Weird stuff in XG7 Block - Loop is 3 days old - Temp not really as expected

Greetings, Corsair forum

I have recently put together a loop using Hydro X products. The GPU in a separated loop with XG7 block, XF fitting, XT Softline tube, XL5 Clear coolant, the pump is a Bykski DDC Unit with the Bitspower Minitank and the rad is an XSPC TX360. But there are two things that I am particularly concerned about

1. The XG7 block has something stuck inside, specifically around the micro fins area and the water path around them. I have no idea what those are and require some recommendation. The aforementioned situation can be viewed in the following photo

2. The temp is not what I would expect from a setup like this, Idle @ 27~31C and Load @ 59~62C. The CPU loop with a similar setup achieves a full 10-ish degree lower than the GPU, @ 20~50 degree Celsius. I would like to inquire about other users' performance of their XG7 block. I suspect this would be due to the pre-applied TIM not making good contact with the core

Well, before we can say anything for certain, we'd need to know your ambient temperature and the coolant temperature.

What do you mean by "The CPU loop with a similar setup achieves a full 10-ish degree lower than the GPU, @ 20~50 degree Celsius" - are you referring to a CPU-only loop that's similar? Or to this loop? I'm a little uncertain what that means. However - you do need to understand and accept that the GPU does put out more heat than the CPU. So having them on the same loop will have an impact.

Thanks for the reply.

My ambient temp is ~22C and I have no idea about the coolant temp because there isn't enough space for me to put the temperature sensor.

My setup is that I have two separate loops, one for CPU and one for GPU. The same pumps, reservoir, radiators were used for each loops. The only difference is with the blocks, the CPU block is from Alphacool and the GPU block is the XG7. What bothers me is that the temp for GPU is not what I expected for a 360 rad at all. You could say that the radiator was probably up to the task, but that wasn't the case with the CPU

It's possible there is a mild contact issue with the GPU block. I think most 2080 Ti will hit a GPU diode temp of around 50C when at full voltage with some mild boost, but as always the load is rather key and with a single radiator you may push into the mid 50s without much difficulty. However, you cannot compare the CPU and GPU loops to each other. One has a 135W CPU. The other has a 330W GPU. Quite a bit of difference.

I am afraid I have seen the fogging/cloudy stuff before and it is a real pain to get rid off. Did you use any other chemicals or coolant prior to this? Is that distilled water in there now?

@c-attack

Thank you for your input. The only coolant I have ever put into the loop is the XL5 Clear. I think it could be the plasticizer from the tube, not entirely sure, however. Would you mind sharing the method to get rid of the gunk?

@DevBiker

Yes, that would be the case.

One more thing I'd like to as is that is it possible to mix the XL5 coolant together to create other color?

Testifier

that looks like similar gunk I had when setting up loop first-think it is gunk from radiators so good flush with distilled/deionised water then try your coolant

took me about 4 or 5 flushes to clean it out

^^^ The suggestion above. Drain it. Fill it with distilled water. Run it for a few hours. Drain. Refill distilled water. Repeat. Repeat. As often as you can stand. You don't want any more chemicals in there unless absolutely necessary.

The alternative is some kind of chemical cleaner. You need to be extremely careful with these because even if successful, you will need to do the distilled water rinse, repeat, refill above for a long time to make sure it is all out. Those cleaners and standard coolant do not mix well and you'll get the same cloudy byproduct all over again. If just the GPU block is affected and the corresponding reservoir is OK, I strongly recommend you do the GPU cleaning out of the case and loop. There are certain GPU/CPU specific products and with the block out, you can sit there and endlessly flush water out if it. That is a much faster and more effective process. Where things go wrong is when you get the cleaner in the radiator. Tiny bits in those channels. It only takes a small amount under pressure to react. All those "pre-cleanse" and quick clean, post dye kits are a disaster waiting to happen. If you use dye, you are going to have to deal with it eventually anyway. I suppose covering over the problem is another solution, but perhaps not a satisfactory one.

Mix the XL5 with...? Other Corsair XL5 colored coolants? Probably. Anything else. Strongly advise against. Color dyes are crazy enough as it is. Combining chemical profiles from two different brands is asking for trouble anyway.

So I followed the advice offered and got rid of most of the hazing/clouding inside the block after a few flushing with distilled water. Much oblige!

@GregX

So I can't comment on the old setup anymore because I have decided that having two loops is a pain and I am literally limiting my thermal headroom for each heat source. So I tore the two loops apart, replacing the two DDC pumps with Dual D5, added a temp sensor and made it into one single loop. Now running Firestrike sits both the GPU and CPU @45C max. The temperature in the combined test is in the high 30s for both, coolant temp is around 32~35.

This was the same test as I was reported before, only the temp has changed pretty drastically

It seems that the 2080ti is just that hot, I'm only running a mild OC @ +165/+1000 Core/Mem. Also, the TIM was probably in cure time, which causes it previous temp

Even so, not everyone lives happily ever after yet, another problem pops up

The area around the screws that goes into the acrylic seems to have something gather around. It couldn't be from the loop because the screw is outside the gasket. It looks like microcrack to me, but the pattern is really weird, and it shouldn't have happened so early like this. :!oops::!oops::!oops:

I don't know if I should have gone for the XSPC or the heatkiller block. They look really bulletproof, especially the XSPC one. I really like the XG7's aesthetic and the ease of installation though

Here's what my setup looks like in case anyone wondering, I changed to the XL Red for the photo above, still have some left in reserve. Probably will get a Blue to see if I can make a Purple color. I mean, I thought that Corsair launched a set of 5 color coolants, but the purple literally OOS everywhere I looked. And some guy on Reddit even comment that other colors are also coming soon (*TM) :eek::eek::eek: