H100i V2 issues

Hi all, i have an H100i V2 cooling my I7-9700K cpu, i have it mounted to the top of the case. From first power on the fans had a rattle but after a few minutes that disappeared so i gave it no more thought.

 

However the last week or so the fans have started to rattle again and they are ramping up and down constantly. It sounds like a wind blowing.

 

I have installed the Corsair Link program and this is happening on either the balanced or performance profiles, the quiet profile is exactly as described and quiet. It does appear to be keeping the CPU cool with temps being around 30-35c on all cores according to Corsair Link when idle and afterburner showing temps reaching up to 55c when playing a game but is rather annoying with the constant up and down noise coupled with the rattling fans.

 

The two fans are the original Corsair provided ones and are powered by a PWM splitter cable that was supplied with the cooler rather than from the motherboard.

 

The unit was purchased in April 2019 as refurbished from scan.co.uk so i don't know where i stand warranty wise or whether this would even be considered a warranty issue?

 

Any help would be appreciated

 

Thanks

Is the rattling coming from how it is mounted or the fans and bearings inside themselves? Try holding firm each fan bracket where the screws are mounted in to see if it stops rattling. If it stops it could just be that they aren't mounted very well or a screw is stripped or something. If they continue to rattle while holding the frames down firm and it sounds like it's coming from inside the fan, it sounds like the fans could be having some bearing issues. If that's the case, sounds like you might need to replace the fans. But definitely make sure that it's not just the mounting screws causing the rattling

Unsure about the rattling, but first we need to make sure you are set-up correctly. The fan ramping up and down should not happen unless the settings are off.

 

In the BIOS, make sure you set CPU_Fan or whichever header is power the cooler to 100%/PWM/Full Speed or disabled - whichever wording your BIOS uses for maximum speed/voltage. This is crucial for the H100i v2 that gets its power from the motherboard. Back in the Link software, make sure you did not change the control variable from H100i v2 Temp (coolant temperature) to something like CPU package temp. That's now how this works. Also, Link was replaced about 18 months ago with iCUE. If you don't have any other Corsair devices that use iCUE, then you are not really losing anything with Link and there are no special advantages for that model cooler -- just FYI.

Agree with c-attack on this - check to make sure that the pump is powered correctly. See section "B" of the Liquid Cooler FAQ linked in my sig.

Hi chaps and thanks for the replies, i have the cooler plugged into the header on my motherboard labelled PUMP_FAN1 which according to the manual (see attached screenshot) is used for AIO cooler pumps. It is set to PWM in the bios. The two fans then connect to a pwm splitter cable that comes from the pump.

 

I have corsair link installed but i will be honest and say i haven't touched any of the settings. I only tried each of the quiet, balanced and performance profiles with both the balanced and performance leading to ramping up and down of the fan. The cooler had pre-applied paste on it so i didn't apply paste myself. I assume the coolant temperate is the one listed under the h100i v2 header which at the time of the attached screenshot was 36.6c.

 

I have used an H45 before which was plug and play and this H100i which again i assumed would be plug and play but this one seems to be causing me more issues.

 

The rattling is definitely coming from inside one of the fans and not from a loose connection.

 

As for ambient temperature i have 4 intake fans on the front of the case and two blowing out of the back of the case.

 

As i mentioned above it does appear to be doing its job of keeping things cool which averages of 30-35c when idle rising to around 55c when playing a game

 

Thanks

Edited July 20, 2019 by scrappysphinx

The coolant temp rises to 50-something when playing a game?!? Or the CPU temp?

 

What was going on when you took that screen shot? 36C is a load temperature, unless you room is about 30C -- something not uncommon this Summer.

 

The header on the board seems to be fine. Your fan and pump speed would be affected if you were cutting power to the whole unit.

The cpu temp rises to around 55c when playing a game.

 

I had just finished playing and shutdown Ark Survival Evolved when i took that screenshot.

 

Sitting here now i am at 29/30c idle temp on all cores.

 

Interestingly i have just switched to the icue program and uninstalled link and the ramping has stopped. The rattle is still present but i can set the pump to quiet or extreme in icue and both make no difference to audible sound.

 

Setting the fan from quiet to balanced makes the fan slightly louder but no ramping up and down. Moving up to extreme again increases the audibilty of the fans but again constant speed and no ramping up or down. Now just to sort out the rattling. I assume i can use any standard 120mm pwm fans?

Edited July 20, 2019 by scrappysphinx

Absolutely you can use other PWM fans and on a H100i v2 (or any from the motherboard). The included ones would still be in their plastic bags for me. Not a lot of love for that specific variation and they are truly loud at 2000 rpm+.

 

OK, the cooler seems to be in good working order. It may just be a bad fan. The fan ramping part was concerning since that shouldn't happen. There were some bouts of this on Link near the end, but I am afraid the details have slipped away.

Thanks for the help, i shall order some new fans

Note that the ramping can also be caused if you created a custom fan curve and set the source to CPU temperature rather than liquid temperature.

 

Does your pump speed vary at all? If so, by how much.

 

As for the fans - I would recommend the ML fans. The original, non-RGB ones are great drop-in replacements for the stock fans. The ML-RGB fans have a lower speed than the originals but ... the extra speed isn't required. You typically won't see any benefit over around 1600 RPM. That said, you'd need a custom fan curve for the ML-RGB, which is absolutely doable.