CPU Overheating Liquid Cooler Suddenly

[varthel]

Hi,

Here is my PC build:
Asus H81I-PLUS Motherboard
Intel i5 4460 Quad Core CPU
Corsair Hydro Series H55
x2 ARCTIC F8 - 80 mm
Cooler Master Elite 110 - Mini-ITX
Corsair Builder Series CXM 500W Modular 80 PLUS
Kingston Technology 240GB
x1 Corsair 8GB DDR3-1600
GIGABYTE GeForce GTX 960 2GB

I recently came back from holiday (2 weeks) and I've been having some unfortunate issues with my CPU overheating. I never checked the temperature of my CPU prior to this but at the moment, it is getting to around 60-70 degrees celcius on idle. Which I think is rather high?

I was playing a game yesterday (League of Legends which I don't think is very demanding); all of a sudden, my game lagged (not because of internet) and I was having trouble ending it via ctrl + alt + del. Eventually I could and tried to reset my PC, I was unable to reset it so I used the power button to do it manually. Upon rebooting, I got a warning message saying that my CPU was over 170 degrees Fahrenheit (77 degrees celcius) which really alarmed me.

It's a new PC and I've used it for about 1-2 months prior to my holiday without any issues. I suspect it has something to do with the liquid cooler, the cooler has two pipes and one of the pipes is significantly hotter than the other upon touch, and (I think) the heat interchanges between the pipes. I was told by an IT technician that the heat from one of the pipes shouldn't be that noticable in comparison to the other but I can feel a significant difference in temperature. I placed my head next to the radiator and I can hear a noise, which gives me the impression that it is working. The only thing I am unsure about is the CPU cooler itself, I cannot remove it from the motherboard because two of the screws have worn into the plastic that holds the screws and it won't unscrew. Therefore, I cannot see if the thermal paste has been applied correctly. My PC never had any overheating issues before hand so would it be safe to assume the thermal paste is correctly applied? Can anyone suggest anything? Does this sound like a faulty cooler?

I've seen the temperature go to above 80 degrees celcius which is very worrying.

Kind regards.

 

[RageGamingZone]

Well, normally if you would feel one of the pipe being hotter then the other one, that would logically be the output and if there is heat then most likely the past is doing its job (in theory) but possible could be redone just to be safe. The question in this case might be, is the water flowing fast enough for heat to go through the whole system and reach the radiator. Water speed is very important to keep the temp constant throughout the cooling system, if the water is too slow, then the heat wont disperse and you might get over heat, if the water flow is too fast then the same thing can actually happen since the water wont have the time to release the heat and get cooled once it reaches the radiator. The flow must be just right.

 

[varthel]

Well, normally if you would feel one of the pipe being hotter then the other one, that would logically be the output and if there is heat then most likely the past is doing its job (in theory) but possible could be redone just to be safe. The question in this case might be, is the water flowing fast enough for heat to go through the whole system and reach the radiator. Water speed is very important to keep the temp constant throughout the cooling system, if the water is too slow, then the heat wont disperse and you might get over heat, if the water flow is too fast then the same thing can actually happen since the water wont have the time to release the heat and get cooled once it reaches the radiator. The flow must be just right.

Many thanks for the reply. Is this something that I can test out and fix? I'm planning to get my cooler removed by taking my motherboard out. Or would it be best to use my warranty to get an exchange?

 

[RageGamingZone]

if this is still under warranty then go with that for sure, you shouldn't get overheating if your system would be properly built and that all parts are fully functional with adequate thermal paste applied.