Corsair H115i pro quite mode does not spin the fans

Hi folks,

 

I am trying to troubleshoot few issues here, it is going to be a long post hang tight. Let me start with a little background:

 

 

I had corsair vengeance rgb pro working perfectly fine in this setup:

Ryzen 5 2400g (stock air cooler) on a Gigabyte X470 Gaming 5. I used ICue 3.7.XX to control the LEDs on the ram sticks.

 

I have upgraded to Ryzen 5 2600x and upgraded the cooler to Corsair H115i pro (motherboard is still the same) and changed the fans on cooler to be quiet 140mm fans.

 

Issue with Cooler Performance -

Pump is on quite mode and spins at ~ 1150rpm.

Fans:

Balanced Mode - they ramp up to the max when the cooler temp hits 40c and goes to zero when the temp cools a bit.

Quite Mode - fans start at full speed 1650RPM and goes down to zero and won't spin at all even the temps are well over 50s

Custom Mode - behaves same as Quite Mode irrespective of my custom fan curve

Fixed RPM - when set to 800RPM, just stays at zero rpm on the fans.

 

- I removed the iCue (3.7.XX) and installed iCue (3.8.XX) - no change in the AIO performance behavior.

- I installed Corsair Link 4.9.7 (with iCue removed)

The same behavior continues except that the Fixed RPM spins the fans to some extent.

 

 

AIO Connections:

- Pump connected to CPU_FAN (fan in BIOS set to Normal curve)

- Fans connected to the pump

- and USB connected to the MB.

 

 

 

(secondary issue/ side effects)

Issue with memory stick LEDs -

Right immediately after the upgrade LEDs on one stick won't turn on and other one defaulted to static blue. I have changed the slots, used one stick at a time and tried to update the firmware on iCue but could get the LEDs to work. Installed Icue 3.8.91 but still the same.

 

 

P.S: The cooler is front mounted in a Phanteks P400s case with 1 exhaust fan Be quiet 120mm at the back, idle temps are in 40-45C(CPU) and Cooler at 39C. I was doing better with the stock air cooler. :[pouts: Please help me if I am missing anything here for the AIO work as designed. Since I have Corsair RAM as well I would prefer using iCue rather than Corsair Link.

Hi folks,

 

I am trying to troubleshoot few issues here, it is going to be a long post hang tight. Let me start with a little background:

 

 

I had corsair vengeance rgb pro working perfectly fine in this setup:

Ryzen 5 2400g (stock air cooler) on a Gigabyte X470 Gaming 5. I used ICue 3.7.XX to control the LEDs on the ram sticks.

 

I have upgraded to Ryzen 5 2600x and upgraded the cooler to Corsair H115i pro (motherboard is still the same) and changed the fans on cooler to be quiet 140mm fans.

 

Issue with Cooler Performance -

Pump is on quite mode and spins at ~ 1150rpm.

Fans:

Balanced Mode - they ramp up to the max when the cooler temp hits 40c and goes to zero when the temp cools a bit.

Quite Mode - fans start at full speed 1650RPM and goes down to zero and won't spin at all even the temps are well over 50s

Custom Mode - behaves same as Quite Mode irrespective of my custom fan curve

Fixed RPM - when set to 800RPM, just stays at zero rpm on the fans.

 

- I removed the iCue (3.7.XX) and installed iCue (3.8.XX) - no change in the AIO performance behavior.

- I installed Corsair Link 4.9.7 (with iCue removed)

The same behavior continues except that the Fixed RPM spins the fans to some extent.

 

 

AIO Connections:

- Pump connected to CPU_FAN (fan in BIOS set to Normal curve)

- Fans connected to the pump

- and USB connected to the MB.

 

 

 

(secondary issue/ side effects)

Issue with memory stick LEDs -

Right immediately after the upgrade LEDs on one stick won't turn on and other one defaulted to static blue. I have changed the slots, used one stick at a time and tried to update the firmware on iCue but could get the LEDs to work. Installed Icue 3.8.91 but still the same.

 

 

P.S: The cooler is front mounted in a Phanteks P400s case with 1 exhaust fan Be quiet 120mm at the back, idle temps are in 40-45C(CPU) and Cooler at 39C. I was doing better with the stock air cooler. :[pouts: Please help me if I am missing anything here for the AIO work as designed. Since I have Corsair RAM as well I would prefer using iCue rather than Corsair Link.

 

Have the pump run faster, that is very slow, I think they normally do 3000+ RPM. They don't make much noise, compared to a fan. Also did you remove the sticker from the bottom of the CPU block and apply thermal paste properly to manufacture's specs?

 

For the RAM pull the power/flip switch in back, leave for 15 seconds and power it back on. It could also be conflicting with Gigabyte Fusion.

 

Also I would stick with iCUE going back and forth is confusing and Link is no longer supported.

Sorry for the delayed reply, I had to go out of the town yesterday. Today I decided to swap the Be quiet fans to the stock fans to see if the product is defective and if I have to send it back. Voila with the stock fans all fan modes works as expected. Not sure why the Corsair won't work with Be Quiet fans :thinking:. I will raise a support ticket and will see if they can solve it in their future firmware/software update.

 

 

Have the pump run faster, that is very slow, I think they normally do 3000+ RPM. They don't make much noise, compared to a fan. Also did you remove the sticker from the bottom of the CPU block and apply thermal paste properly to manufacture's specs?

 

 

For the RAM pull the power/flip switch in back, leave for 15 seconds and power it back on. It could also be conflicting with Gigabyte Fusion.

 

Also I would stick with iCUE going back and forth is confusing and Link is no longer supported.

 

 

I have set the pump to extreme and I don't hear a thing and I see the temps improved a bit. I will leave at that setting. Cooler plate came with pre-applied paste in a plastic shroud (which I removed before installing). I don't remember seeing any sticker or any that I can peel. But I believe the cooler is seated pretty good as the delta between the aio temp and the cpu temp is within 6~10C and also the AIO temp is responding to the changes in CPU temp with load.

 

I prefer the iCue too, I installed Link to see if the issue is with iCue, but now I know that it is compatibility issue with Be Quiet fans. I am hoping Corsair will release a fix.

 

For the RAM, I tried your method with no luck. I will try uninstalling RGB Fusion and will reset the BIOS tomorrow and see if it helps. (I will update on this, too late today for anymore tinkering)

 

- signing off with sleepy eyes :zzzz:

I would stick to the custom curves of your own design. This is always preferable since no one can predict your ambient room and case temperature as a starting point. Fan speed changes should be based on relative change in coolant temperature and it is only at high 45-50C coolant temps that absolute CPU temps becomes the issue.

 

I have not seen any reports of the fans disregarding their curve when on a custom profile. However, it is also impossible for me to get my H115i PRO to 40C, unless I disconnect the fans so it's a bit hard to test on this end. If the fans are not responding to directions on the custom curve, that is more concerning. I'll leave it with the universal iCUE reminder to click the fan profile on the left (highlights yellow) then click all the fans on the right you want to run that profile (will also highlight yellow). Not getting the fan profile applied is one of the more common mistakes when transitioning to iCUE and that process works the opposite way from Link and most other programs.

I would stick to the custom curves of your own design. This is always preferable since no one can predict your ambient room and case temperature as a starting point. Fan speed changes should be based on relative change in coolant temperature and it is only at high 45-50C coolant temps that absolute CPU temps becomes the issue.

 

I have not seen any reports of the fans disregarding their curve when on a custom profile. However, it is also impossible for me to get my H115i PRO to 40C, unless I disconnect the fans so it's a bit hard to test on this end. If the fans are not responding to directions on the custom curve, that is more concerning. I'll leave it with the universal iCUE reminder to click the fan profile on the left (highlights yellow) then click all the fans on the right you want to run that profile (will also highlight yellow). Not getting the fan profile applied is one of the more common mistakes when transitioning to iCUE and that process works the opposite way from Link and most other programs.

 

 

 

Thanks for your suggestion, I have created a custom curve on your word. That makes sense as my case (Phanteks P400s) does not breath better on the front and I can't mount the radiator on the top, so have to live with the lil higher avg temps and the cooling curve to deal with the temps. The temps were horrible when Be Quiet fans were installed as they were not responding to iCue/temp changes in the coolant. With the corsair fans things are working good, they respond to changes on iCue and are now running at custom curve.

 

 

At Idle with 24C ambient coolant sits at ~31C and CPU at ~35-38C. I am ok with the those idle temps.

 

Ran AIDA64 CPU stress test for 10 mins and saw the coolant went up to 35C and CPU riding at 68-74C. I am happy with this setup. However I have to figure out how I can make the Be Quiet fans work with corsair as they are more efficient and silent. Corsair stock fans get bit loud at 1000 RPM.

Nearly all 140mm fans get loud at 1000 rpm+. The good news is you shouldn't need any more than that for normal use. A +4C rise in coolant for 10 min of AIDA is right in line with expectations, or maybe even 1C better. Since you can only reduce the coolant and CPU temps by the increase in coolant temperature, the best you possibly do is reduce your load CPU temps by 4C. That would be assuming a zero coolant rise, which isn't going to happen. Nothing is 100% efficient. That also means any pursuit of higher fan speeds at most is going to pull back 1-2C in CPU temp. That sounds (literally) like a bad trade on noise for most people.

 

Let me know which exact BeQuiet model fan you have. I have many and there are some issues with Corsair controllers. To work with the cooler's fan controller, it must be PWM. Then ironically the Commander Pro has trouble controlling the PWM models, but works fine with the 3 pin DC models. However, based on my experimenting over the years, I don't get great results with them on a radiator, except when blasting full on. At that point, it is no longer quieter than other fans. At quiet desktop levels there has always been a definite increase in coolant temp (+2-3C). Those blades don't move much against resistance at low speeds. So, assuming you have the high speed model, I suspect you would need to run 1400 to match the 1000 performance with the ML-Quiet version that came with the cooler. That is kind of a wash or worse, unless you were trying for some absolute minimal level of noise at the idle state with no preference for coolant temperature.

 

I have my ML-RGB 140s on the H115i PRO now. It really makes no difference between 700-900 RPM for mixed load things like gaming, quick video editing, etc. Only sustained max loads will bring out small differences over the long duration.

Yes, I have the Be Quiet (BQ) Silent wings 3 140mm high speed PWM. I was using these fans as case fans prior to getting the Corsair AIO. Since I saw many people complaining about the stock fans, thought may be good idea to swap with BQ. I agree with you even the BQs get louder at 80% speeds. I was assuming they perform the same(in pressure and air movement) as stock ML fans at 1100 RPM but little quieter. But as you have used them both, if ML 1000 = BQ 1400 in performance then the droning of the fans is comparable. In that case I will put my BQs to rest for now.

If you google up a review of any of BeQuiet's AIO coolers, you will see they typically lose out to the competition by a few degrees. This is not the result of inferior tech or bad design, it is mostly about the fans. The Silent Wings 3 gave us a little flatter blade face (certainly compared to SW2), but it is still not the ideal radiator design. I love them as my bottom intake fans on this Air 740. Anyway, back all of like 12 months ago when it was still the norm to put loud, inexpensive maximum blaster fans on every AIO, the BQ series was a good quieter alternative for those not interested in maximum performance and more inclined toward quiet desktop work. Corsair has split the traditional dichotomy and now includes this "ML-Quiet" fan that is radiator effective and still quiet at moderate speed. You can find fans that technically make less noise at 400-600 rpm, but probably none that move air and are quiet in the 700-900 rpm range where you will spend all of your load time.

 

My suggestion is to turn the fans down a bit and cap their speed around the 900-1000 mark or just under where they become annoying. There is no meaningful difference in cooling between the 1140-1160 max and 900 rpm unless you are right against your thermal limits.

 

I have not tested my BQ PWM fans on this H115i PRO, but have with previous 280mm radiators. As such, I do not know if the controller issue on the Commander Pro extends to the H115i PRO controller too. What are they doing? Stop/start? Or sit and twitch?

Exactly, ML fans are whisper quiet at 600 and fan noise at 1000 is pretty much not audible until you specifically hear for them. I have capped them at 1000 RPM in custom curve and seems to be working good for my use.

 

 

I have not tested my BQ PWM fans on this H115i PRO, but have with previous 280mm radiators. As such, I do not know if the controller issue on the Commander Pro extends to the H115i PRO controller too. What are they doing? Stop/start? Or sit and twitch?

 

When i had the BQ fans connected to the pump and when I change the mode they ramp up to the max RPM and then go back to zero and won't spin again until I change the mode btw Quiet/balanced/extreme/custom. Could be the same issue that you were stating you had with Commander Pro.

 

For the RAM, I tried your method with no luck. I will try uninstalling RGB Fusion and will reset the BIOS tomorrow and see if it helps. (I will update on this, too late today for anymore tinkering)

 

 

Finally got this to work and my DIMMs are breathing RGB again. Issue seems to be with iCue could not update firmware for DIMMs when on Gigabyte F3 (BIOS version). On suggestions from memory threads on this forum I downgraded to F3g and updated the firmware on iCue and restarted PC. DIMMs are back in business. :headbang2