High temperatures with Corsair H90. What could be wrong?

[Tango]

So, I assembled a system using a 4770k CPU and using a Corsair H90 as cooler. I had very, very good previous experiences with AIO water coolers and was expecting a lot from this 14cm cooler... but I am seeing temperatures quite higher than what any review online reports.

My system idles with CPU cores at 29-34C and more importantly touches 71C when stressed.

This is quite a lot more than the 50-55C that most users on forums and reviewers online reported for the cooler, despite the fact that I am in fact also running the unit in push-pull (as opposed to push only in the reviews) with a Gentle Typhoon + stock 14cm Corsair fan.
My temperatures are in fact higher than what many reviewers obtained when over clocking quite a lot.

Also, CPU Heatsink temperature as reported by HWMonitor is extremely hot at 47C even when idle.

What could I be doing wrong? I re-installed twice, and using Arctic Silver aftermarket thermal paste.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

[Kenmitch]

Verified stock speeds? Some MB's OC out of the box.

What are you using for stress testing?

 

[lehtv]

Is it on stock clocks?

Are you sure you don't have the fans pushing air against each other?

 

[Tango]

Verified stock speeds? Some MB's OC out of the box.

What are you using for stress testing?

Yes, HWMonitor says CPU is running at 3.5

I am stressing it via terminal command yes (it is a hackintosh), but if I boot into Windows and run Prime95 I get the same temperatures.

I notice most reviews use the radiator as intake, while I am running it as exhaust. But can it really make a 20C difference? I have another computer running a i7 2600 CPU with a modest Antec Kuhler 620 and I get way lower temperatures, idling well below 30 and never breaking 58C when stressed.

Any chance the cooler is not making good contact with the CPU? How could I check that? I did screw the pun block until very tight, as per directions.

Any way to check if the pump is running at full speed?

Is it on stock clocks?

Are you sure you don't have the fans pushing air against each other?

Believe it or not, that was the first thing I checked...

Thanks to both for helping.

 

[lehtv]

It could be your H90 is simply faulty. Pump not working properly or something.

 

[Xed]

Motherboard giving the cpu an absurd amount of voltage? Or you might have a 4770k with a high stock vid.

 

[aigomorla]

i am thinking its a bad IHS on a 4770k.

I believe the pump has a 3 pin which one is a RPM sensor, and should be displayed as fan rpm on whatever header its connected to.

 

[beavo451]

Swap coolers and see if you get the same results.

 

[nitrousninja]

I had a bunch of trouble seating an H80 but the H60 I replaced it with is fine. apparently the bracket production is inconsistent and they don't always seat well. I'd exchange it and see if that works.

Good luck! These issues are never fun!

 

[Tango]

I had a bunch of trouble seating an H80 but the H60 I replaced it with is fine. apparently the bracket production is inconsistent and they don't always seat well. I'd exchange it and see if that works.

Good luck! These issues are never fun!

By bracket you mean the plastic profile behind the motherboard? Would Corsair likely send me a new one if I ask for it or should I send back the whole unit?