water cooling question

[JOHNGALT99]

I just got from a chubby wallet deal and installed a koolance PC2-601BW .

I am getting liquid coolant temp of 23 c 75 f from the lcd on top of my case and nivdia system utility is telling me that my cpu is 44 c and system 24 c.

According to koolance
"
Actual system temperatures can vary based on many factors. In general, your CPU die temperature will be 10-20oC (18-36oF) above the Koolance LED display (coolant temperature), depending on the processor type. The liquid coolant will be 4-14oC (7.2-25.2oF) above ambient, depending on power duration, system stress, and the Koolance cooling "mode" selection."

Did I do something wrong on install? I have a wateriing cooling block on the cpu. I did not trim the tubing the came prehooked up, it didnt seem excessively long.

Also am i suppose to take off the plastic guard that is attached under the radiator? its clear.

I got the system because the noise was driving me nuts from my aero flow so that temps are ok for me, just wondering if i am doing something wrong or is this typical of a cheap water cooling system like Koolance

thanks

 

[JOHNGALT99]

no one?

 

[Gaunt]

Does the LCD on the top of the case measure the coolant temperature, or does it read a thermal probe that is suppose to be connected to the CPU waterblock?

It seems like you're saying that the LCD says the liquid is 23C but nvidia system util says 44C for CPU and 24C for system. If the value on the LCD is the liquid temperature, and your system temp is 24C, then a reading of 23C on the LCD is pretty good.

Are you just not happy with a CPU temperature of 44C? If that's the case, are you running the koolance at it's highest fan settings?

I'm basing this on the research I've done on the Koolance Exos, which seems to work quite well. The value on the LCD for the Exos is from a thermal probe on the CPU block, and this value changes the speed of the fans on the radiator depending on what option you've selected from 3 possible fan modes. If the koolance system you have has similar fan modes, perhaps adjusting these would bring temperatures down more.

 

[JOHNGALT99]

I just found out from the manual that the lcd on top of the case draws from a probe i attached within a side cavity in the cpu plate. It says that it gives a close approxiation

to actual liquid temps. I am running koolance on hte highest fan setting level 3 , depend on the room tep, the lcd has gone as high as 28C idle


thanks

 

[Gaunt]

From what I've read, Koolance is far from being a cheap company. Their products seem to be quite good, so I'm a little confused as to why your setup is not performing any better than an air cooled system, especially when running at the highest fan speed.

From looking at the manual for the PC2, I found a couple of things. First, the plastic under the radiator is apparently put there on purpose, and designed to spread the air out, so you should leave it installed. The manual actually has a big box saying to leave it installed. Second, when you installed the CPU waterblock, did you remove the protective plastic film on the bottom of the cooler? Did you use thermal paste? Did you tighten the tension screw until it couldn't be tightened anymore (it will stop tightening and just start to slip when it is tight enough). Did you line up the tension screw above the CPU die?

I realize some of these are stupid questions, such as removing the protective plastic film, but sometimes we forget the simplest things, or I do anyways. I'm guessing that if the system isn't cooling too well, it's most likely that the CPU block isn't properly installed, since there's very little else that can be a problem.

 

[Gaunt]

Oh, just incase you decide to start tightening the screw, you should make sure that the screw is infact directly above the CPU die, since tightening it if it's not can result in uneven pressure on the die and could possibly cause problems or even damage the CPU itself.

Edit: Typos... typos everywhere!

 

[JOHNGALT99]

I removed the plastic seal and then applied alittle Ceramique just to the cpu die, then i line it up the best i could and turned the tightener unitl in clicked , its in the third indent

Tommarow i will try resetting the cpu block and post new temps

thanks for the help

 

[jdogg707]

I had these same problems with mine, the LCD is nowhere near what your actual temps are. What you will find is that the Thermal resistance is better with the Koolance, meaning that when you go load it won't escalate from 40C idle to 52C load or anything like what happens on air, it will just go from 40C to say 45C if that. Make sure that you screwed in the adapter tight enough and that it is sitting squarely over the CPU die/socket. Also, any other items attached to the water chain will effect the CPU temps, so be aware of this.

 

[JOHNGALT99]

The instruction book said i might have to take off the 4 round foam cushens on my xp 2500+ if the cpu block isnt getting enought contact

should i do this when i reseat it tonight?

thanks

 

[JOHNGALT99]

just remounted the cpu water block , cpu temps droped about 3 degree to 39 40 c idle but

the heat probe i attached within a side cavity in the cpu plate. It says that it gives a close approxiation

to actual liquid temps of coolant is at 25 c .


should i be getting less than 40 c with the koolance water cooling?

also why is my coolant temp so high?

I am just using mone water block , the cpu one

 

[Gaunt]

Koolance says that the liquid should be about 4-14C above ambiet temperature, right? What is the ambient temperature of your room? I would guess it's probably close to 20-21C, so 24 or 25C for the liquid temperature isn't too bad.

As for the koolance providing better cooling than you're seeing... I would hope that it would cool things quite a bit better than air cooling, but jdogg is right, you're going to see the benefits of water cooling when you increase the load on your CPU and your temperatures only rise slightly.

What system are you running in this case? Is some crazy overclocked configuration? What were your temperatures with air cooling? Also, the ambient temperature in the room makes a big difference, so having that would help as well.

In the end I would say that if your system is running quiet, and the temperatures are reasonable, which I would say 40C is, depending on what it's like under load, then you've won the battle and you've got a cool case too.