Liquid CPU cooling makes a rattling noise.

[joy83]

So I bought this gaming system from iBuypower and it arrived yesterday.

http://www.ibuypower.com/Store/Ship_Out_Next_business_Day_Intel_Core_i5_RTG/w/77186

Everything has been working fine, games are running smooth. However for the last several hours, there has been a rattling noise coming from the liquid CPU cooling. I know for sure since several other people are having the same noise from systems that they bought from iBuypower. Here is a thread on it on their forums.

http://www.ibuypower.com/ibpdri/tm.aspx?m=61721&mpage=1

My post is on the 2nd page with the username konjecture. Here is my post copied from there.

To reiterate like everyone, I got my new PC from ibuypower yesterday and today it started that rattling noise and it doesn't seem to stop. However I have seen that if I tilt my case to the left, the sound goes away, but if i keep it as usual then it comes back again and does the same when i tilt it right. Don't know what this means. I have read all the replies others have given, however I would appreciate if someone can answer couple of my questions.

1. I don't mind the rattling noise much as long as it doesnt get any more louder, however does the noise mean that it is doing any harm to the CPU or the system in general? If not, then I won't bother changing the liquid cooling as long as the noise doesn't get louder.

2. Is there any possibility of the liquid leaking due to this?

I will be calling Ibuypower tomorrow to ask the same questions, however I would also appreciate answers from the knowledgeable community.

I was wondering if anyone here could also answer these two questions.

Thanks.

 

[WoodButcher]

The thread you point to is 6 weeks old and not one said they got help from the company. They are selling crap liquid cooling components. Coolit and Asetek are upgrades according to their prices and I wouldn't use either to cool my toilet water. Replace the unit with something of better quality but till then don't worry to much. If the PC overheats it will shut down, the only damage concern would be leakage.

Because I won't use Coolit or Asstek products I can't say from personal experience that what you have might leak or not but if they do,,, you've got problems.

 

[joy83]

Yes I agree to what you said. So I am also a newbie to liquid cooling. I have also heard that if I use liquid cooling I need to also maintain it which means cleaning the pipes every 5-6 months.
Therefore do you recommend that I just use a good aftermarket heatsink instead of liquid cooling and will it be able to keep the i7-2600k cool enough. I don't have any intention of overclocking at all. The only thing I do with this PC is playing WoW, SC2 and other games.

 

[WoodButcher]

Those are meant to be sealed units, no maintenance. What I would recommend? I've been water cooling for some years and at one time you needed water to overclock, not now. Air on the CPU has become a viable alternative between the chips running cooler and the sinks being better you just don't need it for moderate 24/7 overclocking.

Noise was a factor at one time as well and still is for the GPU. The stock sinks are noisy when they ramp up, as a gamer I'm sure you are aware of this. There are aftermarket air coolers for these as well so if noise is a concern air has you covered there as well.

Water is a hobby unto itself. If your interested, study up. Homework, research and a little mechanical aptitude are you best friends.
My recommendation is simple, remedy your situation, contact the builder, get a replacement for what you have. It should not be making noise. From your description, tilting fix and such I would guess it has air in it, I don't know that that system can be air free as it seems to happen to many users. Poor design. Deal with the builder if you can because you don't want to void any warranty if at all possible. Maybe they would send a replacement or a decent air cooler?

 

[bmaverick]

A simple answer to your question. In most instances, the noise in a cooling loop relates back the the only moving part of the loop. That being the pump. The other less issues of a loop is something that has become a moving object that circulates or flutters with the flow of the coolant. When you narrow which of the two is the leading issue, you can then resolve the problem.

 

[Interitus]

You could try possibly rotating the mounting position of the cpu block portion. If it's making that much noise, maybe the pump is finicky about mounting orientation. If people note that tilting the case sometimes remedies the problem, it's worth a shot.