[SOLVED] Reoriented my radiator, now my cooler makes a weird sound for 15 seconds before turning the computer off

[tanishq sagar]

Hi,
I recently watched this Gamers nexus video where he said an incorrect placement of the radiator could kill the cooler over time. The way I had mounted my radiator was in the front of the case with the tubes at the top, so this morning I opened up my case and reinstalled the radiator spun 180 degrees and cleaned some dust in the system too while I was at it. Earlier the cooler made an aquarium like noise while starting up but now it makes a low buzzing noise before shutting the computer down. You can see the youtube video of it here. I didn't touch anything else in the computer.
Please help!


My PC specs:
I5-6600k
Msi z170a krait gaming motherboard
G-skill ddr4 ram
Kingston ssd
Cooler master vs550 power supply
Asus Strix gtx1060
Nzxt s340 case
Nzxt liquid x61

 

[Ralston18]

This:

"I recently watched this Gamers nexus video where he said an incorrect placement of the radiator could kill the cooler over time"....

Were you having any problems before reorienting your cooler?

If so, what were those problems: noise, temperatures, something else?

The noise may just be the "new normal" from reorienting the cooler. Perhaps a change in case accoustics made an existing noise more audible.

Some vibration or resonance perhaps as everything slows down.

Ensure that some wire or coolant tubes are not touching someplace causing the noise to begin with.

It is also possible that maybe some air got into the cooling system and/or some little bit of debris when you made the orientation change.

Again, any temperature problems or anything else beyond the noise?

If not maybe just a little shift in the cooler's location or some tightening/loosening of the screws might reduce or change the noise.

You may or may not be able to fully reduce the noise.

Maybe you will need to go back to the original cooler orientation.

Just my thoughts and ideas,

 

[tanishq sagar]

Maybe you will need to go back to the original cooler orientation.

I figured if changing to the new layout created problems, going back would fix it, to my horror the sound still remained but the computer didn't shut itself down, so I knew it must be air. I just cranked the pump and fan speed to high for a few minutes and voilà, it worked!

Apparently this is a known issue

 

[rubix_1011]

My follow-up question would be - why would you run an AIO pump at anything but 100%?

 

[tanishq sagar]

My follow-up question would be - why would you run an AIO pump at anything but 100%?

I just use the given profiles on the CAM software. I guess it's because I trust that they know what they are doing

 

[Karadjgne]

Nzxt asetek pumps are designed as variable speed pumps, controlled by Cam, either set to cpu temp (eh) or liquid temp (better idea to avoid the invariably annoying fan/pump ramp ups).

Op. Take your pc, running at idle, and slowly tip it towards its back (60°~70° angle) and leave it there a few minutes. With the movement of the radiator, it sounds like you've inadvertently introduced air into the pump, it happens, and it's somewhat stuck there. Noise should abate. Shut the pc down, then slowly tilt back to normal position. This'll allow any air in the radiator lines to rise to the top reservoir and never bother you again.

 

[tanishq sagar]

Nzxt asetek pumps are designed as variable speed pumps, controlled by Cam, either set to cpu temp (eh) or liquid temp (better idea to avoid the invariably annoying fan/pump ramp ups).

Op. Take your pc, running at idle, and slowly tip it towards its back (60°~70° angle) and leave it there a few minutes. With the movement of the radiator, it sounds like you've inadvertently introduced air into the pump, it happens, and it's somewhat stuck there. Noise should abate. Shut the pc down, then slowly tilt back to normal position. This'll allow any air in the radiator lines to rise to the top reservoir and never bother you again.

Yup, this is exactly what I did when I ran the pump on high and now there's virtually no noise at all.

Btw do you feel that reorienting the radiator like gamers nexus stated is actually that important or do you think it is the dotting our i's and cross our t's version of pc building

 

[rubix_1011]

I know the pumps are PWM capable, its just that there isn't much reason to use them in a manner which ramps them based on CPU usage. This is better left to radiator fans to fluctuate for, as coolant itself takes a very long time to absorb and release thermal energy in watts, meaning CPU spikes and ramping pump speed up and down multiple times is doing nothing but changing the pump speed and not much to do with helping your cooling capacity if it continually fluctuates. AIO and liquid cooling pumps are designed to run at 100% and they are nearly inaudible - so why not run them at 100% or at some other fixed speed?

Your best fluid speed should be maintained at all times - allow the fans to compensate when CPU temps need to be cooled based on fan curve.

It is important because it follows the rules of how liquid cooling systems function. Liquid cooling pumps can only pump coolant...they cannot pump air. This also can cause them to fail prematurely.

I look at it in the same way I look at a car's engine oil level or even coolant levels....sure, you can drive the car knowing it is 3 quarts low on oil or the radiator is nearly empty, but why not do it right and provide the correct volume of fluids and prevent early failure of something which is easy to prevent? Permanent engine failure due to overheating or incorrect lubrication is something which is common sense - so is this.

Edit: I would also recommend learning what is best for your own PC and not just what NZXT are providing. I'm sure they have someone who has looked at some of these pre-set curves, but only you know what is best for your CPU and system setup. If you want this much control over your AIO, take the control yourself and don't rely on CAM to do it automatically. Make the manual adjustments for the curves you want to run.

 

[Karadjgne]

My last aio was a nzxt x61, a 280mm 300w+ monster on a 77w + OCw i7-3770K. So I had plenty of overhead cooling potential. It meant I could set Cam for Silent mode, and by setting response to Liquid temp, it basically maintained an almost constant fan/pump speed, only raising slightly when (as Rubix explained) the liquid temp started to rise, which takes a good long while, highest liquid temp with Prime95 small fft loads was just about 43°C after 1 hour.

That's still way down on the fan/pump curve. Fans (even gaming) never exceeded 600ish rpm, only getting to 900rpm under Prime95, which is still shy of the 1200rpm max.

But I could afford to do that, others may not.