't really bring any effect I guess. I can't tell if it was any good.
Then I mounted the pump back on and tried to do it equally and not too "hard". I got all the thumb screws as tight as I could with one pointer finger SLIGHTLY touching it. It was still mounted tight etc.
Result:
Temps are WAY LOWER! Probably due to the even thermal paste and "light" mounting.
Before I got around 65°C with @4.7GHz and 1.475vcore.
Now I'm getting 57°C maximum with the same prime test.
I consider this a huge improvement since I'm still under thermal margin of 61°C for the FX-8350.
Room for improvement with high end paste.
Corsair liquid still around 35°C. Not gonna change in years lmao.

For the fans:
I'm planning on getting the Noctua NF-F12 industrialPPC-3000 if I stay with this water cooler. They have more power than the preinstalled SP120L and I hope Noctuas run quieter at the same speed of the SP120L. Therefore I hope to get less noise during idle and load aswell.

Anyway thanks for the answers. I'm gonna let you how far I could with my OC and if the Noctuas are silent enough to be worth it. Got a lot of things comming up in uni. It's gonna take a while for me to back here. Peace out.