CPU Block Noise

[USMCGrunt]

I posted about this many many months ago and finally got around to finding a resolution. Since installation, ive had a pretty wicked squeel coming from my Swifttech Apogee HD cpu block. Pinching the line to reduce flow speed would reduce the squeel and, for awhile, if I hit the block the noise would deaden.

The other day, I finally got around to disassembling my loop and the cpu block. After close inspection I found a couple plastic shavings aproximately 8-10mm long still attached to the threading for the fittings to screw into. The shavings were rectangular and flat and it appears the sound generated could have been cavitation and either the collapse of the bubbles or the vibration of the shavings in the bubbles.....or maybe the bubbles allowed the vibration of the water pump to be amplified to an audible level....

Regardless...she's whisper quiet....enough so that with the A/C on I can't hear my PC.

 

[FaRKle0079]

So were your fittings threads oversized or Swiftech's machining sloppy (neither answer would surprise me)?

 

[USMCGrunt]

So were your fittings threads oversized or Swiftech's machining sloppy (neither answer would surprise me)?

Appears to have been the machine work on the Swiftech block, the shavings or burs or whatever you want to call them appear to have been lower in the threading than the fittings go. In fact, I know they were cause I spotted them while the fittings were still in the block. There was one long enough that under pressure its possible it could have extended as far as to the center of the flow but again, very thinly sliced so I doubt they were impeding flow, just causing a lot of noise.

Luckily, if they WERE causing cavitation, they don't appear to have damaged any of the copper fins.

It may have just been vibrating in a similar way as when you blew across a leaf when you were a kid and it made that annoying high pitched noise that drove your parents crazy, lol.

 

[peezda]

I never understood how people can use those CPU block + pump combos... I can SORT of understand hanging 1KG of copper off a silicone motherboard at a 90 degree angle (not really, I can't, even with the backplates), but putting a heavy block on there that's constantly vibrating as well? That's just asking for stress fractures around the CPU/mosfet area. There are sensitive circuits/caps there being subject to 24/7 vibration.. There probably haven't been any known cases of this happening and I'm just paranoid, but still.

 

[Tsumi]

I never understood how people can use those CPU block + pump combos... I can SORT of understand hanging 1KG of copper off a silicone motherboard at a 90 degree angle (not really, I can't, even with the backplates), but putting a heavy block on there that's constantly vibrating as well? That's just asking for stress fractures around the CPU/mosfet area. There are sensitive circuits/caps there being subject to 24/7 vibration.. There probably haven't been any known cases of this happening and I'm just paranoid, but still.

You're just paranoid. CPU blocks are nowhere near as heavy as large heatsinks.

Proper installation minimizes vibrations as well. A board properly fastened to the motherboard tray does not have much room for flexing, and will not vibrate. Same with a heatsink/waterblock mounted to a CPU.

And the vibration occurring here was only a small piece of plastic vibrating due to some air being trapped with it and water rushing past. There's no vibration of the entire block happening. If anything, heatsinks with fans on them would be likely to cause more vibrations.

If you're that paranoid, staying away from computers would probably be your best bet. Otherwise, just forget about it and move on, because things have been working perfectly fine this way for many years now.

 

[USMCGrunt]

I never understood how people can use those CPU block + pump combos... I can SORT of understand hanging 1KG of copper off a silicone motherboard at a 90 degree angle (not really, I can't, even with the backplates), but putting a heavy block on there that's constantly vibrating as well? That's just asking for stress fractures around the CPU/mosfet area. There are sensitive circuits/caps there being subject to 24/7 vibration.. There probably haven't been any known cases of this happening and I'm just paranoid, but still.

As Tsumi said, the vibrations involved with a water cooling system are gonna be on par or less than you get from a heatsink/fan combo. Really, the only barrier I see to watercooling is cost. It's really very easy to set these systems up, they require very little maintenence if done properly, and provide a greater level of cooling (thus enhancing stability and lifetime).

Of course, there are more moving parts that could potentially fail, and maintanence could be messy depending on configuration, and failures have the potential to be a lot more catastrophic than a sink/fan combo.

I should just build a plexi-glass box and stick the thing in oil, lol.

 

[peezda]

If you're that paranoid, staying away from computers would probably be your best bet. Otherwise, just forget about it and move on, because things have been working perfectly fine this way for many years now.

I was wondering why you are so aggressive, but then I looked through your post history, and it seems you are an asshole to everyone, not just me

 

[Jorona]

I was wondering why you are so aggressive, but then I looked through your post history, and it seems you are an asshole to everyone, not just me

He's really not, and he knows his shit. So I'd just take the MINOR chiding and heed his advice.

 

[Tsumi]

I was wondering why you are so aggressive, but then I looked through your post history, and it seems you are an asshole to everyone, not just me

Sorry if I come off that way, but sometimes it's the only way to get a point across with certain people