[SOLVED] My CPU has a liquid cooler and has been working for over 3 years until the last couple of days

[stoew34]

Hey so my liquid cooler was cooling my CPU fine for the last 3 years until the last couple of days where my CPU randomly started overheating like crazy (reaching temps like 100 degrees celsius as soon as it starts up (within 30 seconds). I have cleaned and reapplied thermal paste, tried disassembling and reassembling my CPU and cleaned oyut all unneccessary programs from it. Furthermore, recently my CPU no longer boots up when I insert my second stick of RAM. I used to run on 16 GB of RAM but ever since I had this issue, the CPU won't boot up when I insert both sticks of RAM in (I've tried all the combinations of slots inthe memory bank of my motherboard and I've tried each stick individually and they both work individually). What happens is it will boot up for 15-30 seconds then turn off then reboot again and be stuck in a continuous loop when I insert both sticks of RAM in.
SPECS: i7 7700 K
1060 Nvidia graphics card
H60 Liquid Cooler Corsair
Gigabyte Z270 Ultra Gaming motherboard

 

[Herr B]

sounds like the pump died.

1. dont let your computer overheat anymore. damages the cpu.

2. let computer cool down first.

3. Switch on and feel if the pump is moving.

4. Switch off computer before it overheats.

and then post the results.. Somehow your water is not flowing if the system heats up that fast.

 

[stoew34]

The pump is vibrating and I can feel water flowing through

 

[stoew34]

I have a core temp monitoring app and despite the temps being high it says the load is low? which is kinda strage?

 

[Herr B]

indeed. So water is flowing (hopefully not vibration from the pump?)

Better you dont do that switch on thing too often.

If it wasnt off for too long yet, are the radiators getting hot? Is there a lot of dust/debree blocking the radiator?

I suspect one of two things:

• some failure of the pump
• Clogged up component

 

[stoew34]

The radiator is recently dusted. The radiator is cold. The pipes themselves are pretty cold as well until it gets close to the heatsink where it warms up significantly (because my heatsink is pretty hot).

 

[stoew34]

The pump isn't vibrating but the pipes that the water is flowing through I can feel vibrating slightly so water is flowing through the mfor sure. Whats strange to me is it was working fine for going on 3+ years and it just all of a sudden shut down on me

 

[stoew34]

DO you think the overheating thing is also causing me to be unable to use my second stick of RAM?

 

[Herr B]

heatsink beeing the part mounted on the processor?

If so, the heat cant be transferred to the radiator. Either water is not flowing or the small fins inthe heatsink are clogged id say.

 

[stoew34]

Sorry I have all these questions, but this computer is kinda my baby (my first ever build) and although I have building experience I have always been pretty terrible at troubleshooting....

 

[stoew34]

How to test for either case?

 

[Herr B]

Is that part what you call heatsink?

Sorry I have all these questions, but this computer is kinda my baby (my first ever build) and although I have building experience I have always been pretty terrible at troubleshooting....

no issue. you just have to go step by step.

 

[stoew34]

ye... I'm not sure what else to call it haha

 

[Herr B]

Well. I dont know if you trust yourself disassembling that thing and reassembling it. I guess It can be a hurdle with aio's.
But Id wait for a second opinion.

If you want a silent, bullet proof, maintenance free, top notch cooling solution id go with a high quality air cooler.

Something like Noctua or Coolermaster.

My Alpenföhn Himalaya is running since 7 Years with a little dusting and all I can hear is absolute silence.

 

[stoew34]

THis is what my cooler looks like in its current state

 

[stoew34]

Is there any solution other than buying a new one? you think?

 

[stoew34]

Also would the overheating explain the fact that it won't boot up now with its second RAM stick?

 

[Herr B]

Also would the overheating explain the fact that it won't boot up now with its second RAM stick?

It might and I would not try to boot up further, I think the problem was Identified

I would wait for a second opinion. Im not so much into watercooling and especially AIOs yet as to say if that thing can be saved.
You might be able to try and disassemble it, clean it, check if there is any clog up and reassemble it.

edit:
If you still have a normal fan lying around, you can use that one for the time beeing.

 

[Karadjgne]

Piece on the cpu is the pump head with an AIO. The actual heatsink (as in heat -SINK) is the radiator, same as any aircooler.

Aircoolers don't make noise, neither do aios realistically unless you get a lousy pump. What actually makes all the noise is the FANS, so you are just as likely to get a loud aircooler or a silent AIO. My nzxt Kraken X61 ran silent at 6-700rpm, my newer Cryorig R1 Ultimate is a noisy beast that doesn't get the same temps as the X61, and is audibly over 2x as loud at the same rpm, but gets much louder with a heavier than gaming load.

That fallacy bs about noise was started as a comparison between the Noctua NH-D14 and the Corsair H100 which at the time were the best cooling options but had vastly different fans.

Air coolers are not bullet proof. Their chance of fan failure is just the same as the chance of fan failure on an AIO. Bases can be warped, heatpipes can leak, welds break, don't you dare drop a Big Air tower on the cpu during install, affects ram clearances, case clearances etc. Aircoolers do have some decent drawbacks, just the same as an AIO has its own set of drawbacks.

The right cooler is one that does the job, fits the budget, fits the case, aesthetically pleasing. What kind of cooler is immaterial unless it affects one of those 4.

 

[stoew34]

Do you suspect its clogged also? because if it is, do you have any advice on how to declog it/disassemble it to declog it?

 

[Herr B]

Piece on the cpu is the pump head with an AIO. The actual heatsink (as in heat -SINK) is the radiator, same as any aircooler.

Aircoolers don't make noise, neither do aios realistically unless you get a lousy pump. What actually makes all the noise is the FANS, so you are just as likely to get a loud aircooler or a silent AIO. My nzxt Kraken X61 ran silent at 6-700rpm, my newer Cryorig R1 Ultimate is a noisy beast that doesn't get the same temps as the X61, and is audibly over 2x as loud at the same rpm, but gets much louder with a heavier than gaming load.

That fallacy bs about noise was started as a comparison between the Noctua NH-D14 and the Corsair H100 which at the time were the best cooling options but had vastly different fans.

Air coolers are not bullet proof. Their chance of fan failure is just the same as the chance of fan failure on an AIO. Bases can be warped, heatpipes can leak, welds break, don't you dare drop a Big Air tower on the cpu during install, affects ram clearances, case clearances etc. Aircoolers do have some decent drawbacks, just the same as an AIO has its own set of drawbacks.

The right cooler is one that does the job, fits the budget, fits the case, aesthetically pleasing. What kind of cooler is immaterial unless it affects one of those 4.

Agree... for the most part.
Im speaking for a high quality air cooler, which is likely priced way cheaper than a good watercooling solution.
Meanwhile a High quality air cooler will likely come with good fans. Comparably priced aio? Im opting for the Budgetfriendly option.

Comparing the fan failure is right but thats just one point of failure which is the same for both Solutions. With the AIOs you have way more points of failure.

But I agree as well that the mounting of an air cooler can be a pain in the ...

 

[Phaaze88]

Do you suspect its clogged also? because if it is, do you have any advice on how to declog it/disassemble it to declog it?

The easiest way to check for clogs/busted pump is to do the following:
Feel the cpu block, tubing, and radiator during operation. All 4 should feel fairly warm - there should not be heat focused in the cpu block.

Most AIOs weren't designed to be opened and cleaned. You keep the fans, toss the entire unit out, and buy another one.

 

[stoew34]

The block itself feels really hot, one of the tubes feels hot the other feels cold, and the radiator is cold

 

[Phaaze88]

Then you've got blockage.
Keep the fans toss the rest out, and replace it.

 

[stoew34]

And do you thin kthat als oexplains why it isn't taking my second stick of RAM? does the CPU overheating cause that to happen?