Hi everyone, appreciate some assistance here. My CPU has hit 100 degrees celcius and shut down. This was happening when the CPU load was 1% with nothing running. I have ran a virus scan (both Defender and Malwarebytes) and nothing there. I have also changed the thermal paste, cleaned the fans and made sure the CPU cooler was secured properly.
This has happened randomly before, then all of a sudden it’s running fine again and sits between 40c - 60c for months. It seems to be a completely random event then goes back to normal. It occurs maybe twice a year.
This is what I have:
Gigabyte B650 Gamxing X MSI GeForce RTX 3060 AMD Ryzen 7 7700X EK AIO 240 D-RGB be quiet! Pure Power 11 Gold Modular 750W Power Supply
Anything else I can look for? Appreciate it.
Update: I’ve ended up applying for warranty for the cooler. I have tried all that has been suggested. For now, I’ve bought a Noctua NH-U9S cpu fan. If that works, I’ll probably just leave it in there.
Thanks again for helping a confused noob girl out. Love this community!
Update 2: I’ve taken out the AIO cooler and replaced with a fan (Noctua NH-U95). The temperatures are fine now. I was a little worried at first as the temperatures were better but high (70-80c under 10% load). Switched off the PC, now it’s back on and it’s staying around 43c. It’s seems some fresh thermal pastes might take a while to settle in. Thanks again everyone. Never buying water-cooling again.
I’ve changed the orientation so that the radiator hoses are at the bottom (front mounted) and the block has the hoses on the side, with the hoses slightly pointing down. It’s still heating up.
I suspect air in the block and it can’t readily escape due to the systems orientation.
The easiest way to test this theory is orient things such that air can escape the block - the tubes leaving the block need to be at the top of the block and radiator above it. If there’s air in the system, you want it in the radiator, and out of the path of the water flow.
Are all 4 screws tightened down properly? That one doesn’t look like it’s pushing down on the bracket and the thermal paste looked uneven on the other photos. Just because it feels tight doesn’t mean it’s all the way down. It could be cross threaded.
It also looks like you’re missing a screw on the bottom.
I don’t disagree that you’re finding issues. But I’m not convinced these would cause a CPU to overheat at idle.
They might cause issues with temps under full load, but I think his main issue is the watercooler isn’t moving heat from the CPU block to the radiator.
It’s not going to dissipate any heat if it’s not touching the CPU. It looks like it’s making good thermal paste spread because he’s pushing the block down, but then tightening down it’s probably lifting up one of the corners or entire side.
I totally agree with this. If the CPU lifts even a tiny bit, it doesn’t mater what thermal compound you use, the conductivity of it is total shit compared to even tin can solid metal. So any lift will cause overheating.
The pump is inside the CPU water block. Please install the radiator on top. That way the pump will be always under water and air will float to the top. Currently you trap the air inside the CPU/pump block.
I have tried putting it on the top when I built it but there isn’t enough clearance. The only thing I can do is rotate the radiator and block :(
At least have it for a few minutes running the way the pump is at the bottom with some acrobatics.
The pump for your water cooler is likely built into the CPU block. When you turn it on, do you feel any vibrations like the pump is running?
Can you hear any gurgling?
My bet is the pump isn’t pumping. Check the power connections and make sure they’re fully seated. If you have a fully modular psu, make sure the cable is plugged firmly into the psu.
I can’t hear any gurgling. I’m going to try and feel out a small hum in the block. I am quite deaf though so I’ll get a friend to help me with that. Then I’ll check all the connections.
Is there a way to verify that the AIO still has water in it? A leak doesn’t seem likely, but maybe a small enough leak to allow evaporation over years of use?
Also, is it possible that it clogged? If the fluid was contaminated at the factory, it could grow fungus. If there’s a defect in the pump, parts can break off internally and cause a restriction in the system somewhere.
For what it’s worth, this is why I hate water cooling. Even if a fan fails, an air cooler will ambiently dissipate heat.
I ran a computer repair store from 2015-2022. Only left because I became a single dad and needed a more reliable source of income. We had a pile of dead AIO watercoolers that fried processors from silently failing.
I’ll forever use air coolers.