Question Overheating issue (perhaps?)

Jun 28, 2020
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Hey guys, sorry pretty scrub when it comes to terms , just saying up front , so please bear with me.
I have an i7 7700k rtx 2070 with a 390 phantom motherboard and the last week or two it has been hitting 110+ degrees cel. Now first guess is cooling and from the preliminary research that was ... make sure its clean (dust free), things are slotted together well, no damage (will explain perhaps slight dmg), and fans running, things are still seemingly quiet and efficient on the fans. Nothing seems clogged. It has been getting hot here (I am living in Japaj currently so perhaps a voltage problem? But has been fine for a year). I don't think it is overclocked, the bios are set on default. Room temperature may be concerning? Around 26-27 cel. But would it cause that much overheat?
So basically when I play a graphic intense or mmo game it sits around 90c , then after 20 mins or so it will raise and eventually hit 110 and I just stop. A couple times my system would just shut off on its own and I would open the side up and it was burning hot on the cooling tubes / fan / graphics card. Thos was BEFORE I dusted it out. I then cleaned it out , fairly significant dust. Then everything was cool again when it would system shut down, except the heat sink (I think its called) . It is a small circular part with 4 bolts connected to the motherboard) . This was pretty hot. The fans and graphics card though fairly cool. So now I'm afraid to play games because when I enter bios its around 60-70 just on idle. And sometimes that would get pushed after 5-10 min to 90. While just sitting in bios.
I want to make sure there are no easy solutions before replacing anything big, or maybe some things that could work out.
Oh and the sight damage might have been from my child when he was playing wiI he let loose the controller and went flying into the air and hit the back corner where the motherboard / heat sink/fan area. I don't know if impact caused some dmg, but I couldn't tell. I was wondering because the problems were somewhat shortly after that incident.
Thanks in advance.
 
Jun 28, 2020
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Does the CPU heatsink fan have a sticker on it that says Intel?

If not, can you tell us what CPU heatsink you have?

If the CPU is at 90-100C, the fan should be SCREAMING loud.

It was from ibuypower and this is what it said for cooling

Processor Cooling:
iBUYPOWER 120mm Addressable RGB Liquid Cooling System - Black
it is a year old now. Also no other stickers, just the logo of ibuypower on the heatsink that I'm aware of.
Also when you say SCREAMING loud , is that like you can really hear it pumping, right now on the bios it is on performance, but it sounds fairly smooth , there isn't much noise coming from it. I will double check any inaccuracies when I get home from work. But it is still fairly quiet last I recalled. In the BIOS it also saying around 3300rpm is it for the fan, and around 900 for another fan.
Also motherboard temps are around 35-40 which are normal if not mistaken.

thanks for the quick response. Will try and give any other information that may be needed.
Another last thing , there are two hard drives installed, it shouldn't matter if I play games off the primary or secondary should it?
Also all 8 cores are being topped out at 110, with the load being around 50-60 on each. That's when I cut the gaming .
 
The power supply will address any mains voltage differences. There used to be a switch on the PSU that would allow switching between 120 or 220V systems. Now they are automatically detected, for the most part.

The pump in your system should be running at a constant speed. The fans attached to the radiator should spin faster as the CPU gets hotter. The 3300rpm is probably the pump speed, while the 900rpm is probably the fan speed. It's rare for a fan to run at 3300rpm. It would be quite loud and sound like a jet engine.

I am surprised that the system will run at 110. Most systems will shut off to protect themselves before passing 100C. (We are talking about 110C and not 110F?) If the CPU is actually running up to 110C, My guess is that the pump died. There's probably just enough convection and thermal mass for the system to operate under low/no load but once you start gaming it's going to over heat. If the system is still under warranty I would contact Ibuypower ASAP. If you are just passed warranty you'll want a new CPU cooler. You can probably find an air cooler for under 50, that can handle a 7700k.
 
Yes, please confirm C or F. 110F is nothing

I agree with Grim. The pump may be the 3300rpm (not sure what they typically run), but if the CPU is at 90-100C, the radiator fan shouldn't only be spinning at 900rpm. Certainly if the pump isn't circulating the fluid properly or at all, temps will go out of control.

For reference I have my 120mm AIO fans (push-pull) running at
  • Pusher = ~1200rpm (which is basically silent) to 1500rpm (which does make some noise, but isn't too bad)
  • Puller = 1000rpm constant
 
Jun 28, 2020
6
0
10
The power supply will address any mains voltage differences. There used to be a switch on the PSU that would allow switching between 120 or 220V systems. Now they are automatically detected, for the most part.

The pump in your system should be running at a constant speed. The fans attached to the radiator should spin faster as the CPU gets hotter. The 3300rpm is probably the pump speed, while the 900rpm is probably the fan speed. It's rare for a fan to run at 3300rpm. It would be quite loud and sound like a jet engine.

I am surprised that the system will run at 110. Most systems will shut off to protect themselves before passing 100C. (We are talking about 110C and not 110F?) If the CPU is actually running up to 110C, My guess is that the pump died. There's probably just enough convection and thermal mass for the system to operate under low/no load but once you start gaming it's going to over heat. If the system is still under warranty I would contact Ibuypower ASAP. If you are just passed warranty you'll want a new CPU cooler. You can probably find an air cooler for under 50, that can handle a 7700k.
Just one thing quick I misspoke. It is a i7 9700k. But anyway, yes its running 110-115c when I tried to run a game last night. It was at 70-80c for first 5 mins maybe, then it loaded up a map in game and spiked to 100+ maximg 115 celcius. Then I game lagged and shut down. I don't want to risk anymore damage . The interesting thing is, I took the side panel off, touched the heat sink - it was fairly warm, the pump tubes (i think you call them?) were not very warm. Then also the fans were fine as well . Before dusting it out the fans were hot, tubes were hot, and the heat sink. something obviously wrong. The problem is I am abroad in Japan. So I want to try and get as much information . Because I would have to send overseas and that is not worth for what seems somewhat minor. Graphic card and what not seems right, just something with the cooling is wrong, but not sure what. If the pump broke, would that mean replacing the whole heatsink--> fan? I did take the two fans apart (one on each end of the radiator) . I screwed it back on tight, but Could something between that process happen to go bad? I usually don't open the comp much other than to just dust out, but I couldn't really get to the rear fan that well.
Any further help is greatly appreciated. Going into a foreign computer maintenance or repair place kinda scary without many details.
Thanks again
 
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Jun 28, 2020
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Yes, please confirm C or F. 110F is nothing

I agree with Grim. The pump may be the 3300rpm (not sure what they typically run), but if the CPU is at 90-100C, the radiator fan shouldn't only be spinning at 900rpm. Certainly if the pump isn't circulating the fluid properly or at all, temps will go out of control.

For reference I have my 120mm AIO fans (push-pull) running at
  • Pusher = ~1200rpm (which is basically silent) to 1500rpm (which does make some noise, but isn't too bad)
  • Puller = 1000rpm constant
Yes 110-15c . I will check here in Japan too tonight swe if they have any idea. I appreciate all the help possible. Also do you think thermal paste would be required? If it was just a pump problem? Usually played everyday so some say it should be fine, but just don't want to add if not needed (aka if only pump problem)
 
If the radiator(metal fins) and tubes are not hot then I would say it's good odds the pump is not working. It may just be clogged, such that the pump still spins and reports back 3300RPM (for reference pumps output 2x-3x their actual rpm due to being wired differently. My pump reports about 3800rpm) When the system is idle can you feel any vibration in the pump?

Paste is required. If you haven't removed the block over the CPU then you shouldn't need to replace it. It usually doesn't go bad that suddenly or dramatically. If you are going to replace the unit you may need to apply new paste or remove the old stuff before installing a new cooler with the paste already applied.

Either way, the self contained units are not really serviceable. You'll need to replace it. (or have iBuypower replace it). You can probably handle that on your own. We are here if you need help.
 
Jun 28, 2020
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Thanks for the input. I noticed that the parts were not really hot (radiator / fans)
If the radiator(metal fins) and tubes are not hot then I would say it's good odds the pump is not working. It may just be clogged, such that the pump still spins and reports back 3300RPM (for reference pumps output 2x-3x their actual rpm due to being wired differently. My pump reports about 3800rpm) When the system is idle can you feel any vibration in the pump?

Paste is required. If you haven't removed the block over the CPU then you shouldn't need to replace it. It usually doesn't go bad that suddenly or dramatically. If you are going to replace the unit you may need to apply new paste or remove the old stuff before installing a new cooler with the paste already applied.

Either way, the self contained units are not really serviceable. You'll need to replace it. (or have iBuypower replace it). You can probably handle that on your own. We are here if you need help.

if the pump were to be clogged, is there any way to fix it without having to replace or remove it? (i.e. taking the fan off the radiator part and then reseating?) or perhaps I also heard maybe the pumps have a kink in it, would that cause overheating at all? Not being able to smoothly get through? (I also noticed the positioning doesn't LOOK like it changed from before but not sure when taking it off and reseating it , perhaps a small kink took place).
Just waiting for some paste to come in from an order, and seeing if there is any other quick fixes that could be worth trying.
 
Not an exhaustive list, but:

Easy troubleshooting steps:
  • any kinks in the hoses
  • is the pump getting power
  • is the radiator clean/free of dust
  • is the radiator fan(s) spinning
  • are the CPU block fasteners tightened properly (mounting pressure)
Medium difficulty troubleshooting steps.
  • re-apply thermal paste
Difficult troubleshooting steps:
  • A clogged pump requires you to remove the radiator and CPU block from the system, remove the cold plate from the CPU block (your warranty is now void), drain all the liquid out , flush the loop, refill the loop, re-attach the cold plate, etc etc. Long story short, it's not a simple/easy undertaking. Only do this if your AIO warranty is already void. Most people don't bother with this. They just replace the AIO.
 
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I was just about to post the same things @tennis2 suggested and in a less organized manner. Kudos Tennis.

I will say that repairing/unclogging an AIO is probably more difficult than the linear progression in his post would seem to imply. You might be further ahead buying a new AIO at that point. Perhaps posting or linking to a picture of the inside of your PC would help us understand the situation in your case a little better.

Edit: word choice
 
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Jun 28, 2020
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Just wanted to say thanks for all the comments and help.

so i took it in to a place and they did their own diagnosis. It was the air cooling system that just shut down. Replaced it with a new one and now down to 30 (Idle) - 60 degree (on a graphic intense game) . I appreciate all the comments and help on the way !!