Is there a problem with my H115i Pro?

Hi, new member here, signed up to try and get to the bottom of what may be an issue with my H115i Pro...

I took delivery of a new PC recently and when spec'ing it, I decided to add Corsair's latest as generally I'm a fan of the gear.

For the first week, the PC was 100% silent on idle/low-load and just general browsing, and temps were good. Put a game on and of course noise would ramp up, but to a perfectly acceptable level. So generally delighted with the new cooler!

But after I installed an extra SSD and HDD, thing have gone a bit haywire.

There is a constant fan like noise, very noticeable, that I believe to be the cooler pump. I've come to this conclusion as to test, I put the rad fans on 0 rpm and stopped the case fans for a few secs, and the noise just continued. This discounts any fans being the culprit.

So then I considered the HDD, and that is causing problems in it's own right, vibrating through the case very deep. But from here, consider it unrelated, as I have pulled the HDD cage out of the case, which stopped that noise.

So it's this fan like noise I'm still dealing with...

The cooler pump is sitting at around 2130 rpm (balanced mode) constantly, which I think it is actually supposed to do (i.e. not change dynamically). Strange thing is, if I use Link to put it in quiet mode the noise continues at the same level even though the software tells me the pump RPM drops to 1100. Likewise if I put it in performance mode, and it hits 2800 RPM, there is still no change in the noise.

Which is pretty confusing and might even point to the fact that it's not the pump being noisy in the first place!

Which leaves only one component that could be the culprit - the PSU.

My next step is to work out if it's possible/safe to turn the pump of completely, have the fans on 0 rpm just for a few seconds to see if the noise goes. If it does, then I will know it's the pump.

But how could I do this and would just a few secs of no pump/fans kill my CPU?

Then I need to ask myself, and any experts here, why was the PC once amazingly silent with great temps on idle, but now I have this noise. Essentially, my set-up has the potential to be silent on low load but now isn't.

I should add now, temps are fine, just the same as they were before this all started.

Btw, the GPU fans are never spinning on low use, so it's not that.

Any thoughts or insight, or advice on testing it by stopping the pump would be greatly appreciated. I'm a bit lost here and it's taking the shine of my monster of a new PC!

Apologies for such a long first post, but hoping somebody has an idea or two to get back to that glorious first week of silence.

Btw, totally willing to accept I could have knocked or changed something when installing the drives. not sure what but I guess it's a possibility, especially as it's all a tight fit and the cable management by the builder was disgraceful.

(I'll probably ask in Corsair cases about the noise/vibration from the HDD as a separate issue as I have isolated it now, it's not part of this problem)

With no change in tone, it seems very unlikely the pump is the source of the vibrations. You could disconnect the SATA line to cut power and you would have 10-20 seconds before things got really hot, but I would suggest you avoid this test. Hot plugging in your SATA wire always carries some element of risk to the pump. Not likely to cause damage, but don't take the risk unless really necessary. With the pump is Quiet mode at 1100 and case fans down low, it should be easy to tell if the pump is misbehaving. The fans are something different and can be shut off, but it looks those have already been rules out.

My first thoughts go to the HDD, but you are saying there are two different noise issues? It sounds like you are taking the right steps. You may have to stick your head in there until it becomes clear where its coming from.

Thanks for your response c-attack. The HDD is definitely a separate issue. It was causing very deep vibrations but as soon as I took the cage out it stopped.

As for the pump, I've had my head in the case to listen and just can't pinpoint where the constant 'whirring' is coming from. Having stopped case and rad fans to listen, it can only be the pump or the PSU fan making the noise now though.

Pulling the cooler SATA cable out when PC is on sounds like a last resort then. I wonder though, would it be safer to perhaps pull it before booting up? That may leave the cooler off for too long though whilst I wait to get to desktop so perhaps just as dodgy. Or maybe it wouldn't even boot.

I guess there is no software method to turn the pump on and off then?

Looks like closer listening is needed for now...

Hello Golf Pirate, I have a disturbing noise in the PC already very well located with the inner cardboard tube of a kitchen roll. any pipe on your ear ... maybe you catch it?

I do not think that starting the PC with the SATA plug unplugged will damage the pump. Then shut down quickly and plug in the SATA connector again.