Question Thermal Throttling? Maybe?

[MyComputerAlwaysScrewed]

Old H115i was hitting 85 c (185 f) on just League of Legends, so I figured something is wrong. Replaced H115i with H115i Platinum.



What I did so far is changed thermal paste, replaced cooler from H115i to brand new H115i Platinum. Then changed USB 2.0 internal connector that the H115i was connected to. Then I moved the pump of H115i from fan hub to W_PUMP on mobo. Everything else (rad fans & case fans) connected to fan hub, fan hub connected to CPU_FAN on mobo. Ran computer, went into Windows. Was fine for a few min, started throttling again, or at least I think it's throttling. Was at 99% load at startup (no apps open except Corsair Link, NZXT CAM, and MSI Afterburner) at 95 c (203 f). Tried to open task manager and computer auto self-shut down, so I'm guessing this is a throttling problem. If it was mobo short or something like that, I don't think I would've made it into Windows?



What can I do?

 

[Mr.Spock]

85'c is marginal but still not dangerous, may want to check your motherboard's fan profile as well.
may want to route just the rad fans to the CPU_FAN and the rest to system_fan though

 

[COLGeek]

Are you overclocking anything (CPU, GPU, memory)? What are the specs for this system (make/model of all components)?

What are you using to measure temperatures?

 

[MyComputerAlwaysScrewed]

Are you overclocking anything (CPU, GPU, memory)? What are the specs for this system (make/model of all components)?

What are you using to measure temperatures?

Nothing is overclocked.

Components are 6850K, H115i Platinum, GTX 1080, 960 Pro 512 GB, 32 GB (8x4 DDR4-3466) memory, AX960i PSU, ASUS ROG Strix X99 Mobo

 

[MyComputerAlwaysScrewed]

UPDATE: Computer is still thermal throttling, I think? Can boot into Windows but after a few min starts becoming very slow and automatically shuts down. Can't open task manager before auto shut down, but hardware monitoring software (and BIOS) say that CPU is at 95 c (203 f) and 99% CPU load. I have a NZXT Noctis 450 so my config is I connect fan hub of the case to CPU_FAN, and H115i pump to the designated connector on fan hub. Something I noticed was that RGB of fans and pump turn off after a few min. They work fine on startup, then just turn off. I shut down manually (not automatic shut down) once and when I did manual shut down, RGB lights turned on again until computer is off. Rad fans are always on despite RGB turning off. Not sure what to do now.

 

[Darkbreeze]

85'c is marginal but still not dangerous, may want to check your motherboard's fan profile as well.
may want to route just the rad fans to the CPU_FAN and the rest to system_fan though

How do you know this is accurate, when you don't even know what his hardware consists of?

What are your EXACT, FULL, hardware specifications?

 

[MyComputerAlwaysScrewed]

Nothing is overclocked.

Components are 6850K, H115i Platinum, GTX 1080, 960 Pro 512 GB, 32 GB (8x4 DDR4-3466) memory, AX960i PSU, ASUS ROG Strix X99 Mobo

How do you know this is accurate, when you don't even know what his hardware consists of?

What are your EXACT, FULL, hardware specifications?

 

[Darkbreeze]

Yeah, sorry. I looked right past that post. Still, it was after the reply by Spock earlier so no way he could have known at that time that you had that hardware. Regardless, moving right along.

First thing I'd do is make sure you are running the latest BIOS version. WHICH ASUS X99 motherboard do you have?

Is this build fairly new to you, or was it fully thermally compliant for a period of time and then suddenly wasn't, or do you not know if it was or not because you only recently became concerned about it and had not been regularly monitoring the CPU thermals previously?

Other than the change of CPU cooler, had you made any other hardware or software changes including coincidental driver or windows updates around the time that the problem began that might be attributable to the change in thermals?

 

[MyComputerAlwaysScrewed]

Yeah, sorry. I looked right past that post. Still, it was after the reply by Spock earlier so no way he could have known at that time that you had that hardware. Regardless, moving right along.

First thing I'd do is make sure you are running the latest BIOS version. WHICH ASUS X99 motherboard do you have?

Is this build fairly new to you, or was it fully thermally compliant for a period of time and then suddenly wasn't, or do you not know if it was or not because you only recently became concerned about it and had not been regularly monitoring the CPU thermals previously?

Other than the change of CPU cooler, had you made any other hardware or software changes including coincidental driver or windows updates around the time that the problem began that might be attributable to the change in thermals?

Should be this ASUS motherboard. I am almost certain it's on the latest BIOS version. This build is about 2 years old.

It was thermally compliant for the first year, then eventually got worse and worse during its second year. Then I decided that I would replace the AIO and now things have only gotten worse, as I've described in my post. I made this decision as I monitored the idle temperature increase slowly as weeks and months passed, despite my room temperature staying constant.

One other change would be I changed the configuration of my cooling. I used to use my old H115i as an exhaust at top of case, now the new H115i is an intake at the front of the case. This means that I moved from having two 140mm exhaust in top and three 120mm intake in front to two 140mm intake in front and two 120mm exhaust in back. In both iterations of the build I've also had a 140mm exhaust in the back. And, obviously, I've changed thermal paste. No other changes.

Something I'd like to add as I've been testing more:

• AIO mount is not noticeably hot
• Tubing is not hot, but I can feel the flow of water
• Area below CPU socket is noticeably hot

 

[Darkbreeze]

Ok, I'd check. If you're not on BIOS version 1903 or newer, I'd update. 1903 is not security related, it's a performance update which often means compatibility or hardware improvements. Anyhow, even if it's not related, it's still a good idea.

So, AIO mount, outside of CPU, or anything else you can actually "touch", usually won't be hot, even if you have 110 degree core temps. Especially not if you have a heatsink or waterblock attached to sink off the heat.

Have you checked to see if the backplate or mounting hardware for the backplate to water block mount have become loose over time. I'd remove the waterblock, check that the backplate to mounting bracket fasteners and standoffs are all still very snug, without being overly tight, clean all the thermal paste off the CPU cooler and waterblock, add about a half of a pea sized blob dead center on the CPU lid, and then reinstall the water block making sure it is merely fully seated and snug. It does not need to be cranked down overly tight.

Another thing is, vibration can transfer through the tubing and make it feel as though water is traveling through it when the pump is actually not moving any fluid. It would be unusualy for two coolers to do the exact same thing though.

It might not be the worst idea to remove the CPU while you have the cooler off of it, and do a visual verification that there are no bent pins on the motherboard. You may need a magnification device like a magnifying glass or high powered reading glasses to see any discrepancies though. A slightly bent pin that causes no trouble at first could easily develop into a problem later on through vibration and movement of the unit later on, and a shorted pin could certainly cause temperature issues. Probably not, but always worth checking anytime something is "off" with the CPU.

Might also not be the worst idea to reset the BIOS to default settings and then enable the memory XMP profile again but make sure to NOT choose to enable the ASUS enhancements if it prompts you to do so. You want the default Intel CPU behavior, not the enhanced ASUS CPU profile. If you need to update the BIOS, I'd do that first and then do the reset afterwards. Updating does not always reset all BIOS settings.

BIOS Hard Reset procedure

Power off the unit, switch the PSU off and unplug the PSU cord from either the wall or the power supply.

Remove the motherboard CMOS battery for five minutes. In some cases it may be necessary to remove the graphics card to access the CMOS battery.

During that five minutes, press the power button on the case for 30 seconds. After the five minutes is up, reinstall the CMOS battery making sure to insert it with the correct side up just as it came out.

If you had to remove the graphics card you can now reinstall it, but remember to reconnect your power cables if there were any attached to it as well as your display cable.

Now, plug the power supply cable back in, switch the PSU back on and power up the system. It should display the POST screen and the options to enter CMOS/BIOS setup. Enter the bios setup program and reconfigure the boot settings for either the Windows boot manager or for legacy systems, the drive your OS is installed on if necessary.

Save settings and exit. If the system will POST and boot then you can move forward from there including going back into the bios and configuring any other custom settings you may need to configure such as Memory XMP profile settings, custom fan profile settings or other specific settings you may have previously had configured that were wiped out by resetting the CMOS.

In some cases it may be necessary when you go into the BIOS after a reset, to load the Optimal default or Default values and then save settings, to actually get the hardware tables to reset in the boot manager.

It is probably also worth mentioning that for anything that might require an attempt to DO a hard reset in the first place, it is a GOOD IDEA to try a different type of display as many systems will not work properly for some reason with displayport configurations. It is worth trying HDMI if you are having no display or lack of visual ability to enter the BIOS, or no signal messages.

 

[Mr.Spock]

maybe you have some air trapped in the pump area? it's more likely to happen in the new config than with a top mount.

Should be this ASUS motherboard. I am almost certain it's on the latest BIOS version. This build is about 2 years old.

It was thermally compliant for the first year, then eventually got worse and worse during its second year. Then I decided that I would replace the AIO and now things have only gotten worse, as I've described in my post. I made this decision as I monitored the idle temperature increase slowly as weeks and months passed, despite my room temperature staying constant.

One other change would be I changed the configuration of my cooling. I used to use my old H115i as an exhaust at top of case, now the new H115i is an intake at the front of the case. This means that I moved from having two 140mm exhaust in top and three 120mm intake in front to two 140mm intake in front and two 120mm exhaust in back. In both iterations of the build I've also had a 140mm exhaust in the back. And, obviously, I've changed thermal paste. No other changes.

Something I'd like to add as I've been testing more:

• AIO mount is not noticeably hot
• Tubing is not hot, but I can feel the flow of water
• Area below CPU socket is noticeably hot

 

[Darkbreeze]

Air trapped is always possible, but it's HIGHLY unlikely to have been the same issue of trapped air with the first AND the second unit.