CPU idles at 65 C

[Harrison Prather]

Hello,

I've got a Corsair H60 (or at least something very similar). For the last several days if not weeks I've noticed that my PC was stuttering quite a bit on mundane tasks like web browsing. I had to reboot and my bios halted the boot up saying that the CPU was experiencing a heat event. I've blown out all the dust and reapplied thermal paste 3 or 4 times and it is currently idling at 65 C in the bios. If I boot into Windows, it goes steady around 70 or 75 and if I'm doing anything at all, it'll spike up to low 90s while hovering in the upper 80s. My problem is that I can feel the hot water coming off the water block and I can feel that the water going in is nice and cool. In the bios the CPU fan shows >4000 RPM. To me that indicates that the pump is still working. But why is the idle temp so high? Should I just cave and jump for a new cooler if for no other reason than to test whether that's the problem? It's not manually overclocked, everything in the bios is pretty much stock specs.

Any advice would be very much appreciated.

Specs are Asus X99 Deluxe motherboard (bios is updated to latest version)
Intel i7-5930K

 

[Faktion]

Your cooler is most likely malfunctioning. Do not run your PC at 90C.

Go to bestbuy\microcenter\frys\etc and buy a cheap air cooler.

Install it and verify that your cooler is the problem. If this immediately corrects the problem then send your H60 in for warranty.

 

[JackNaylorPE]

Be aware that when in BIOS, your CPU is not in fact "idling". Well at least it is not down clocking or using any of Intel's power savings technology which will not activate until after Windows loads. My 4770k for example, down clocks to 800MHz after 2 minutes or so in Windows. In the BIOS it's at 3500 MHz, under load (it's overclocked), it climbs to 4700 Mhz.

Also be aware that a cooler like the H60 will never deliver on it's promise.... or better said "expectation". An CLC type water cooling AIO will always be outperformed by an equivalently priced air cooler. The way i explain the choice to people who ask us to build a box for them is this:

"If you want to cool your PC better than a one or two fan CLC, and keep the noise down, use an air cooler. If you want to tell your friends you have water cooling, by a CLC."

$25: Hyper 212
$40 - $55: Various Scythe and Cryorig coolers
$65 - $75: Phanteks PH-TC14-PE
$85 - $90: Noctua NH-D15 or Cryorig R1 Unuversal
$14o - $150: Swiftech H220 X2 / Swiftech H240 X2

As far as TIM application methods

http://archive.benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=170&Itemid=38

All that being said, the unit appears not to be responding properly .... check for appropriate fan and pump speeds.

 

[Faktion]

Be aware that when in BIOS, your CPU is not in fact "idling". Well at least it is not down clocking or using any of Intel's power savings technology which will not activate until after Windows loads. My 4770k for example, down clocks to 800MHz after 2 minutes or so in Windows. In the BIOS it's at 3500 MHz, under load (it's overclocked), it climbs to 4700 Mhz.

Also be aware that a cooler like the H60 will never deliver on it's promise.... or better said "expectation". An CLC type water cooling AIO will always be outperformed by an equivalently priced air cooler. The way i explain the choice to people who ask us to build a box for them is this:

"If you want to cool your PC better than a one or two fan CLC, and keep the noise down, use an air cooler. If you want to tell your friends you have water cooling, by a CLC."

$25: Hyper 212
$40 - $55: Various Scythe and Cryorig coolers
$65 - $75: Phanteks PH-TC14-PE
$85 - $90: Noctua NH-D15 or Cryorig R1 Unuversal
$14o - $150: Swiftech H220 X2 / Swiftech H240 X2

As far as TIM application methods

http://archive.benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=170&Itemid=38

All that being said, the unit appears not to be responding properly .... check for appropriate fan and pump speeds.

I agree about closed loop coolers. I got the h60 from a promo deal for free and gave it a shot some time ago. It wasn't terrible but it wasn't great. My Hyper 212 did a much better job.

It did however keep the temp far more reasonable than what is posted above so something is definitely not right here.

 

[JackNaylorPE]

Yes I agree .... I didn't spend much time on it till end of my post but couldn't really address with info at hand but something is just not right here. Any luck determining pump and fan rpm ?

This appears to be a 3rd rig, not in your siggie. Given what you spent so far .... and assuming that custom loop not in the cards ....

Will case (and budget) fit a 2 x 140mm rad ($150) ? (there is a 2 x 120mm version - $140)

http://www.swiftech.com/h240x2.aspx

-Not closed loop, can be expanded to add GPU water block(s)
-Copper radiator
-No mixed metals which cause galvanic corrosion
-Coolant can be changed or additives replenished
-Pump strong enough (1 gpm) for even SLI
-1/6th as loud as H100
-Looks kinda nice

 

[Faktion]

I'm not the OP, just the first response.

I run D-15's and a full loops personally

 

[JackNaylorPE]

Ooops ... duh moment.

We mostly use Phanteks PH-TC14PEs, and match the heatsink / fan colors to case / MoBo color themes. It's a smaller heat sink but because Phantekls fans outperform Noctua's it manages to sray within 1 degree of the D15.

I'm a custom loop kinda guy ... rigid acrylic tubing as I'm geek-anal to the point almost where I check all the Phillips head screws to make sure they all look like + or X and if everything isn't at perfect right angles and flat horizontal or vertical, if it's slightly off, I can deal w/ it for a while and then one night I am up at 3 am re-cutting tubes to get that one run from 89 to 90

But, you couldn't pay someone... well I wouldn't for the 3 weeks of labor it takes to do that ... so if someone wants water cooling, I won't install a CLC so it's either Swiftech or EK Predator.

Was looking forward to doing a silver build with MSI Titanium, Enthoo Evolve, Silver Aurora coolant but user cancelled ... ... now wants to wait for a Z270 Titanium

 

[Harrison Prather]

Thanks everyone for your input. Y'all are the first I've heard say that a CLC like this isn't that great or even better than an air cooler.

As I said, the BIOS shows that the CPU Fan (which means the pump) is at >4000 RPM. It's gone up to 4800 RPM sometimes. I interpret that as the pump is working, or at least trying to work. And as I mentioned above, I can feel the (very) hot fluid coming out of the water block. I guess the pump might have lost its seal or something (not leaking though) so while it might be reporting as functional in the bios, it isn't pumping efficiently.

Again, as I mentioned above, if I'm in Windows it still goes to absurdly high temps (70-80 C) for either not doing anything or doing very little. I've already ordered another cooler (Corsair H100) so I'll see if that works.

And yeah, I don't know of anybody, including myself, that wants to spend 3 weeks rigging up acrylic water cooling. That doesn't sound like fun at all.

 

[JackNaylorPE]

A. Two common myths in cooling ...

1. CLC's actually do something positive... aside from "I dont wanna look at an air cooler".

2. Lowering GPU temps below throttling point has some kind of performance advantage.

B. I have had calls from plants where operator is telling me pump motor is spinning at xxxx rpm. But something it turned out had gotten into the line, hit the impeller and snapped the shaft ... so motor was spinning, but impeller wasn't ... downstream clogs can occur, and while shaft is spinning, it's at shut off heap pumping no water. Putting a little spin wheel in the lines lets ya know water is flowing

.

C. Do the acrylic build was loads of fun, had a blast doing it. But I did it for myself, much like an auto enthusiast pimps out his ride. But I wouldn't want to do it for someone else, and if I did, they couldn't afford it

The H100i despite being 12 times as loud, can not catch the better air coolers/ .. go to 17:10 mark

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TivNOgQqW-M

68 dbA is like modern vacuum cleaner like noise and it still falls 2-3c short of the better air coolers.

 

[Harrison Prather]

To try to address everyone, I now believe that the H60 was faulty and needed to be replaced.

So I've now bought two H100's to replace the H60's that I had. I run the World Community Grid BOINC agent at full throttle and there is almost no noise. I'm not sure where this other stuff comes from that these coolers are obnoxiously loud or loud as a vacuum cleaner, because they aren't. Maybe an air cooler would be quieter and cooler, maybe not. But all I know is that right now I'm enjoying max temps of 60C at 100% CPU utilization on one computer and max temps of ~53C on another computer at 100% CPU utilization. I'm concerned about where the notions some of you have are coming from. Also the low temps are hovering around <35C on both computers when I turn off the BOINC client.

 

[JackNaylorPE]

Where do these notions come from ? Test results using sophisticated instrumentation in published reviews and our own test beds.

Yes, they are obnoxiously loud when they are run at speeds that allow them to compete with an air cooler. Noise may affect everyone different but the numbers do not lie. A modern vacuum cleaner runs at 70 dbA.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYKdKVxbnp8

What do the test instruments tell us ?

The Noctua managed to deliver 70C at a rather quiet 33 dbA.... equivalent to a quiet bedroom... at night !

The Swiftech Cooler outperforms the Noc delivering temps of 64C but to do that, it needs to be more than twice as loud.

The Corsair H100i CLC can't keep up with the Noc managing just 73C temps but to do that it needs to run its extreme rpm fans full tilt and produces a whopping 68 dbA. That is 12 times louder than the Noctua. That is not subject to debate; those are the numbers head to head using the same box and the same instruments.

Lets look again.... Listening to this video, I'd have to put my PC in another room and buy some really, really long cables if i had to use the PC past 55% CPU load. This is real, not imagined ... it's a recording

https://youtu.be/cTf0Vq1j4Ec (23:00 mark)

There is nothing to "enjoy" about lower temps than bragging rights ... the purpose of improving cooling in a PC is to correct a deficient condition. If you are a car enthusiast and your engine weighs 450 pounds, then you are no better off buying a hoist rated for 2500 pounds than 500 pounds. You bought something more than a stock cooler because you want to hit a certain OC. The CPU will be limited by Temps up to a certain point at which time voltage concerns will be the primary consideration.

The fact remains, that in a head to head test, the Noctua NH-D15 provides lower CPU temps than the H100i. That is not debatable because the results are repeated in test after test. It is also not debatable that, when both coolers are pushed to the max, the H100 is 12 times louder (IIRC, it's actually 11.5 or something).

Now as indicated above, you do not need to always run the units at full tilt as the cooler may be more than capable at your desired OC. If we try and set 40 dbA as our tolerable noise level, we see the follwoing"

Noctua Air Cooler = 70C / 33 dbA
Swiftech OLC = 66C / 39 dbA
Corsair 100i = 76C / 39 dbA

So we see that you could enjoy your temps much more choosing the Swiftech over the 100i to the tune of a whopping 10C at the same noise level. But the much cheaper Noctua air cooler still beats the H100i by a very significant 6C and it does it by being only 60% as loud.