Monoblock cooling - not getting good temps?

[imafan]

Hey guys! This is my first post, and its sad that its a post about cooling problems but hopefully ill become more active as time passes by, as ive recently started water cooling )

So i have recently built a new rig. Im running EK-CoolStream PE 360 rad with EK-XRES 140 Revo D5 PWM (incl. pump), with lastly EK-FB ASUS Z170S Monoblock - Nickel. The cpu is 6700k NON overclock.
The setup is pump - monoblock - rad - res.
The temps im getting is about 80c with prime95 running FFT. On idle im hitting 30c. So my question is isnt this unreasonably high? considering i havent added a GPU and its a pretty fat rad for only a CPU. I was getting better cooling with a all in one cooling (H80) solution on my 3770k overclocked.

At first i thought i had messed up by adding to much thermal paste, so i cleaned the cpu with isopryl, added a rice grain and reseated, and this time i tryed to be as perfect as i could, its pretty hard seating such a big monoblock. Before i did this i was getting 82-83c. Now its pretty much stable at 80c running prime.




im running pull config )

 

[Lochekey]

I would say start by turning your fans around. You want to push out of the top of the case.


Second, when you built your loop did you clean all out the components out really good first.

Third, when you say you recently built this what time frame are we talking. It appears you are running dye of some sort which comes with its own set of problems, also are you running a kill coil or biocide.

 

[imafan]

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I would say start by turning your fans around. You want to push out of the top of the case.


Second, when you built your loop did you clean all out the components out really good first.

Third, when you say you recently built this what time frame are we talking. It appears you are running dye of some sort which comes with its own set of problems, also are you running a kill coil or biocide.

Hey lochekey! Thanks for fast reply.

Ok ill change my setup to push, i was testing the air pressure, and it seemed pretty negative, as it felt like my rig was sucking air in from all angles. But do you believe this can help the temps?

Sadly i did not >_>... i got really excited and didnt heed the good advice about using vingegar etc. I saw some brown **** in the res when i literally layed the rig on its side with everything installed to install the gpu. But its gone now and i cant see it anywhere.

I built this rig start of this month 1/6. I started testing prime around 3/6 and then reseated the monoblock 5/6 and did some prime testing after that. Im running EK-Ekoolant Pastel WHITE with phramacy distilled water

 

[ATMINSIDE]

Tear down and flush all components with distilled.
Also, you're going to want to do the rad dance.

 

[imafan]

Tear down and flush all components with distilled.
Also, you're going to want to do the rad dance.

NOOo x_x i was hoping i was gonna spare taking it apart for atleast a year haha. Okay, but can i still use the coolant currently in the rig? And youre positive this will give me a decrease in temps by atleast 10-15c?

 

[Lochekey]

As Atminside said tear it down and clean it. That Brown stuff you saw is probably now in the microchannels off the block and restricting your cooling.

As for the fans the general consensus is "In" the front and bottom and "Out" the top and back. What type of fans do you have on the front of your case pushing air into the case.

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Just saw the new picture looks like you only have 1 fan up front vs the 3 up top and in the back so you will have negative pressure.

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NOOo x_x i was hoping i was gonna spare taking it apart for atleast a year haha. Okay, but can i still use the coolant currently in the rig? And youre positive this will give me a decrease in temps by atleast 10-15c?

Well we cannot garauntee that it will improve temps that much as there may still be other problems in the setup but this is the most likely culprit.

I would not recommend using that fluid again, but if you insist you will want to filter out somehow to get the cap out. Run it through a coffee filter maybe.

 

[ATMINSIDE]

I'd advise against colored coolant at all.
Go get a gallon of distilled water and some biocide.

 

[imafan]

As Atminside said tear it down and clean it. That Brown stuff you saw is probably now in the microchannels off the block and restricting your cooling.

As for the fans the general consensus is "In" the front and bottom and "Out" the top and back. What type of fans do you have on the front of your case pushing air into the case.

- - - Updated - - -

Just saw the new picture looks like you only have 1 fan up front vs the 3 up top and in the back so you will have negative pressure.

- - - Updated - - -



Well we cannot garauntee that it will improve temps that much as there may still be other problems in the setup but this is the most likely culprit.

I would not recommend using that fluid again, but if you insist you will want to filter out somehow to get the cap out. Run it through a coffee filter maybe.

Alrighty, ill get too it when im done with my last exam then. Thanks alot for the help didnt expect this much love
One last question, do you have a link or something to how i should clean a monoblock like this one? should i open it? if so how?

 

[Lochekey]

Never worked with a monoblock directly but it looks similar to a gpu full cover block. So just pull all of the screws out and the block should desperate into 2 pieces and a gasket. Use an old toothbrush and some diluted vinegar to clean it out and then put it back together in reverse of how you pulled it apart.

2 things to note for reassambaly.

Make sure you out the gasket in the same way it came out.

Tighten the screws in a criss cross pattern like installing lug nuts on a car.

Sorry I do not have any links showing how to do this.

Once you get it torn down cleaned and reassembled check back in and let us know how it is doing. Would love to see the results afterwards, or help with troubleshooting further.

 

[imafan]

Will do, ill necro the thread as it might take awhile before i have enough free time on my hands to do this. I think this is also a good excuse to add hard tubing etc ) Ill post back in a few weeks time.
In the meantime take care !

 

[ATMINSIDE]

You know you'll need new fittings to use hard tubing, correct?

 

[caddi daddi]

a question or two comes to mind,
have you tried adjusting your pump speed up and down to see if that has an effect?
did you run the pump dry trying to fill the system?

 

[imafan]

You know you'll need new fittings to use hard tubing, correct?

yeah i realized that now when i went to search for hard tubing , it kinda turned me off but meh ill see how my eceonmy is in a few days time. But im starting to think ekwb is higher priced than others for no apparent reason... maybe ill find some cheap ones. Will i also need to buy seperate o ring?

- - - Updated - - -

a question or two comes to mind,
have you tried adjusting your pump speed up and down to see if that has an effect?
did you run the pump dry trying to fill the system?

Even tho i have pwn, i havent used it. Ive only connected the molex which means its running 100%? I was very careful not to run the pump dry. Its working perfect i think and the speed at which it is moving the coolant around seems pretty fast.

 

[SwartHack]

Heya imafan!

EK-FB ASUS Z170S Monoblock - Nickel. The cpu is 6700k NON overclock.

You may be interested in the rig I am working on, especially the hardware:
EK Gigabyte Z170 Monoblock/w 17-6700k. See sig The Bianch.
Its been a dream for me...

Couple comments and pointers.

per Lochekey, get the fans right. I couldn't tell exactly, but use push AND pull fans. Three bottom/Three top.
Make sure they are specific rad fans. They have larger/less fins and create greater pressure at lower speeds.

The one dumb question, o one has dared to ask...
Do you have the block hooked up in the right direction? There is only one specific in-port..

Lastly, with it real quite, put your ear right down by the pump.
What do you hear? You shouldn't hear much at all if its purring.
If its making whining sound or variation in sound its working to hard, cause something is inhibiting flow.
If it sounds like rice crispies, there is air, which also hoses flow.
Keep feeding in fluid and kinda bump and tilt the rig around as much as possible.
Also take something with a nice rubber handle, or a rubber hammer if you one and tap around on the actual rad.
Took me awhile to figure out my 360 rad on The Bianch took a lot more fluid than I thought.
But you have clear tubing, so big rule, no bubblies

I also got tips on mounting the block. It is a pain.
You have to setup a garage style approach where you can get under it.
I set one side of the mobo on the edge of my workbench and secured it with a few pieces of gorilla tape.
I then used the back of a chair, which happens to have a backrest crossbar at the right height.
Either way, something to support the other side, semi-securely.
Then with the monoblock carefully placed, crawl under your mobo lift and gingerly screw it down in the cross pattern.
I kept butchering my TIM jobs before I figured that one out.

NOOo x_x i was hoping i was gonna spare taking it apart for atleast a year haha

Hardy hardy har bwah hardy har!
Welcome to the Matrix imafan!
PS- you'll need to periodically maintain/refill a WC system. The chiat evaporates and stuff

Cheers

 

[GTXJackBauer]

Well we cannot garauntee that it will improve temps that much as there may still be other problems in the setup but this is the most likely culprit.

I would not recommend using that fluid again, but if you insist you will want to filter out somehow to get the cap out. Run it through a coffee filter maybe.

I'd advise against colored coolant at all.
Go get a gallon of distilled water and some biocide.

Tear down and flush all components with distilled.
Also, you're going to want to do the rad dance.

Never worked with a monoblock directly but it looks similar to a gpu full cover block. So just pull all of the screws out and the block should desperate into 2 pieces and a gasket. Use an old toothbrush and some diluted vinegar to clean it out and then put it back together in reverse of how you pulled it apart.

2 things to note for reassambaly.

Make sure you out the gasket in the same way it came out.

Tighten the screws in a criss cross pattern like installing lug nuts on a car.

Sorry I do not have any links showing how to do this.

Once you get it torn down cleaned and reassembled check back in and let us know how it is doing. Would love to see the results afterwards, or help with troubleshooting further.

+1

I pretty much would have echo'd the same thing and made sure you've cleaned the day lights out of the rad, that there is no build up up in there as they're a pain to clean.

Grab some colored tubing like Primochill's Advanced LRT and call it a day.

Want some color, get some LED lighting for ambient effects.

Keep us posted.

 

[EK Luc]

Alrighty, ill get too it when im done with my last exam then. Thanks alot for the help didnt expect this much love
One last question, do you have a link or something to how i should clean a monoblock like this one? should i open it? if so how?

Hi,

You'll need to open the monoblock to clean it. Simply use some distilled water with a toothbrush for cleaning. Be careful with the o-ring placement when you'll re-assemble the monoblock.

I would personally keep the coolant. You just need to filter it with some coffee filter to remove the debris from it.

Like the others said, I would reverse your fans direction to go push or if you prefer to stay in pull config, you'll need to have your fans on the other side of your radiator to exhaust the heat out of the case instead of pushing the hot air inside like you're currently doing.

I'm not sure you'll ever be able to gain 10-15c on your temps though. Also, your ambient room temp is a non-negligable factor since you won't go under ambient with a normal watercooling loop.

 

[imafan]

Heya imafan!


You may be interested in the rig I am working on, especially the hardware:
EK Gigabyte Z170 Monoblock/w 17-6700k. See sig The Bianch.
Its been a dream for me...

Couple comments and pointers.

per Lochekey, get the fans right. I couldn't tell exactly, but use push AND pull fans. Three bottom/Three top.
Make sure they are specific rad fans. They have larger/less fins and create greater pressure at lower speeds.

The one dumb question, o one has dared to ask...
Do you have the block hooked up in the right direction? There is only one specific in-port..

Lastly, with it real quite, put your ear right down by the pump.
What do you hear? You shouldn't hear much at all if its purring.
If its making whining sound or variation in sound its working to hard, cause something is inhibiting flow.
If it sounds like rice crispies, there is air, which also hoses flow.
Keep feeding in fluid and kinda bump and tilt the rig around as much as possible.
Also take something with a nice rubber handle, or a rubber hammer if you one and tap around on the actual rad.
Took me awhile to figure out my 360 rad on The Bianch took a lot more fluid than I thought.
But you have clear tubing, so big rule, no bubblies

I also got tips on mounting the block. It is a pain.
You have to setup a garage style approach where you can get under it.
I set one side of the mobo on the edge of my workbench and secured it with a few pieces of gorilla tape.
I then used the back of a chair, which happens to have a backrest crossbar at the right height.
Either way, something to support the other side, semi-securely.
Then with the monoblock carefully placed, crawl under your mobo lift and gingerly screw it down in the cross pattern.
I kept butchering my TIM jobs before I figured that one out.



Hardy hardy har bwah hardy har!
Welcome to the Matrix imafan!
PS- you'll need to periodically maintain/refill a WC system. The chiat evaporates and stuff

Cheers

Ive visited 2 of ur builds linked in ur sig. Its really fun to browse thru them and read ur thoughtprocess when it comes to building rigs. Quite fun so keep on posting please
Theres no dumb questions considring im pretty noob at this. But yes i read the manual for the monoblock and ive followed the right order for inlet and outlet. Im only using push config, i dont have enough fans for pull and push. Thats something id consider in the future. Ive tryed to do alot of futureproofing with my build (if that even is possible in this day and age ) All i hear from the pump is the purring, at the start i did hear some rice crispies, i was paying close attetion to the res for the first 30 mins i started it, and i saw lots of bubbles coming out( as i kept the top open for some time) and the koolant "dissepear" in the res. Guessing it was bubles. Im quite worried about the shieet that came out of my rad maybe making some problems around my loop so ill have to get on that asap. As i said when i turned my case on its side to install the gpu i saw some gunk inside my res.. .

HAHA its funny u mention it but thats the EXACT method i used. I had my lil bro hold the rig while i layed it on my table. I had the underside of the rig on the edge of the table while balancing the rest of the rig. I felt like a real car mechanic working. screwing the screws. ITS a real shame the small plastic rings that u have to mount on the monoblock screwholes... someone at EKWB was really smoking their socks when they made that decision.

The only daunting thing im scared of is opening the monoblock, but atleast ill get up and personal with my loop, seeing it naked and all

 

[imafan]

+1

I pretty much would have echo'd the same thing and made sure you've cleaned the day lights out of the rad, that there is no build up up in there as they're a pain to clean.

Grab some colored tubing like Primochill's Advanced LRT and call it a day.

Want some color, get some LED lighting for ambient effects.

Keep us posted.

Heres some pics, ive installed the hue+ so i dont know why i went with pastel color, just looked cool xD

 

[imafan]

Hi,

You'll need to open the monoblock to clean it. Simply use some distilled water with a toothbrush for cleaning. Be careful with the o-ring placement when you'll re-assemble the monoblock.

I would personally keep the coolant. You just need to filter it with some coffee filter to remove the debris from it.

Like the others said, I would reverse your fans direction to go push or if you prefer to stay in pull config, you'll need to have your fans on the other side of your radiator to exhaust the heat out of the case instead of pushing the hot air inside like you're currently doing.

I'm not sure you'll ever be able to gain 10-15c on your temps though. Also, your ambient room temp is a non-negligable factor since you won't go under ambient with a normal watercooling loop.

Ill keep that in mind thanks my ambient room temp is about 16c(my room is underground) which is why im so worried about the high temps... i mean its alright since its still 20c from tjmax but this is pretty wierd for such a high end loop.. I cant wait to get the free time to do the modifications to see if it helps.

BTW i was reading a thread http://www.overclockers.com/forums/...d-but-not-getting-watercooled-temps-need-help! from here on this forum, about getting wierd temps and it was resolved removing the corsair link, im using the SAME link from my PSU, maybe i should try disconnecting it... that would be so wierd tho, how can this cable cause such a thing?

 

[SwartHack]

i dont have enough fans for pull and push.

I would have to pontificate that in the big picture,
At this price, you really can't afford NOT to have three more fans

http://www.performance-pcs.com/cors...p120l-2000-rpm-replacement-120mm-pwm-fan.html

example of the hydro fans I referenced earlier. I'm sure they may be less expensive out there.

Cheers

EDIT: or three more or those EK fans you got. I have those on The Bianch.