Question Is my h80i dying?

[nuki]

Since about 8 months I'm getting way hotter temps than usual with my h80i on an 4930k. I'm idling around 60c (ambient 20c) and hit 83c after 15 seconds of load at default clocks (3.4ghz - 3.9 with tubo) after which it will throttle to about 3.5. The system is stable, but rendering is slower than usual - eg. in cinebench I only hit 930 points when I should at least get around 1060. The pump is connected to usb and both fans are connected to 4 pin headers on the mobo (CPU and CHA_FAN), installed as push/pull. I believe the cooler to be seated properly and the pump is running at 2200rpm according to Corsair Link. Is my AIO diyg slowly?

 

[nuki]

So I tried reinstalling the AIO and It seemed to stop working completely for a short period of time. Power and USB were connected, the light on the pump was on and read 2200rpm in the uefi. However the cpu reached 83c at post - the waterblock was hot but the tubing wasnt so I suspected the pump having trouble moving the water (radiator was mounted on top). I moved the radiator to the bottom and reconnected the pump to a different sata powerline and got back some mediocre cooling (as described above) again. So I'm wondering if a) I shouldnt use a molex->sata adapter for powering the pump or b) the sata cable of the pump broke below the insulation. Did anyone here ever disassemble an h80i? Is 2200rmp the proper pump speed?

 

[Groveling_Wyrm]

Are you sure that it is full on water? If you have an air bubble in the system, the pump may not work. Might want to read the documentation and read up on refilling your AIO. Next I would double check to make sure that the pump is running.

2700rpm is max speed for H80i.

 

[nuki]

I wasnt aware that I could open and refill the loop, sounds like its worth a shot! Distilled water should be fine I assume? Thanks for this hint!

 

[Groveling_Wyrm]

Distilled water is what you should use.

 

[Karadjgne]

It's an AIO made by Corsair. There's no user accessible ports for filling. It's a 1 shot deal unless you want to splice tubing as the connectors are factory crimp sealed, not threaded.

The air bubble is a maybe. That happens. The best way to fix that is while the pc is on, slowly tilt it up so that the pump is the lowest point on the loop. This'll force the coolant into the pump, priming it, and any air will rise to the radiator.

 

[alceryes]

The Corsair AiOs aren't user serviceable. I wouldn't recommend it. Definitely max out the pump RPM in Corsair Link. The difference in noise is negligible. When you say 'the sata cable broke,' What sata cable are you referring to?

 

[Karadjgne]

None of the Hydro series are built and designed for variable speed pumps. They are designed to run at whatever speed they attain at 12v, which is anywhere from 2k-4krpm depending on whether it's the standard pump on the low end h60 or the 3speed adjustable h100i etc. Some of those older models were a physical switch on the pump, newer models are switched by software. If you don't run the software, default is performance/max.

And yes, just exactly how does one go about breaking anything like a wire or connector inside a pc without applying breaking force, which there isn't anything in a pc that requires that?

 

[nuki]

Theres no physical switch to adjust pump speed on the unit and I cannot set its speed via Corsair Link, only the standard profile. I guess what it boils down to is that I am unsure if this setup performs the way it does because I did something wrong with the installation, or because the cooler is just not sufficient for my 4930k. I was just theorizing about a possible broken cable because it didnt seem logical for the cpu to hit 83c at POST with the pump working normally. That seemed to have been an anomaly though and the system is again at the state I initially described.
Since my rig is a bit dated now I was hoping to get a decent oc around 4.4 - 4.6 going and was shocked to see my watercooled PC having trouble even maintaining the stock 3.9 turbo (and not even htting 1k in Cinebench). Hence I thought there must be something going wrong here and phrased the question accordingly. I just want to know if these temps are normal and I simply need something better than an h80i to get a little bit more out of my dated hardware.

 

[Karadjgne]

Kinda. Regardless of the fact that 80i is extra thick, it's still a 120mm AIO. The second fan is only getting you 3-4°C better than a single would. Most ppl pushing higher OC on those 2011 cpus are running 280mm or custom loops. The H80i would land you in between a H100i and a stock cooler. Don't get me wrong, the H80i is a great little cooler for its size, but little being the operative word.

Ideally, you'd be pushing 1.5 - 2x cooler ability of the cpu wattage output. It's an i7, has HT, so closer to 2x is better. That's @ 200w minimum (that's your h80i) with 250w+ being preferred. (h100i, Noctua NH-D15). And that's at stock speeds. Most ppl will get away with a small - mild OC, because even though the cpu is faster, they've also knocked vcore down to below the stock settings, offsetting the heat disadvantage speed brings.

But after a certain point, that doesn't work and you start adding wattage, most averages @ 50w but can reach as high as 100w or more on top of the stock output, requiring coolers with 300 - 350w or better, which is the 280mm/full custom loops. There are no air coolers with that capacity.

You can certainly use a smaller cooler, just be aware that heavy loads are going to show proportionately higher temps than 70°C.

 

[nuki]

Thats some good information, thank you! I will have to look for radiators that fit my Silverstone RV02 then. I got the h80i becasue I only have one free 120mm slot on top and I'm unsure what might fit on top of the bottom fans (long GPU). Maybe a Fractal Design Kelvin S24 or even 36...are there any slim radiator CLC's?
thanks again!