[SOLVED] Custom watercooling at high temperatures

Hugo Bryan

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Apr 29, 2015
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Hello, I have just built my first cutom water cooler
I believe I've built it correctly

The problem is, while idling the CPU temps goes arround 33-36C
While gaming it goes to 70 instantaneous and stress testing it goes to 75-76C

Here's the things i've tried so far:
Check thermal compound and if the CPU block is actually touching the processor correctly

Changing the cooling liquid to: Distilled water, Tapped Water and actual Fluid.

Going to the bios and setting all the Fan speed to maximum, including the waterpump which is now running at about 4000 rpm

And also, since I've never built a water cooler like this before I don't know if that is right or not but I noticed that both tubes are really cold and the radiator are cold as well even when the CPU is at 100% usage and 76C
The CPU is a 7700k and it is running at stock speeds (4.5ghz and 1.20vcore)

sdmi93im01m41.jpg
 
Solution
That CPU block does look very generic at a glance, so I would agree that there likely isn't a dedicated flow direction.

It should be easy to validate the contact the block is making with the CPU IHS by pulling it up to see the thermal paste patch on both; that is assuming there isn't an issue with accessing the backplate or mounting hardware to re-mount it (with a fresh set of paste).

Otherwise, I'm in agreement with the crap-tastic Intel paste used between the IHS and die. Delidding wasn't anywhere near as common as it became with the i7 7th and 8th gen CPUs.

EndEffeKt_24

Commendable
Mar 27, 2019
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With 7. gen intel I imidiately think about all the problems with the tim under the ihs. The fact that your temps instantly skyrocket would point to bad heat transfer between cpu and block or within the cpu itself.
A lot of people delidded those chips because of problems of heat transfer as far as I remember.
 
Mar 9, 2020
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I have had some problems with intel before, Especially the i7s I would replace your thermal paste, make sure your pump is running and apply a .2 ghz overclock, the stupid things sometimes run cooler with a slight overclock for some reason.
 

Hugo Bryan

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Apr 29, 2015
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With 7. gen intel I imidiately think about all the problems with the tim under the ihs. The fact that your temps instantly skyrocket would point to bad heat transfer between cpu and block or within the cpu itself.
A lot of people delidded those chips because of problems of heat transfer as far as I remember.

I used this CPU for months with air cooling with high temps such as 80-83C
So maybe because of this i'm having such high temps now?
 
Mar 9, 2020
41
3
35
to my knowledge you might have a faulty cpu, I would try what I recommended since i7s sometimes act funny at stock speeds, if that doesn't fix it I would try to get a warranty claim.
 
Having the tubing be cold is usually an indication of decent flow, especially since your pump is at 100%.

Do you see the water flowing into the reservoir?

What pump and block do you have? Is there an inlet/outlet marked on the block?

Depending on your room temp, the idle temps dont seem to be high. The load is a tad high, but not crazy. It's a 240mm rad? What's the thickness?

Have you actually verified voltage under load? Making sure it's not going out of apec for some reason?

Like said above, it could possibly be the ihs issue. But delid should be a last resort.
 

Hugo Bryan

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Apr 29, 2015
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Having the tubing be cold is usually an indication of decent flow, especially since your pump is at 100%.

Do you see the water flowing into the reservoir?

What pump and block do you have? Is there an inlet/outlet marked on the block?

Depending on your room temp, the idle temps dont seem to be high. The load is a tad high, but not crazy. It's a 240mm rad? What's the thickness?

Have you actually verified voltage under load? Making sure it's not going out of apec for some reason?

Like said above, it could possibly be the ihs issue. But delid should be a last resort.

Yes, I did see the water flowing into the resevoir;

Nope, i didn't see any "inlet/outlet" mark on the block;

I can't answer about what kind of block or pump it is, I just know that it is a SC600 DC 12V water pump;

Room temps about 24-27C, yes it is a 240mm rad; I'll check the thickness once i get home;

Didn't check voltage under load yet, good idea, i'll do
 
Is this a budget/cheap block? If so, you may not see the performance of say an ek or other name brand block. But some blocks are setup to have the flow one way, this doesn't sound like the case here.

If you're seeing water go back into the res, you can most likely rule out a flow issue. At least as far as pump/res is concerned.

See what happens under load to voltages, etc. Also check to see if mce is enabled. That will lock all cores at boost clock.

Your room temp to idle temp is good. I'd not worry about idle temps. You can expect to see 10-15 over ambient, so your ok there.

You may also try and lower the pump speed. To fast of flow over the cpu can cause it to not pull enough heat away.
 
Last edited:

rubix_1011

Contributing Writer
Moderator
Usually CPU blocks (or any blocks) come with documentation which should indicate the I/O ports and flow indication. If there is not any, you can possibly assume there is not meant to be a set directional flow, although I would be skeptical buying a product that didn't provide this level of detail.
 

Hugo Bryan

Reputable
Apr 29, 2015
28
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4,545
Usually CPU blocks (or any blocks) come with documentation which should indicate the I/O ports and flow indication. If there is not any, you can possibly assume there is not meant to be a set directional flow, although I would be skeptical buying a product that didn't provide this level of detail.
I don't have any documentation on the CPU block sadly
This Watercooler kit was a gift and came with nothing
 

Hugo Bryan

Reputable
Apr 29, 2015
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4,545
If you're seeing water go back into the res, you can most likely rule out a flow issue. At least as far as pump/res is concerned.

See what happens under load to voltages, etc. Also check to see if mce is enabled. That will lock all cores at boost clock.

I can see the water flowing all over the tubes and the reservoir.

I'll definitely try to change the voltages once I got home

Thanks for all the answers
 

rubix_1011

Contributing Writer
Moderator
That CPU block does look very generic at a glance, so I would agree that there likely isn't a dedicated flow direction.

It should be easy to validate the contact the block is making with the CPU IHS by pulling it up to see the thermal paste patch on both; that is assuming there isn't an issue with accessing the backplate or mounting hardware to re-mount it (with a fresh set of paste).

Otherwise, I'm in agreement with the crap-tastic Intel paste used between the IHS and die. Delidding wasn't anywhere near as common as it became with the i7 7th and 8th gen CPUs.
 
Solution