H110i - how can I tell if the pump works?

Everything I have found so far online refers to the h110gtx - which I’m not sure of the difference... but this is my first liquid cooling install and I can’t tell if the pump is working. It has the pump RPM in the icue, but I set the rgb link to adjust based on temperature and it’s normally orange I can’t hear it over the sound of the fans.

 

When I pin all the processor cores to the dashboard they idle around 29-30 and sit around 40-50 degrees when I game. Does this seem high for this cooler? I am currently running the h110i with an asus z370 e mobo and an i7 8700k 3.7ghz processor with nothing overcloxked.

 

Would the motherboard shut off automatically if the heat was too high?

 

Can anyone recommend how I should run the fans: quiet/balanced/extreme?

 

Thanks!

No, your temperatures are as low as possible for an 8700k and 30C under the point where most people become concerned. Your pump is running. If it were not, you could watch your cpu temp skip upwards at 5C per second until the pc shutdown.

 

Don’t use any of the fan presets, although you might be able to get by with quiet. None of them are designed for your unique set up. You only need 500 rpm at idle. You can get away with 800 rpm during gaming. Keep the curve smooth and relatively flat. The trick is knowing your coolant temperature. You may have to observe that for awhile.

Yeah, as c-attack says, you would 100% know if your pump was not working. 40 to 50 degrees under load are actually good temps. You should honestly be happy with that as I have read in reviews of the chip when it came out and in testing conditions they were getting mid to high 60s under load. I'd say not only is your cooler working, its working well.

Thank you all for the help.