Question Getting high cpu temps with AIO cooler

[H41K0]

Hello, I just wanna know if there’s something I can do to make my temps cooler, I got this pc about 8 months ago and everything was fine, I’ve been playing games and didn’t have any issue until a few weeks now, recently I’ve been getting higher temps I used to idle at 35-40 now I idle at 45 and some times when I’m playing a game it gets to 70-80 and when I close everything to idle it stays at 60 c, there were times when it would get to 70c with nothing open, i change the power settings of the cpu, and it helped for some time, but now I can’t play heavy games because my cpu would get to 80 or more and still I get stuttering during games, I already tried cleaning the radiator which wasn’t that dusty, also reapplied thermal paste 3 times and still the same, I also tried to get a better case airflow, which I don’t think is a problem because it was fine 2months ago, my only idea is that the aio cooler is broken or maybe the pump is failing, my pc specs are:
Rtx 3080 ti
AMD Ryzen 9 3900x
Cougar Aqua 240mm AIO
EVGA 850W BQ Plus Bronze
Asrock B550 steel legend mother board
32 Gb ram DDR4 XPG Spectrix D50
1T SSD XPG SPECTRIX S20G
And I used the thermal grizzly kryonaut thermal paste.
All of those have around 8 months of use, and I have plenty of space on my sad
Also my room temp when I play games is usually 18-20c which shouldn’t be that hot, and when the cpu is under load to 100% it would get to 90c that’s why I keep it at 80% on the power options settings.

 

[Phaaze88]

RMA the cooler, as there's nothing else you can do about it.

 

[H41K0]

RMA the cooler, as there's nothing else you can do about it.

Is there anything I can do besides that?

 

[Phaaze88]

Well... there is, but you'd likely void the warranty and probably not worth the hassle; I mean, if you're going to do all the following, you may as well have gone with a custom loop instead of the Aqua. One of the main points behind AIOs is so you don't have to do this; most aren't user-serviceable.

Need a 24pin ATX jumper and a fill bottle like this: https://www.amazon.com/EK-Waterblocks-Filling-Bottle-1000mL/dp/B073R4R8D6
Drain as much of the loop as possible - shake 'er up and all around. That cap on the radiator is a fill/drain port.
Fill and flush said loop a few times with distilled water. Get as much debris out as you can.
Finally, fill the loop with distilled water one last time and a silver kill coil or use a premixed coolant.

 

[H41K0]

Well... there is, but you'd likely void the warranty and probably not worth the hassle; I mean, if you're going to do all the following, you may as well have gone with a custom loop instead of the Aqua. One of the main points behind AIOs is so you don't have to do this; most aren't user-serviceable.

Need a 24pin ATX jumper and a fill bottle like this: https://www.amazon.com/EK-Waterblocks-Filling-Bottle-1000mL/dp/B073R4R8D6
Drain as much of the loop as possible - shake 'er up and all around. That cap on the radiator is a fill/drain port.
Fill and flush said loop a few times with distilled water. Get as much debris out as you can.
Finally, fill the loop with distilled water one last time and a silver kill coil or use a premixed coolant.

Is this actually guaranteed to solve the issue, or could it maybe be a dead pump, also sometimes the AIO does some noise it’s barely noticeable, probably air bubbles, I just want to know if it’s worth repairing it in case I cant RMA the cooler, at the end I’ll probably buy a new cooler, should I just buy a air cooler or another AIO?

 

[Phaaze88]

Pumps do die on their own, but not that fast. There's other possible factors like:
1)Air trapped in the pump area. Shouldn't be happening unless the pump is the highest point of the loop.
2)Fluid flow restricted by organic/inorganic materials build up. The manufacturer failed to completely flush the loop before packaging, or used the wrong flux entirely.

 

[H41K0]

Pumps do die on their own, but not that fast. There's other possible factors like:
1)Air trapped in the pump area. Shouldn't be happening unless the pump is the highest point of the loop.
2)Fluid flow restricted by organic/inorganic materials build up. The manufacturer failed to completely flush the loop before packaging, or used the wrong flux entirely.

Definitely not the first one but the second one could be, I already sent a report in the official cougar page and applied for the warranty, still I’ll probably get a new cooling system just don’t know if I should go with an air cooler or an AIO cooler

 

[Phaaze88]

I’ll probably get a new cooling system just don’t know if I should go with an air cooler or an AIO cooler

That's really up to you. Both have their ups and downs.
Something I like to suggest is having a secondary cooler on hand so one isn't caught off guard or have to deal with long setbacks.

There are multiple causes of failures associated with AIO/CLCs and they are inevitable:
Mechanical. Pump motor dies on its own over time.
Chemical. Galvanic corrosion due to mixed metal coolers(aluminium rad + copper cold plate). Because they're more affordable that way. The premixed coolant already has corrosion inhibitor mixed in, but it has a finite lifespan, just like the pump motor.
Biological. Organic material - algae. The premixed coolant has biocide in it too, but again, finite lifespan.
Evaporation/permeation. Fluid level very slowly goes down over time.
And in all these cases, they can't be resolved by the user - most of the time - and they weren't meant to be. You throw it out and buy another one.
AIO/CLC are the quick and easy alternative to custom loop.

An air cooler? About all you gotta worry about with them is fans... oh, and whether you'll be able to carry it over to the next case?

 

[Karadjgne]

Air cooler, gotta worry about the case. It can severely limit choices.

I'd be leaning towards 2 things. Pump being blocked by gunk or since it's an 8 month old aio, the rad being airflow challenged. They do require some user maintenance, that involves removing dust.

 

[H41K0]

Air cooler, gotta worry about the case. It can severely limit choices.

I'd be leaning towards 2 things. Pump being blocked by gunk or since it's an 8 month old aio, the rad being airflow challenged. They do require some user maintenance, that involves removing dust.

I did remove some dust from the radiator and reapplied thermal paste but that was it, and it could be blocked by gunk but I can’t really confirm that, one of the pump gets really hot and the other is cold, some people said it was normal because one pumps the hot liquid and the other makes it go cold and that’s why, but some people also said it may be a dead pump, still some times when I turn it on it goes to 34c which is good, but then after some minutes, like 30min, the temps start rising, that also happens when I play a game, the temps start low but the more time I play the more the temps increases till it gets to 80 o more, the faster the temps increase depends on the game Im playing, if I’m playing a really intense cpu game like cod, the temps start at 65 and starts increasing slowly until it gets to 85 and then after that if I close everything my cpu idles at 60 or 70 sometimes, so I’m kind of confused cause it does cool sometimes but not as it should. I’ll probably just try and get a new cooler, I’ll try to look for a good AIO cooler since sometimes where I live it can be really hot, so idk about air coolers. And thanks a lot for your responses, and to take the time to help, thanks.

 

[Karadjgne]

and it could be blocked by gunk but I can’t really confirm that, one of the pump gets really hot and the other is cold,

That's conformation. With a healthy pump, the difference between the tubes is generally @ 2°C, which your fingers are not sensitive enough to tell the difference at that small an amount. If there's an obvious difference, the pump is shot, either failing or blocked.