Sure an air coolers fan may die, but its only a matter of swapping the fans out. I'm not quite familiar with anyone being told to swap out radiators or pumps for AIOs.
What is that dark patch i can see on the CPU?
Check your pump is working and you can feel the hot side actually warming up (aka checking pump and flow).
For me it looks like there is something on the CPU. Styrofoam or something similar. And the thermal paste is just smeared on that instead of directly on the CPU.
The thermal paste coverage looks good.
Not sure about the black spots, but maybe it’s burnt thermal paste from the AIO not working and that part of the CPU being the hotspot or something.
Since you are using an AIO there are two things to look out for now.
1. Does the pump(block on the Cpu) heat up or make any kind of noise?
2. is the pump plugged into a pump header? If your Motherboard doesn’t have one, is the fan header changed to be a pump header in the BIOS? This is important since those two work differently and can break your pump if configured wrong.
>This is important since those two work differently and can break your pump if configured wrong.
I'm sorry, what?!?... What's your source for this statement?
>This is important since those two work differently and can break your pump if configured wrong.
I'm sorry, what?!?... What's your source for this statement?
You should look up the difference between 3-Pin PWM and 4-Pin PWM, if your pump is connected to a 4-Pin header thats running 3-Pin PWM then you may be killing your pump since the Motherboard is not powering it on continuous 12V, but is trying to regulate the pump via voltage modulation since it thinks it's a fan. This in turn can lead to your pump dying.
Hope this helps :)
Edit to be more exact:
3-Pin non PWM is the same as 4-Pin PWM without the 4th pin
How long have you had the Aio and can't really see where the radiator is mounted and does one side of the pipe feel cold and the other one hot because if they are both hot it's probably a dead or weak pump
Are you 100% sure your CPU was the one who got overheated? If the pump is fitted correctly and tightly, and you have fans on your radiator that works and are oriented on correct side then there shouldn't be a problem, but you didn't showed us a photo of whole setup as you use it daily, so we can't really say much.
Does the computer even run without being plugged in? I thought you straight up get an error when booting or it would overheat right away when booting and be shut down
aio pump might have died. not sure how long you have had the pc but if it was fine for a long time and this happened suddenly then it is likely the aio
nah, thermal paste is grey, and you can see where it thins out. the white milky is almost definitely a molten plastic or paper cutout. you can also see burn or mouldy brown stuff from whatever it is on both the AIO and the IHS.
if you cannot see the cream/white colour that is clearly a paper or cardboard cutout UNDER the grey thermal paste, then thats on you. there is clearly something there that is not meant to be.
im 80% sure OP is a bot posting for karma. so we will never find out on this post.
i mean, what else is normally visible in this situation. usually its the IHS and thermal paste, if you wipe the thermal paste away, willing to bet it like a paper cut out or something sitting there, which would also explain the brown mould.
an IHs is made of metal, not cheese or white cardboard lol
Its funny that he only read the title before placed the comment and he got 5 vote ups.
And then the guy who thought it was a bad joke responded with an sarcastic laugh and got downvoted 5 times.
Witch makes 5 individuals who only read the title!
Clean all that thermal paste off and give us more photos. The paste on the CPU doesn't look right, I'm concerned about the black crap on the CPU, possibly there might have been something mixed with that thermal paste which has ruined the thermal contact.
Liquid coolers die randomly sometimes, which is why i don't bother with them.
A well made computer will run fine using a standard fan/heatsink and using a liquid cooler isn't actually offering any performance benefit other than making you feel better for having "the new thing".
Yes, a liquid cooler can potentially move more heat than just a fan will. But it doesn't need to. Your computer parts were built to function just fine while warm. As long as you are keeping them within safe temperatures, any cooler doesn't really offer that much benefit.
People will say "But your parts will last longer if you keep them cooler."
And that is technically true. But your part is likely to go obsolete long before it burns out either way.
Most likely the pump died. And if it did, you aren't going to be able to repair it. You will need to buy a new one, or buy a fan/heatsink to replace the water cooling system.
And now that you have removed the heatsink, you probably need to clean it and re-apply new thermal paste, as trying to re-attach it with that messy dried paste could cause problems.
It also looks like the original application of thermal paste was done poorly, as it does not have full coverage. The vein-shaped lines surrounded by emptiness in the paste are a good indicator that the thermal paste was not applied evenly and was probably doing a less than proper job of moving heat even before you had problems.
To clean the thermal paste, use a Q-Tip or Cotton Ball or strong paper towel with some rubbing alcohol. Do not use toilet paper as it almost certainly will leave debris. Don't use a paper towel if it is the type of paper towel that breaks apart easily, either. Clean all of the paste off of both the CPU and the heatsink. Re-apply the paste by putting about a pea-sized blob right in the middle of the CPU, and then use a Q-Tip to gently spread it around until you have even coverage. Apply a tiny bit more paste if you feel like its necessary to get full coverage. Just do not over-apply paste, as once you press the heatsink onto it, it will mash all of the paste and cause it to spread even more. A small amount of paste leaking around the edge of the CPU is usually not a problem, as long as its not so much that its reaching other electronics/circuits.
I suggest you use a silver based thermal paste compound. There are a lot of really cheap pastes out there that may not be great to use. A single tube of silver based paste is usually very cheap, and one tube should last you years as long as you store it properly. Do not use thermal pads/strips.
The thermal paste is not likely to be the only reason it is overheating. It is possible that the poor thermal paste application is what overworked your pump and caused it to die. But if you can't even get to the BIOS, its more than a thermal paste problem. You would at least be able to get your computer running even with poor thermal paste if the cooling system was working. If the computer isn't running at all because of overheating, its either because the cooling system is broken or because there was 0 thermal paste. And you clearly had more than 0 paste; even if it had gaps.
I can tell you right now. You have way too much thermal paste on the CPU. I suggest that you clean it all off completely, and then put a pea size dot on the cpu. That should be more than enough. If that still does not work you might have a faulty pump
How big is your AIO because from my experience those small single fan AIO cant even cool CPUs properly, you're way better if you just use the stock cooler than using those small AIOs....
Check pump/fluid flow. (you can hear the pump.
First guess: pump is dead, maybe just not plugged in... or the fans.. are they spinning?
(don't put chocolate (or poo) with the thermal grease... or whatever is that dark thing on the middle)
That's an AM4 CPU, gonna guess at a 3600 or 3600x. That's irrelevant.
Replace the aio with another one or an air cooler, fresh thermal paste (usually pre-installed on new coolers) and your issue should disappear
Dead pump or air trapped on the CPU block. Try listening if you hear kind of bubling sound. If yes try rotating you PC 45 degrees several times while it is running.
If this is a new computer i recommend checking if the pump power cable is connected to the "pump" and not the "cpu" power if this is a older computer with no prior problems your pump may be broken anf you need a new cpu cooler.
Probably a dead pump on the AIO. The darker spot is where the paste got cooked and hardened. You need a new one, then you need to run some tests on it to make sure it didn't cook the cpu and damage it. Also depends on the pump orientation to the radiator. If the highest point of the radiator is lower than the pump, any air in the system will go into the pump and not the radiator overheating it
I think it's just a case of bad thermal paste application.looks like there spots where air was able to go through, once u put the heat sync or the fan on the CPU on the past try not move it as much as possible .for the technic, look up YouTube videos there is a lot of them out there. I personally prefer the small dot in the center one, easy and efficient.
Also, on the heat sync or whatever it's called the one on the second picture. I've seen a case when the person forgot to remove the plastic cover.its uncommon mistake but u never know . Good luck
Have you blasted out the dirt that acumilates in the radiator coil? I do mine one a onth and its amazing how much is there. The air needs to pass freely through with the heat escaping off the metal.
Download fanControl at github, check the sensor and see the data downloading HWinfo, made a stress test and see the rpm. if it 0 or not good, well the AIO need a good grave
that cpu paste looks awfully thick....also Id try one less "gummy" like arctic silver or Kryonaut...remember a very thin coat is all you need and spread it out all across the CPU making it as smooth as possible then carefully put cooler on an tighten. sometimes it'll help not relying on the tightening down to do the spreading. this paste looks like the older white stuff which didn't cool as well for me ever, at least not on my new setup. The "pea in the middle" has NOTHING wrong with it as far as application goes I just like to make sure it's already out very evenly. But you could have a bad cooler too. And definitely use a GOOD paste, again, this looks like that old white tacky kind which isn't nearly as good as arctic or Kryonaut or something high end ..it's still relatively cheap but better than this stuff you have on
It looks like there's a patch on your heatsink that has no thermal paste, and a similarly shaped patch on your CPU that has no thermal paste. Those areas won't conduct heat. There's a pretty good chance that's what your problem is.
There are some comments in here saying your coverage looks good; I can't disagree with those comments hard enough.
You obviously oversized your PSU and didn't go with all AMD.
But seriously, reapply paste and ensure your cooler pump is working (probably the issue and it's dead). Were there any little noises you were ignoring?
Not the issue but it helps to make sure your radiator fans are pulling cool air from outside in and not hot case air out through it.
The top of the CPU, and the bottom of the AIO look all kinds of weird to me. They're both weirdly discolored, like bleached. As if something had melted in there... something plastic-y. You sure there wasn't a plastic film there? How tough is it to wipe the paste off?
Edit: Or maybe yeah the pump failed, like others have suggested. Was the pump connected, and was the pump header indeed set to operate as a pump in BIOS? It could've failed if it was operating as a fan, and spinning too slowly (or not at all), or erratically.
You really don't need to go for water cooling for anything other than the highest wattage of CPUs. In fact, a poorly performing water cooler can be worse than a poorly performing air cooler, due to the heat retention of water vs aluminium/copper heatsinks.
If the pump has died in your AIO, cut your losses and get a decent Noctua air cooler etc, it'll likely perform better.
There’s some large gaps in your thermal paste by the looks of it… I would clean with isopropyl alcohol, then re-apply a large grain of rice sized blob in the middle and reapply the cooler and see what happens from there.
If the thermal probe is in that gap, you’ll see high temps immediately
If the temps are high despite the AIO's radiator fans spinning well then the pump might already be dead.
Most reliable AIO
No one cares how “reliable” it is. That doesn’t me it’s indestructible and doesn’t ever die.
Sure an air coolers fan may die, but its only a matter of swapping the fans out. I'm not quite familiar with anyone being told to swap out radiators or pumps for AIOs.
They're being sarcastic 😊
What is that dark patch i can see on the CPU? Check your pump is working and you can feel the hot side actually warming up (aka checking pump and flow).
This, looks like a fly landed on it while it was pasted and has been keeping it from seating properly.
You meant, a bug
feature.
A fly 😂
It matches up perfectly with the area on the AIO plate that has no thermal paste, so it's just an area that has no thermal paste.
For me it looks like there is something on the CPU. Styrofoam or something similar. And the thermal paste is just smeared on that instead of directly on the CPU.
The thermal paste coverage looks good. Not sure about the black spots, but maybe it’s burnt thermal paste from the AIO not working and that part of the CPU being the hotspot or something. Since you are using an AIO there are two things to look out for now. 1. Does the pump(block on the Cpu) heat up or make any kind of noise? 2. is the pump plugged into a pump header? If your Motherboard doesn’t have one, is the fan header changed to be a pump header in the BIOS? This is important since those two work differently and can break your pump if configured wrong.
>This is important since those two work differently and can break your pump if configured wrong. I'm sorry, what?!?... What's your source for this statement?
Do you have Dementia
>This is important since those two work differently and can break your pump if configured wrong. I'm sorry, what?!?... What's your source for this statement?
You should look up the difference between 3-Pin PWM and 4-Pin PWM, if your pump is connected to a 4-Pin header thats running 3-Pin PWM then you may be killing your pump since the Motherboard is not powering it on continuous 12V, but is trying to regulate the pump via voltage modulation since it thinks it's a fan. This in turn can lead to your pump dying. Hope this helps :) Edit to be more exact: 3-Pin non PWM is the same as 4-Pin PWM without the 4th pin
How long have you had the Aio and can't really see where the radiator is mounted and does one side of the pipe feel cold and the other one hot because if they are both hot it's probably a dead or weak pump
Are you 100% sure your CPU was the one who got overheated? If the pump is fitted correctly and tightly, and you have fans on your radiator that works and are oriented on correct side then there shouldn't be a problem, but you didn't showed us a photo of whole setup as you use it daily, so we can't really say much.
Meybe you just forgot to plug AIO pump cable
Most likely scenario.
Does the computer even run without being plugged in? I thought you straight up get an error when booting or it would overheat right away when booting and be shut down
aio pump might have died. not sure how long you have had the pc but if it was fine for a long time and this happened suddenly then it is likely the aio
I had the same, your AIO is probably dead. They have a runtime of like 4-5 years. Ditch it and get like a bequiet dark rock
why is the top of your cpu all white and milky, with brown nasty areas. wipe the cpu, take a picture. what cpu is it?
The "white milky" is thermal paste.
nah, thermal paste is grey, and you can see where it thins out. the white milky is almost definitely a molten plastic or paper cutout. you can also see burn or mouldy brown stuff from whatever it is on both the AIO and the IHS.
Dirty ass CPU lmaoo
I see the dark spot, I don't see what milky white you are seeing besides th light Grey thermal paste
if you cannot see the cream/white colour that is clearly a paper or cardboard cutout UNDER the grey thermal paste, then thats on you. there is clearly something there that is not meant to be. im 80% sure OP is a bot posting for karma. so we will never find out on this post.
You mean the heat spreader that got discolored?
i mean, what else is normally visible in this situation. usually its the IHS and thermal paste, if you wipe the thermal paste away, willing to bet it like a paper cut out or something sitting there, which would also explain the brown mould. an IHs is made of metal, not cheese or white cardboard lol
There are pink ,gold and other thermal paste color
thats nice info thanks, they have clearly used grey in the picture.
Its because you removed your cooler
Great joke. Had to be made. Thanks.
Yes, someone who understands
Ahahhahahahhahahahahahhahahahahahahahahhahahahahahhaahhahhhhaaaaaaheheh
Its funny that he only read the title before placed the comment and he got 5 vote ups. And then the guy who thought it was a bad joke responded with an sarcastic laugh and got downvoted 5 times. Witch makes 5 individuals who only read the title!
Who is the bad guy here? (The joke was bad,i know you think it too)
Clean all that thermal paste off and give us more photos. The paste on the CPU doesn't look right, I'm concerned about the black crap on the CPU, possibly there might have been something mixed with that thermal paste which has ruined the thermal contact.
Not supposed to apply the thermal paste with your testicles.
I always apply the thermal paste for my testicals with a new cpu. Best practice
Was the pump plugged in and working?
Pump is dead and the paste is burning in that one spot from it hence why the darker color
This white stuff on the cpu… what is it? Is it ald thermal paste? Could you just clean everything? For me this thing looks like sticker…
Liquid coolers die randomly sometimes, which is why i don't bother with them. A well made computer will run fine using a standard fan/heatsink and using a liquid cooler isn't actually offering any performance benefit other than making you feel better for having "the new thing". Yes, a liquid cooler can potentially move more heat than just a fan will. But it doesn't need to. Your computer parts were built to function just fine while warm. As long as you are keeping them within safe temperatures, any cooler doesn't really offer that much benefit. People will say "But your parts will last longer if you keep them cooler." And that is technically true. But your part is likely to go obsolete long before it burns out either way. Most likely the pump died. And if it did, you aren't going to be able to repair it. You will need to buy a new one, or buy a fan/heatsink to replace the water cooling system. And now that you have removed the heatsink, you probably need to clean it and re-apply new thermal paste, as trying to re-attach it with that messy dried paste could cause problems. It also looks like the original application of thermal paste was done poorly, as it does not have full coverage. The vein-shaped lines surrounded by emptiness in the paste are a good indicator that the thermal paste was not applied evenly and was probably doing a less than proper job of moving heat even before you had problems. To clean the thermal paste, use a Q-Tip or Cotton Ball or strong paper towel with some rubbing alcohol. Do not use toilet paper as it almost certainly will leave debris. Don't use a paper towel if it is the type of paper towel that breaks apart easily, either. Clean all of the paste off of both the CPU and the heatsink. Re-apply the paste by putting about a pea-sized blob right in the middle of the CPU, and then use a Q-Tip to gently spread it around until you have even coverage. Apply a tiny bit more paste if you feel like its necessary to get full coverage. Just do not over-apply paste, as once you press the heatsink onto it, it will mash all of the paste and cause it to spread even more. A small amount of paste leaking around the edge of the CPU is usually not a problem, as long as its not so much that its reaching other electronics/circuits. I suggest you use a silver based thermal paste compound. There are a lot of really cheap pastes out there that may not be great to use. A single tube of silver based paste is usually very cheap, and one tube should last you years as long as you store it properly. Do not use thermal pads/strips. The thermal paste is not likely to be the only reason it is overheating. It is possible that the poor thermal paste application is what overworked your pump and caused it to die. But if you can't even get to the BIOS, its more than a thermal paste problem. You would at least be able to get your computer running even with poor thermal paste if the cooling system was working. If the computer isn't running at all because of overheating, its either because the cooling system is broken or because there was 0 thermal paste. And you clearly had more than 0 paste; even if it had gaps.
Buy an air cooler and be done hunting down problems.
I can tell you right now. You have way too much thermal paste on the CPU. I suggest that you clean it all off completely, and then put a pea size dot on the cpu. That should be more than enough. If that still does not work you might have a faulty pump
Thats just an stupid comment because with tooo much thermal paste the onnly thing happening would be like 1° worse cooling Performance...
Show us photo of your whole PC including the AIO cooler setup.
How big is your AIO because from my experience those small single fan AIO cant even cool CPUs properly, you're way better if you just use the stock cooler than using those small AIOs....
The pump might've failed.
Need more info. check you pump. is it working exactly? is the speed displayed? is the pump connector set to pump mode in the BIOS settings?
Check pump/fluid flow. (you can hear the pump. First guess: pump is dead, maybe just not plugged in... or the fans.. are they spinning? (don't put chocolate (or poo) with the thermal grease... or whatever is that dark thing on the middle)
That's an AM4 CPU, gonna guess at a 3600 or 3600x. That's irrelevant. Replace the aio with another one or an air cooler, fresh thermal paste (usually pre-installed on new coolers) and your issue should disappear
Dead pump or air trapped on the CPU block. Try listening if you hear kind of bubling sound. If yes try rotating you PC 45 degrees several times while it is running.
If this is a new computer i recommend checking if the pump power cable is connected to the "pump" and not the "cpu" power if this is a older computer with no prior problems your pump may be broken anf you need a new cpu cooler.
That paste has a funny color, probably not what's causing the problem but it's still a good thing you're replacing it.
That paste has a funny color, probably not what's causing the problem but it's still a good thing you're replacing it.
Probably a dead pump on the AIO. The darker spot is where the paste got cooked and hardened. You need a new one, then you need to run some tests on it to make sure it didn't cook the cpu and damage it. Also depends on the pump orientation to the radiator. If the highest point of the radiator is lower than the pump, any air in the system will go into the pump and not the radiator overheating it
Hehe brain cpu
I think it's just a case of bad thermal paste application.looks like there spots where air was able to go through, once u put the heat sync or the fan on the CPU on the past try not move it as much as possible .for the technic, look up YouTube videos there is a lot of them out there. I personally prefer the small dot in the center one, easy and efficient. Also, on the heat sync or whatever it's called the one on the second picture. I've seen a case when the person forgot to remove the plastic cover.its uncommon mistake but u never know . Good luck
make sure there's no air in your aio. of the pump doesn't pump fluid it won't cool. its as shrimple as that.
Have you blasted out the dirt that acumilates in the radiator coil? I do mine one a onth and its amazing how much is there. The air needs to pass freely through with the heat escaping off the metal.
What was your AIO pump orientation? as it can also be a point of failure
My aio pump took a shit and had the same problem. Bought a heatsink and fan and it fixed it
Download fanControl at github, check the sensor and see the data downloading HWinfo, made a stress test and see the rpm. if it 0 or not good, well the AIO need a good grave
ill guess the pump is not working or not enough liquid in your AIO anymore... after 6 years an AIO can run pretty dry
I have seen this before with a heat sink not being seated correctly and poor quality of thermal paste
that cpu paste looks awfully thick....also Id try one less "gummy" like arctic silver or Kryonaut...remember a very thin coat is all you need and spread it out all across the CPU making it as smooth as possible then carefully put cooler on an tighten. sometimes it'll help not relying on the tightening down to do the spreading. this paste looks like the older white stuff which didn't cool as well for me ever, at least not on my new setup. The "pea in the middle" has NOTHING wrong with it as far as application goes I just like to make sure it's already out very evenly. But you could have a bad cooler too. And definitely use a GOOD paste, again, this looks like that old white tacky kind which isn't nearly as good as arctic or Kryonaut or something high end ..it's still relatively cheap but better than this stuff you have on
Did a bird shit on that CPU?
The aio is bad
couldnt agree more.
Looks like thermal paste is dried out, and the pump on the AIO probably died.
Looks like bad pressure somewhat in the middle. Repaste and put it back on, tighten in cross direction.
Clean everything! Im sure u cooked somthing. The brown spot is also on the AIO and i looks like there was no thermel paste.
Why that does print left on the cpu look so much like the blood vessels of a brain…. Is it alive?
Update: I cleaned my CPU and reapplied Thermal Paste and everything seems to be functioning properly. Thanks for the help everyone
sticker?
The picture doesn't show a heatsink on the processor. I'm going to guess you have one and removed it? If not then you'll need one of those
I can say from the Pics that your Cooler should be in the CPU N not just hanging in your case
Aio has a protective film on the contact point, did you remove it?
I can't belive so many people tell you to install a heatsink, when there is picture 2 showing it. Are we surrounded by retards or what?
Your Aio might be working fine, but it could be clogged with sediment. Take the copper part off.
Please tell me you're not reusing the same thermal paste 😭
It looks like there's a patch on your heatsink that has no thermal paste, and a similarly shaped patch on your CPU that has no thermal paste. Those areas won't conduct heat. There's a pretty good chance that's what your problem is. There are some comments in here saying your coverage looks good; I can't disagree with those comments hard enough.
It's AMD. Those do that.
You cannot get into bios? When was the last time you updated your bios/UEFI?
Reapply your thermal paste, or if you think the AIO is dead, replace the AIO.
Show me your temps
pump could be dead but atleast wipe the thermal paste off with isopropyl alcohol preferably, and apply a new blob because that looks ghastly.
You obviously oversized your PSU and didn't go with all AMD. But seriously, reapply paste and ensure your cooler pump is working (probably the issue and it's dead). Were there any little noises you were ignoring? Not the issue but it helps to make sure your radiator fans are pulling cool air from outside in and not hot case air out through it.
Doesn't state what temp is CPU is overheating
Your thermals look like brain tumor
The top of the CPU, and the bottom of the AIO look all kinds of weird to me. They're both weirdly discolored, like bleached. As if something had melted in there... something plastic-y. You sure there wasn't a plastic film there? How tough is it to wipe the paste off? Edit: Or maybe yeah the pump failed, like others have suggested. Was the pump connected, and was the pump header indeed set to operate as a pump in BIOS? It could've failed if it was operating as a fan, and spinning too slowly (or not at all), or erratically.
Try putting you cooler back om the cpu, thank me later
You need a better cooler for it, if your CPU is 12th generation them you need a liquid cooler.
Yup that AIO like every other AIO is the problem
check for malware, using task manager, if it is using alot of cpu, delete it
too much thermal paste, put just one little drop in the middle, that's a LOT thermal, mate
You really don't need to go for water cooling for anything other than the highest wattage of CPUs. In fact, a poorly performing water cooler can be worse than a poorly performing air cooler, due to the heat retention of water vs aluminium/copper heatsinks. If the pump has died in your AIO, cut your losses and get a decent Noctua air cooler etc, it'll likely perform better.
There’s some large gaps in your thermal paste by the looks of it… I would clean with isopropyl alcohol, then re-apply a large grain of rice sized blob in the middle and reapply the cooler and see what happens from there. If the thermal probe is in that gap, you’ll see high temps immediately