Failing AIO?

[Hello Paul]

I wonder if my problem is something similar...
This morning I was working away (nothing too arduous for the PC) as normal, and everything was fine. My office is about 20 degrees C, my PC sits on the floor under my desk with plenty of airflow (I even have the feet raised up on a couple of 1inch blocks of wood so there's plenty of airflow underneath). After working for about an hour, I put it to sleep, and left it for about an hour. When I came back, and woke it up to continue with some more work, the fan(s) spooled up to what sounds like full whack, and something started making a regular clicking sound - sounds a bit like a relays switching off and on repeatedly. I then restarted it, and it beeped 5-ish times, and said CPU Fan Error. I then shut it down and took all the covers off to check for dust build up or something obvious like a plug that may have come loose. It wasn't very dusty and nothing seemed obviously wrong. Here's a link to an audio recording (PCS doesn't allow anything but JPGs it seems! You'll need to turn it up to hear the clicking over the sound of the fans) of the sound of the PC: https://www.filemail.com/d/tcummetiygncqrb
There's also an mp4 video file there of the same thing. Visually, there is nothing obviously wrong - other than all the fans appearing to be running at a fairly high speed constantly.

It's a water-cooled system, so obviously does not actually have a fan sitting on the CPU.

I then started it up again, got the same CPU Fan Error, then went into the BIOS settings. If I tweaked any of the fan graphs, the "Apply" button is greyed out. In Simple Mode, the fan speed and water pump speed are reported as "N/A". I quit the BIOS settings (without saving changes) then continued to boot up - despite the continuous clicks and whirring of fans.

Core Temp app is reporting my CPU temp around 36 degrees C, and GPU-Z says my GPU is around 36 degrees C while I'm typing this. So I'm guessing that the cooling is actually working as it should - it's just some kind of fan control that's gone awry. Any thoughts and suggestions would be greatly appreciated! I feel like my PC may just give up at any moment!

If I feel the pipes to/from the CPU block, I can feel what I assume is the fluid 'pulsing' in time with the clicks. My guess is the pump is failing - does that seem like a good guess? If so, do I need to replace the whole cooling unit? Is water cooling really necessary or might a decent fan suffice? (I do often run the system up to all cores going at 100% when rendering from After Effects).

Thanks in advance for any help or suggestions! (I really need a reliable system - my job depends on it!)

SPECS:
My PC was dispatched to me on 1 April 2021...April Fool's day ....so it's kind of still under partial warranty...although I think that's only labour and not parts:

Case
CORSAIR 5000D AIRFLOW TEMPERED GLASS GAMING CASE
Promotional Item
Choose from 3 incredible Ubisoft PC titles - Free with select Samsung SSDs
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 9 5950X 16 Core CPU (3.4GHz-4.9GHz/72MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® ROG STRIX X570-F GAMING (USB 3.2 Gen 2, PCIe 4.0) - ARGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
128GB Patriot Viper Steel (4x32GB) DDR4 PC4-28800C18 3600MHz Dual Channel
Graphics Card
6GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1660 SUPER - HDMI, DP - GeForce GTX VR Ready!
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB SAMSUNG 980 PRO M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 7000MB/R, 5000MB/W)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
2TB SAMSUNG 980 PRO M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 7000MB/R, 5000MB/W)
1st Storage Drive
8TB Samsung 870 QVO 2.5" SSD, SATA 6Gb/s (up to 560MB/sR | 530MB/sW)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 1000W RMx SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1.5 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
Corsair H115i ELITE CAPELLIX RGB Hydro Series High Performance CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Card
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT
Wireless Network Card
WIRELESS INTEL® Wi-Fi 6 AX200 2,400Mbps/5GHz, 300Mbps/2.4GHz PCI-E CARD + BT 5.0
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KUK-00001]
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10/11 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)

 

[TonyCarter]

I wonder if my problem is something similar...
This morning I was working away (nothing too arduous for the PC) as normal, and everything was fine. My office is about 20 degrees C, my PC sits on the floor under my desk with plenty of airflow (I even have the feet raised up on a couple of 1inch blocks of wood so there's plenty of airflow underneath). After working for about an hour, I put it to sleep, and left it for about an hour. When I came back, and woke it up to continue with some more work, the fan(s) spooled up to what sounds like full whack, and something started making a regular clicking sound - sounds a bit like a relays switching off and on repeatedly. I then restarted it, and it beeped 5-ish times, and said CPU Fan Error. I then shut it down and took all the covers off to check for dust build up or something obvious like a plug that may have come loose. It wasn't very dusty and nothing seemed obviously wrong. Here's a link to an audio recording (PCS doesn't allow anything but JPGs it seems! You'll need to turn it up to hear the clicking over the sound of the fans) of the sound of the PC: https://www.filemail.com/d/tcummetiygncqrb
There's also an mp4 video file there of the same thing. Visually, there is nothing obviously wrong - other than all the fans appearing to be running at a fairly high speed constantly.

It's a water-cooled system, so obviously does not actually have a fan sitting on the CPU.

I then started it up again, got the same CPU Fan Error, then went into the BIOS settings. If I tweaked any of the fan graphs, the "Apply" button is greyed out. In Simple Mode, the fan speed and water pump speed are reported as "N/A". I quit the BIOS settings (without saving changes) then continued to boot up - despite the continuous clicks and whirring of fans.

Core Temp app is reporting my CPU temp around 36 degrees C, and GPU-Z says my GPU is around 36 degrees C while I'm typing this. So I'm guessing that the cooling is actually working as it should - it's just some kind of fan control that's gone awry. Any thoughts and suggestions would be greatly appreciated! I feel like my PC may just give up at any moment!

If I feel the pipes to/from the CPU block, I can feel what I assume is the fluid 'pulsing' in time with the clicks. My guess is the pump is failing - does that seem like a good guess? If so, do I need to replace the whole cooling unit? Is water cooling really necessary or might a decent fan suffice? (I do often run the system up to all cores going at 100% when rendering from After Effects).

Thanks in advance for any help or suggestions! (I really need a reliable system - my job depends on it!)

SPECS:
My PC was dispatched to me on 1 April 2021...April Fool's day ....so it's kind of still under partial warranty...although I think that's only labour and not parts:

Case
CORSAIR 5000D AIRFLOW TEMPERED GLASS GAMING CASE
Promotional Item
Choose from 3 incredible Ubisoft PC titles - Free with select Samsung SSDs
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 9 5950X 16 Core CPU (3.4GHz-4.9GHz/72MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® ROG STRIX X570-F GAMING (USB 3.2 Gen 2, PCIe 4.0) - ARGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
128GB Patriot Viper Steel (4x32GB) DDR4 PC4-28800C18 3600MHz Dual Channel
Graphics Card
6GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1660 SUPER - HDMI, DP - GeForce GTX VR Ready!
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB SAMSUNG 980 PRO M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 7000MB/R, 5000MB/W)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
2TB SAMSUNG 980 PRO M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 7000MB/R, 5000MB/W)
1st Storage Drive
8TB Samsung 870 QVO 2.5" SSD, SATA 6Gb/s (up to 560MB/sR | 530MB/sW)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 1000W RMx SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1.5 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
Corsair H115i ELITE CAPELLIX RGB Hydro Series High Performance CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Card
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT
Wireless Network Card
WIRELESS INTEL® Wi-Fi 6 AX200 2,400Mbps/5GHz, 300Mbps/2.4GHz PCI-E CARD + BT 5.0
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KUK-00001]
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10/11 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)

The AIO is not cooled using 'water', it uses an non-conductive liquid so that it's safe in case of leaks.

However, you'll probably find the Corsair AIO is controlled via iCUE software rather than BIOS.

 

[Hello Paul]

The AIO is not cooled using 'water', it uses an non-conductive liquid so that it's safe in case of leaks.

However, you'll probably find the Corsair AIO is controlled via iCUE software rather than BIOS.

Thanks for your reply, Tony. That iCue app (I updated it to the latest version today) only seems to monitor temps/fan speeds, and allow me to control the pointless RGB lighting. There are no options for any kind of cooling control - unless I'm missing something very well hidden?

 

[TonyCarter]

I'm on my Mac at the moment, so can't provide a screenshot....but as long as the AIO is wired into the Corsair controller properly, there should be a 'cooling' section on the iCUE dashboard for the AIO.

ETA: found an old screenshot that I've annotated...

 

[Hello Paul]

Mine's very different! And if I click on Device Settings, I just get a message saying "Plug-In Version 1.2.4.0". I have not messed with any of the connections in the PC since PCS delivered it (other than to install some RAM and an M.2 drive on a PCI card).

 

[B4zookaw]

As Tony said, the Capellix should appear in iCUE. The fact that it's not, and the CPU_FAN error would point to either a failed pump, or loose connections. Take the side panel of the case off and locate the Commander Core. make sure all cables to and from it are fully seated. Give them a firm push to make sure. The ones in particular I'd on are 1) the SATA power connection to the Commander, 2) cable from the CPU cooler pump head to the Commander and 3) the cable from the Commander to one your USB headers on the motherboard.

If all cables are secure and the Cappelix is not visible in iCUE, contact PCS to organise an RMA would be the next step

 

[Hello Paul]

I've had a good rummage around the PC, checking whichever connectors I can get my hands onto are all snugly fitted. I assume the temperature probe (and pump power supply maybe?) are these things connected to the Commander Core. They kinda disappear into the back of it somewhere....I snipped one of the cable ties so I could undo the bolt at the top and hinge the thing down a bit, in the hope there'd be some way to release the commander core from its metal base...but no. Is it just glued on there?? There seems to be no way to access the back of the thing. I don't know where the cables from the Commander Core plug into the motherboard/power/etc, because they disappear into an inaccessible rat's nest of wiring just in front of my PSU.

I'm assuming the connectors I've circled in green here are the power and/or temp probe for the CPU block?

From feeling the coolant pipes to/from the CPU, I can feel the fluid pulsing in time with the clicking, which would point to the pump clicking on and off, I suspect. I used the ridiculously-named Armoury Crate app to determine my fan/pump speeds, and that confirms that there seems to be no data coming from the fan/pump. If I use Armoury Crate to set the fan speed to any of the settings (Silent, Standard, etc) then no change happens at all to the fan speeds in reality.

 

[B4zookaw]

Create won't control any of the AIO fans or pump, because none of them are connected to the motherboard. So this is correct behaviour. The fans and pump can only be controlled in AIO. If the pump and fans are not displayed in icue then there is either a loose connection, or failure in pump/commander/both.

The cables in green will be the SATA power that should be connected to your PSU via a SATA power cable. If the AIO fans are spinning, then this is connected. The other wire goes to the USB Header, probably on the bottom of your motherboard. And the cable in red connects Commander to the pump and supplies it with power and data. If this is not fully seated, it might be the cause of issues. Your photo looks like it's fully inserted, but give it a firm press to be sure.

 

[B4zookaw]

Your Commander will be connected to one of the two circled ports on the motherboard. Again, give a firm push to make sure cable is fully connected

 

[Martinr36]

Also make sure the USB connector is plugged into the pump body properly

 

[Hello Paul]

Yep - all those seem plugged in ok - although I can't see any obvious plugs going to the CPU block (the cables going into that look hard-wired to me) and I cannot see any accessible cables/plugs going to the cooler radiator unit - they must all be behind parts of the chassis.

On the advice of tech support from PCS (the call was an hour and a half), I did a CMOS reset (with the system completely unplugged of course), and after an F2 into BIOS, and the same CPU Fan error, it's the same story - nothing's changed. Did another CMOS reset - and again, nothing changed. Probably going to have to do an RMA once I've copied stuff onto my old system so I can carry on working. Ugh. What an absolute nightmare. I am very unhappy.

 

[TonyCarter]

Ah, I don't have any Asus plug-in on mine as it caused all sorts of problems in identifying and disconnecting my Corsair components.

But a bit jealous now that you can see your motherboard and GPU 😤

 

[B4zookaw]

The CPU_FAN error is happening cos the pump is not feeding a signal back to the fan header. The header doesn't control anything but many motherboards/bios are designed that if there is no signal on CPU FAN it won't boot as it could indicate a failed cooler and risk of CPU overheating.

Ask if they can send the replacement AIO to you to fit yourself? One other PCS user did this recently, it would be far quicker than having to ship the entire unit back and wait for it to be repaired. Assuming you're comfortable with a screwdriver and some cable management?

 

[Hello Paul]

The CPU_FAN error is happening cos the pump is not feeding a signal back to the fan header. The header doesn't control anything but many motherboards/bios are designed that if there is no signal on CPU FAN it won't boot as it could indicate a failed cooler and risk of CPU overheating.

Ask if they can send the replacement AIO to you to fit yourself? One other PCS user did this recently, it would be far quicker than having to ship the entire unit back and wait for it to be repaired. Assuming you're comfortable with a screwdriver and some cable management?

The PC is out of its 'parts' warranty, so the only benefit to the warranty is the labour. I'd be reasonably happy to have a go at replacing the AIO cooler. It's apparently £35 to ship the PC to PCS and back, plus £16ish if they provide a box (I think I chucked mine a few weeks ago because it took up too much space!). I'd assume that they'd give it a good check over, and keep at it until it's fixed. If I replace the AIO myself and still have the same problem, I'd be a bit miffed. Or does this problem sound like it's definitely the AIO unit?

I set the PC to 'sleep' a few hours ago. When I woke it up a few minutes ago (it had been sleeping for about 5 hours), I logged in as usual; the fans were still uncontrollable, and then after a couple of minutes it just shut down. The next few times I tried to start it up, I got the one short beep, nothing on the screens and after about 5 seconds, it just shut down. I then switched off the main switch on the back, removed the mains cable, pressed the 'start' button on the top a few times (the theory being that would discharge anything left in the PSU), then plugged it back in, switched it on, booted it up, and it did the usual CPU Fan Error - press F1 to enter setup, which I did, then exited without saving any changes, logged in and was back to the same old 'click-click' from the pump, fans uncontrollable etc.

 

[Hello Paul]

So, I'm planning to send it back to PCS. I've got my old PC up and running again, and am lamenting its relatively sluggish performance - an After Effects render I did today on my old PC took exactly 4x as long as it did yesterday when my new PC was working!

 

[Scott]

Even with it being out of warranty with PCS, surely it's still in warranty with Corsair? I was pretty sure the Corsair warranty was 5 years for coolers.

 

[Martinr36]

Even with it being out of warranty with PCS, surely it's still in warranty with Corsair? I was pretty sure the Corsair warranty was 5 years for coolers.

Yep that' correct

 

[Hello Paul]

I'm guessing I couldn't somehow smoosh those two warranties together...I send it off to PCS, they give me free labour ('cos that's the only thing remaining on my PCS warranty), and get a free cooler from Corsair because that's still under warranty?! I'll give PCS a ring tomorrow and see what my options are...probably being way too optimistic but you never know! (It was a bloody expensive system, and I'm rather disappointed to say the least that it's collapsed after less than 2 years).

 

[Hello Paul]

After a chat with PCS, they've said yes - they will fix it for free (apart from the shipping costs) because the warranty covers the labour and the parts are all within their manufacturers' warranties, which is nice! So it's going off to them for a bit of surgery soon. And I'll have to limp along with my old faithful PC - which renders stuff at a quarter of the speed - until it returns.

 

[SpyderTracks]

After a chat with PCS, they've said yes - they will fix it for free (apart from the shipping costs) because the warranty covers the labour and the parts are all within their manufacturers' warranties, which is nice! So it's going off to them for a bit of surgery soon. And I'll have to limp along with my old faithful PC - which renders stuff at a quarter of the speed - until it returns.

Wow, that's fantastic news! Best of both worlds, congrats!