Water-cooled CPU Reaches 95+ deg. Celsius under load.

[DrewUniverse]

I've scoured so many related threads I am dizzy. I sincerely hope this issue can be resolved, but I understand it's a volunteer forum. Here goes!

I recently identified that my processor is running hotter than expected. It has been water-cooled since I bought the entire computer from a good friend a few years ago and worked beautifully. I have experienced occasional crashes and blue screens which may or may not be due to this overheating - when gaming, my display just freezes 100% with sound suddenly stopping.

Some info: I have always run two monitors on this PC, one at 1080 and one at 1440 x 900. Load with a few browser tabs and a chat app puts me at ~55-65 deg Celsius while the side panel of the case is removed. Load ranges from 90 to 100 degrees for intensive games. On a recent crash with restart, BIOS gave me a CPU fan error and an overheating error. I have started tracking temperature with CoreTemp - is that a good-enough tracker? Here are my PC specs:

CPU: Intel Core i7 2700k (Sandy Bridge) - Corsair water cooling (Not sure which version)
RAM: 16GB (4x4GB) G-Skill Sniper
PSU: Corsair AX 1200
Regular HDDs, no SSDs.
Motherboard: Asus P8Z77-V LK
GPU: GeForce GTX 960 (EVGA's version)


Additional Background: The water-cooling looks like an older Hydro(?) series from Corsair that is no longer listed on their website - rounded-edge square in black color, with "CORSAIR" text and the sail logo. Its connecting heat sink has always been mounted to the upper-rear of the tower with a fan pulling air out the back. The overheating started before this, but recently I've heard a fan-like rattling that seems to be coming from the CPU/cooler, but I can't tell for sure yet what the source is.

I have had this PC for a few years now, and made changes over time. What came with the PC that is still here now includes the RAM, PSU, Motherboard, CPU with cooling. My changes, though they've been installed a long time, include the GPU, hard drives, an old Sound Blaster sound card, and two DVD-ROMs.

This may or may not be related, but the only blue screens I really experience usually involve "Clock Watchdog Timeout" or "WHEA Uncorrectable Error." I've heard in the past that my CPU's voltage may be too low, but temporarily changing this in BIOS never seemed to help.

Worst-case scenario I'm probably able to afford a new CPU, but I'm hoping this lovely 2700K will last a few more years. I know there will be questions to post various diagnostics, but I'd like to know which ones to prioritize or run first as I am all kinds of worn out. I'll do my best to provide more information and reports as you request them.

 

[mdd1963]

You can try another fresh (after thorough cleaning of IHS and water block) coating of thermal interface material, but, odds are pump has 'given up the ghost', quite common after a handful of years, and, not much of a surprise at even the 3 yr old point, frankly...

 

[stdragon]

The Corsair H60? I've got one of those in my home PC. The pump does make a rattle, and it's about 2 or 3 years old now. So far it's working ok, but I fully expect it to fail one day.

https://www.amazon.com/Corsair-CW-9060007-WW-Performance-Liquid-Cooler/dp/B00A0HZMGA

 

[DrewUniverse]

You can try another fresh (after thorough cleaning of IHS and water block) coating of thermal interface material, but, odds are pump has 'given up the ghost', quite common after a handful of years, and, not much of a surprise at even the 3 yr old point, frankly...

Okay, understood. I have never had to work with a processor that's got water-cooling on it, just a regular heat-sink mounted directly on top in the past. When you say thermal interface material, is that the same thing as thermal paste? I wonder how to check if the pump is "dead" as you say.

The Corsair H60? I've got one of those in my home PC. The pump does make a rattle, and it's about 2 or 3 years old now. So far it's working ok, but I fully expect it to fail one day.

It's a bit older than the one you linked, I'll share a photo of it: https://imgur.com/a/iGgqL3u . It didn't rattle until two days ago, so I am hoping it's reversible. I'll try and confirm if it's the cooling system or something else...

 

[Philballer17]

These are the reasons why water-cooling is more of a luxury than a performance gain. Too many things can go wrong. Just go back to a air cooler.

 

[blanado]

I just went through the ringer with my watercooler/pump as well.
Your cooler sounds like its a 120mm (1-fan radiator), Corsair called them H40-H80 that i'm aware of (Most recent H80).
If you've defaulted your BIOS lately I would make sure that your Water Pump header is still enabled (or whatever header you are using for your pump)
Also, the fourth pin on fan/pump headers is the PWM signal. So if your pump has a 3-pin connector it wont receive PWM signals and should be set to DC (100%)

Main problem I had with my pump is that when i brought the case to my house, i had to lay it on it's side. It caused an Airlock in the pump (Pump cant create suction if there's no coolant). Combined with the fact it is a very quiet pump, I thought it had calved as well. Best way to check if it is cycling, I found, is to hold both coolant lines in your hand where they come out of the pump (while the CPU is warm/hot). If the pump is cycling, one line should be warmer than the other.

Another option (what i had to do to clear the airlock) I pulled the pump and radiator out of the case, hooked it up to a breadboard (any 12V source) and raised the radiator to force fluid into the pump. It was alot easier to hear/feel the pump outside of the case. Dont use a car battery, they can be over 14V.

If you're going to be playing around with your pump/CPU you should get some thermal paste. Use Isopropyl Alcohol to clean the old stuff off (Spray it on a rag and wipe the cpu/heatsink, dont spray it on the cpu/mobo)

I have an Asus motherboard as well (Z-170). Im not sure if your UEFI BIOS has Q-Fan control, but if it does, water pump controls weren't in the Easy Interface for me. I had to go into advanced=>monitor=>q-fan to find them. you should definitely have a look at your mobo user manual.

And I agree with Phil - Air Cooled is simple, which has its benefits. Unless you're trying to reach a huge overclock, water cooling isn't necessary. Getting a big-*** heat sink and fan for a backup is a great idea.

 

[Olle P]

A number of problems can lead to unusually high temperature readings:
Dusty convector. Fan failure. Pump failure. Cooling block not pushing against the CPU. Bad temp sensor. Bug in the UEFI.

My checklist for investigating/fixing this problem:
1. Visual check: Does the visible fan(s) spin?
2. Verify that the pump is running and that the cooling block is still firmly held against the CPU.
3. Clean the convector mesh and fans from dust.

Given that everything seems okay but the temp readings are still high:
4. Verify that the temperature reading is realistic.
- Try another UEFI version and see if the temp stays the same.
- How does the temp reading change with underclocking and reduced voltage?