CPU Fan Error with Corsair H100i - New Build

Motherboard - ASUS X99 Deluxe

CPU Cooler - Corsair H100i

 

I just spent the day building a new gaming PC and right from the very first boot I have had a "CPU FAN ERROR" message that appears. I'm then instructed to press F1 to enter setup. I should mention that I have NOT installed Windows 8.1 yet but I have updated the motherboard bios to the most current version (1305). I have not changed any UEFI settings other than the one listed below.

 

Once inside the UEFI I can see that the CPU FAN isn't recognized (it is greyed out). Worth mention is that the CPU temp seems to be normal, hovers around 30C while in the UEFI.

 

I have double and tripled checked the installation of the H100i and I will detail here how I have it currently installed.

 

- both H100i radiator fans connected to the included "Y" connector and plugged into the pump body

- SATA connector from pump body plugged into SATA cable from PSU

- 3-pin RPM connector (really one wire) connected to CPU_FAN header on motherboard (double checked that it is actually plugged into the CPU_FAN header and not the CPU_OPT header)

- Corsair Link cable plugged into pump body and other end plugged into USB2.0 motherboard header

 

As far as I can tell the H100i has been installed correctly. I did some searching before posting here and noticed that some people have had success with one of the following fixes.

 

- setting the CPU fan speed low limit to either 200RPM or Ignore

I tried making both of these changes in the UEFI and I still got the CPU fan error.

- setting the system to ignore any errors and bypass the "missing" fan speed input

I'm hesitant to try this because I know that the pump RPM is important information for my motherboard to have. Not to mention I'm sure once I have Windows installed and Corsair Link loaded the pump RPM would be required. Also, I'm not really interested in a "work-around" as I would feel much better if this operated as intended.

 

I plan on making a similar post in the Asus forum but I wanted to post this here as well in the hopes of any information that may help. Thank you for any help.

I see that a new BIOS version has been released today, 1401, of course after I was on the Asus website this morning to download 1305. I will update to 1401 tomorrow and await any replies until then.

I'm not exactly one of the resident experts, but the first thing I would do is connect another fan to the CPU header and the H100i to a case fan header, then check the bios to see if the H100i pump RPM is being picked up on the different header and if the CPU fan header works with another fan. Should give you an idea if its a fault with the H100i or the motherboards CPU fan header.

I'm not exactly one of the resident experts, but the first thing I would do is connect another fan to the CPU header and the H100i to a case fan header, then check the bios to see if the H100i pump RPM is being picked up on the different header and if the CPU fan header works with another fan. Should give you an idea if its a fault with the H100i or the motherboards CPU fan header.

 

I will try exactly what you are asking tonight when I get home from work, connect case fan to CPU_FAN header and I will plug the H100i RPM wire to a CASE_FAN header. Last night during my own preliminary troubleshooting I did plug the rear case fan into the CPU_FAN header and I plugged the H100i RPM wire to the CPU_OPT header. I did not receive the CPU fan error message, but upon entering the UEFI I noticed that the H100i RPM wire was not recognized in the CPU_OPT location.

 

Hopefully the pump RPM will be recognized on one of my CASE_FAN headers or it looks like I may have a defective H100i?

 

May be too soon to say I have a defective part but I will post back here with what I discover tonight. Thanks for the advice so far.

Obysk, I appreciate you being so thorough and giving us as much information as possible. I agree with Ananais; try switching headers and seeing what happens. Are your CPU temps in BIOS okay? If you leave it idle do the temps steadily climb or do they stay <35C?

 

As mentioned above, I will try the H100i RPM wire on an actual CASE_FAN header tonight and report back here with my findings.

 

The CPU temp in the BIOS stays around 30C-32C.

These Asus X99 boards definitely have some unwritten rules regarding what can hooked into where, in particular the CPU_FAN & OPT headers. I had specific problems on two different X99-PRO models where anything hooked into the CPU_FAN and CPU_OPT headers would run 100% and lock out after certain power state system events, like sleep or away mode. I got mixed responses from Asus and was ultimately told not to plug fans in there. We've had a few BIOS updates since then, so I am not expecting any immediate changes.

 

As suggested above, I would run anything you want rpm control over from one of the CHA_FAN headers. To further complicate things, once you are up and running with Windows and install AI Suite, it will override most of the BIOS fan settings -- except the CPU & OPT headers.

Sorry, I was in a hurry and that wasn't particularly helpful. Setting the low rpm limit to IGNORE on CHA_FAN is likely the best option. All you're doing is disabling the not so helpful warning message that nothing is hooked into the CPU_FAN slot. Many motherboards require you have something there to keep someone from trying to run their PC without any type of CPU cooling system. I suspect you would notice if you turned on your computer and your fans were not running. I don't think anything is wrong with your H100i, and it is far more likely the Asus board does not recognize the controller as a fan. All the relevant data should be communicated from the controller along the USB to the MoBo and then to LINK. The BIOS won't play a part in that.

 

If that does not work or you encounter the power state fan RPM problem, you can try moving it to a CHA_FAN header. My pump is running from CPU_FAN locked out in the BIOS to full speed, so I haven't tried running in the CPU slot empty. I suspect more error messages would result, and unfortunately, the CPU & OPT headers may be of less value on their own, so you may not want to waste a CHA_FAN header if you don't need to do so.

I just tried two more troubleshooting steps this evening:

 

1 - Updated BIOS to the most current version (1401)

No change, still experiencing CPU Fan Error message and no pump RPM within UEFI

 

2 - Plugged the H100i RPM wire into CAS_FAN header

No change, still experiencing CPU Fan Error message and no pump RPM within UEFI

 

I have confirmed that when a case fan is plugged into CPU_FAN, CPU_OPT, or CAS_FAN header the UEFI recognizes the fans RPM but when the H100i is plugged into those same headers the UEFI sees no RPM. This confirms that all of the fan headers on the motherboard operate correctly, but for whatever reason the motherboard won't see the H100i pump RPM.

 

I feel it necessary to reiterate the fact that my PC is in a pre-operating system state and is completely stock (no OS installed/not overclocked/no UEFI changes made).

 

Any other suggestions from anybody or is it time to start the RMA process?

It does sound like the H100i to me based on the above, but for the first build in many years I'm not using an asus board, so I don't know whether it may be something specific to them.

 

For all the time it would take compared to an RMA, I would personally go ahead and install windows and LINK to see whether LINK picks up the pump RPM. I suspect it wont if the bios doesn't, but it cant hurt to check as I'm sure we have all seen those unexpected fixes pop up for no good reason from time to time.

 

Also be interested in whether the fans ramp up on power on then slow down when windows loads, though more out of interest than to point to a specific fix...

If you connect a fan to cpu-fan and the hydro tach wire to the cpu-opt,it will cure the boot error,also both the headers actually are controlled as one.

Some boards do exhibit this issue primarily due to the fact that bios expects an instant rotation of rpm's that a fan delivers where as the hydro is a bit slower to spin up because it has to begin moving water,which takes longer than just a fan.

I currently have a support ticket open with Corsair so I will wait to see what the support guy recommends I try. If it is determined that I should return the H100i for a replacement unit I may try installing Windows and Corsair Link to see what happens.

 

I know that I could technically workaround this issue by simply plugging a case fan into the CPU_FAN header, but I would like the H100i to operate as intended. I don't want my motherboard to not know that the H100i is there (by virtue of the missing pump RPM). It would be reassuring to me if the pump RPM was seen in the BIOS so that I know my investment has the best chance of reliable performance.

 

Thanks for all of the help thus far and I will keep you posted with any new information.

I think you may be chasing this from the wrong end, but I don't blame you for utilizing Corsair's help over Asus. I understand where you are coming from, but you have three software control programs (BIOS, AI Suite, C-LINK), two of which you haven't installed yet, and both of which will override whatever you do in the BIOS. You may wish to get Windows installed and the whole thing up an running before making a decision about whether to send the H100i back. There are potential issues between AI Suite, C-LINK, and Windows 8, so you may wish to get a complete view of all the variables.

I think you may be chasing this from the wrong end, but I don't blame you for utilizing Corsair's help over Asus. I understand where you are coming from, but you have three software control programs (BIOS, AI Suite, C-LINK), two of which you haven't installed yet, and both of which will override whatever you do in the BIOS. You may wish to get Windows installed and the whole thing up an running before making a decision about whether to send the H100i back. There are potential issues between AI Suite, C-LINK, and Windows 8, so you may wish to get a complete view of all the variables.

 

I totally understand where you are coming from c-attack, and I myself have considered this as well. I haven't written off this idea yet but I think I'm going to see what comes of the support ticket I have open with Corsair before doing anything for now.

 

I received this comment from Corsair tech support today:

 

Regardless if you have corsair link installed or not, your BIOS should still be able to detect the pump speed and the fan speed. If you have the cooler plugged into the CPU fan and it doesnt display anything, this may a faulty unit. By faulty unit, it may be a detection issue and not the performance of the unit.

 

I asked for a little more clarification on this comment. I'm not sure if Corsair tech support is suggesting I have a faulty H100i or a faulty motherboard. I will sit tight for now and see what Corsair tech support recommends.

 

Again, I will post here with updates.

UPDATE

 

Just received this message from Corsair tech support:

Hello,

Your RMA has been approved. Please check your email for further instructions on how to proceed. We have requested for a prepaid label for you as well. The prepaid label will arrive in your email in 1-2 business days.

 

The Cooling unit is faulty and not your mobo.

 

I guess I'll get busy packing the H100i for shipment tonight. Here is to hoping the replacement unit operates correctly.

 

I will say that the Corsair tech support has been excellent, I couldn't say the same thing for the Asus support...

 

Again, I will post here once the new unit arrives and I can install and test it.

I hope that does the trick. Good luck.

i doubt it does.

UPDATE

 

Finally received the warranty replacement H100i today. Took about a week for the unit to ship to Corsair and another week to ship back to me.

 

Installed the new H100i the exact same way I installed the original one and now it works as intended.

 

No more "CPU Fan Error" message and a valid pump RPM recognized within the BIOS.

 

Thank you all for the help along the way and thank you Corsair for the excellent customer support. Now I can finally finish this build and start enjoying a large back catalogue of games.

Happy to hear it worked out in the end :)

Well done Corsair, how many manufacturers would say "Yes it's our part" rather than "It's your motherboard so please contact the manufacturer"?