H50 rattling/vibrating pump noise

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Oct 24, 2009
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So I finally got to install my H50 today now that I have my new mobo. (Gigabyte EP45-DS4P Got it for $139.99 Can. on sale.)

Unfortunately after going from the dead silent Noctua NH-U12P SE2, the H50 pump has this very noticeable vibration or rattle. If I unplug the pump, it goes away. The fan is fine, it's the pump that is annoying the hell out of me. If I wiggle the hoses, I can here air moving around in there. Could it be cavitation, or just a noisy pump? It sounds the same as when someone puts a small plastic cable tie into a spinning fan. It has the exact same sound. (But think low RPM fan, maybe say 20 "clicks" or "blade strikes" per second.)

Does anyone else have this issue the H50?

I'm so disheartened. I was so looking forward to using this but not if it's going to sound like this. My current temps are +3C vs the Noctua at idle as well, but it is using 1 fan were the Noctua used 2. (Considering using the 2 Noctua fans to test a push/pull.) The 120mm H50 fan is sucking in vs the original 140mm fan blowing out. (Nocua blew into the rear fan blowing out.) I ordered 4 Sythe GTs and a fan controller today. The new mobo's chipset cooler is pumping a lot of heat into the case and it only has a passive exhaust ATM. (Heat venting through the top 3 fan slots and the rear vent.)


Side note:

Good news with the new mobo though. I no longer have to bump my voltage.......at all to maintain the OC in my sig. I had to put the vcore to 1.425 on the old mobo, and all memory/chipset as high as they could go. If I dropped any, it failed OCCT/IBT. This one passed a default "Max" setting run (15 minutes.) on OCCT without a BSOD. Yay! Now I want to see if I can push it to 4.0. (Once I settle this H50 issue.)

P.S.

Well, it seems to be a known issue. Looks like an RMA is in order. :(
 
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I would RMA it. Both my computers have H50's and I can't hear any pump noise at all.

Good luck and I hope your replacement is better!
 
Thanks.

I will be RMAing it. It has now started to "bubble and gurgle" intermittently as well. (Without shaking the hoses.) Seems to have a lot of air in it and every now and then you here the bubbles going by.
 
ALL H50s will have a buzzing/rattling/vibrating noise from the pumps. I have gone through 3x H50s and they all behave the same.

ALL watercooling pumps will have this noise as well.
 
I would RMA it. Both my computers have H50's and I can't hear any pump noise at all.

Good luck and I hope your replacement is better!

You will hear it if you shut off EVERTHING except the pump.

I can't hear my pump either because my computer has fans in it.
 
I heard a gurgling noise at first and I thought I had a defective unit, after running for 5 minutes the noise subsided
 
ALL H50s will have a buzzing/rattling/vibrating noise from the pumps. I have gone through 3x H50s and they all behave the same.

ALL watercooling pumps will have this noise as well.

same here. I've got 2 in 2 systems and they both buzz but it gets heat out of the case so I live with it.
 
You will hear it if you shut off EVERTHING except the pump.
Maybe I need to have my ears checked, but I can't even hear the pump over the H50's own fan. I had to literally grab the tubing to make sure it was working after the install. I am amazed that anyone would consider the H50 "noisy".
 
Maybe I need to have my ears checked, but I can't even hear the pump over the H50's own fan. I had to literally grab the tubing to make sure it was working after the install. I am amazed that anyone would consider the H50 "noisy".

Well the H50 fan is pretty noisy under load, you won't hear much over it if it is running close to max RPM.
 
ALL H50s will have a buzzing/rattling/vibrating noise from the pumps. I have gone through 3x H50s and they all behave the same.

ALL watercooling pumps will have this noise as well.

Well, even Yellowbeard (Corsair/NCIX forums.) says it is not normal. I have read post elsewhere that confirm RMA'd (At Yellowbeards request.) units have solved the issue. If you can live with it, good on you but I can not. Not when I have a silent unit here that I can replace it with. The drop (Or rise at this point. Needs 2nd fan.) in temps simply does not justify the annoyance.

You will hear it if you shut off EVERTHING except the pump.

I can't hear my pump either because my computer has fans in it.

See, it's louder than my fans, even on 100% load. (OCCT.) It is the loudest thing in my system.

I heard a gurgling noise at first and I thought I had a defective unit, after running for 5 minutes the noise subsided

The gurgling has subsided since my last power cycle. (Well, since I've been on for the last hour.) The ticking/humming has not.

Well the H50 fan is pretty noisy under load, you won't hear much over it if it is running close to max RPM.

Not louder than the ticking/humming I get. I could stand a slightly louder FAN, but this noise just grinds on me while I sit here. (Have the TV cranked to drowned it out.) I'll be pulling it out later today.
 
Sounds like it wasn't bleed properly causing the pump to run dry. It's not a good thing because those pumps are pushing without any resistance (water). I could see the small little H50 pump dying sooner than later because of this. RMA it.

Also, when I had mine, it made a slight gurgling sound as it started. IMO i don't think any of the H50's are properly bleed (air in all of them).
 
Well, even Yellowbeard (Corsair/NCIX forums.) says it is not normal. I have read post elsewhere that confirm RMA'd (At Yellowbeards request.) units have solved the issue. If you can live with it, good on you but I can not. Not when I have a silent unit here that I can replace it with. The drop (Or rise at this point. Needs 2nd fan.) in temps simply does not justify the annoyance.



See, it's louder than my fans, even on 100% load. (OCCT.) It is the loudest thing in my system.



The gurgling has subsided since my last power cycle. (Well, since I've been on for the last hour.) The ticking/humming has not.



Not louder than the ticking/humming I get. I could stand a slightly louder FAN, but this noise just grinds on me while I sit here. (Have the TV cranked to drowned it out.) I'll be pulling it out later today.

That's obviously a defective unit, but all H50s WILL make noises (they are not silent), but should be able to be heard much/at all with the case closed, even with no fans.
 
You might just be a freak for silent things but if it is as bad as you say it is then speak to corsair about it. Might tell you straight away to send it back.
 
I admit I may be. It's the type of sound. I can live with the whoosh of fans, but not clicking/tapping/vibrating type noises. It just grates on me until I pop a vein.

I have already emailed Corsair.

I just can't win lately.

Now I'm having mobo issues. I BSOD'd trying to get the F@H SMP client working and now when I try and boot using AHCI it wont complete the drives scan let alone boot from CD or get into BIOS. I simply starts to scan, then just sits there for ever. If I clear CMOS and use IDE mode everything is fine.

I ran HDTune and it wasn't as fast as before, on a fresh install of W7 even.

I now have a ticket with Gigabyte to. I hope there is some way to fix it, as I really do not want to have to RMA 2 things. (I don't want to RMA anything but there ya have it.)

:(
 
fyi disable the FDC it casues weird slowdown issues with windows 7 if none are present but enabled
 
So just to wrap up this thread, I decided I was just being picky/overly sensitive and have decided to keep it. Once I added my 3 GT fans to the top of the 800D it all just kinda "comes out in the wash" so to speak. It's not worth Corsairs, or my time and money. It works, and does what it's supposed to so a little buzz/hum is tolerable. (My roommate thinks I'm crazy, and says it's quieter than he expected for a pump, period.)
 
I have 3 of the H50's in different systems and I cannot hear the pump running under normal operation. If I shut down all the other fans and really listen I can hear a slight noise coming from the pump but I really have to try to hear it.
 
So just to wrap up this thread, I decided I was just being picky/overly sensitive and have decided to keep it. Once I added my 3 GT fans to the top of the 800D it all just kinda "comes out in the wash" so to speak. It's not worth Corsairs, or my time and money. It works, and does what it's supposed to so a little buzz/hum is tolerable. (My roommate thinks I'm crazy, and says it's quieter than he expected for a pump, period.)

It is... it's not a particularly strong pump so it is quiet for pumps. I had the same issue when I first bought an H50 a while ago, everyone said it was silent and it was clearly NOT. I returned it to Best Buy and bought another, SAME noises. They aren't really noticeable unless your system is ONLY the pump, then you can hear bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz faintly.
 
How many RPM is H50 supposed to be running on? It had it on pwr_fan and it was running on 1400rpm and I thought that was a little too much "rattling", so I changed it to Cha_fan1 and made it "silent" in bios and now the pump runs at 1050rpm and now there is much less rattling. However, I can still hear my H50 if I put my head in to my case. Am I not supposed to do this?
 
How many RPM is H50 supposed to be running on? It had it on pwr_fan and it was running on 1400rpm and I thought that was a little too much "rattling", so I changed it to Cha_fan1 and made it "silent" in bios and now the pump runs at 1050rpm and now there is much less rattling. However, I can still hear my H50 if I put my head in to my case. Am I not supposed to do this?

They are designed to run at full speed and that should be around 1400rpm. A couple people on assorted forums have said they were getting good results running it lower, but for the little bit of noise it might make, I'm more comfortable with mine at 100%.

I get a very mild hum/buzz sound in a dead quiet room, but the 200mm top exhaust on the mini P180 and my video card fan really bury the shound unless I'm trying to listen for it.
 
i had an issue with one of my h50s. turned out i didn't have the pump plug on the right header. i was on the phone with a corsair tech rep 30+ minutes. great consumer support. couldn't be happier. in your case you may consider getting some noise dampening foam to cover the pumps lines and a little on the pump itself. that and some black zip ties will give you a little quieter option.
 
Well I plan on getting a H50 in the next month or so, when I do I'll hit this thread up with anything weird.
 
what are you guys getting for full load temps on a 920 in the 4ghz range?

I installed my H50 on a 920@4ghz 1.264v. My idle temps are around 50 and full load is in the mid to high 80's. It doesn't matter what I do. I even cleaned off the factory TIM and used AS5, doesn't make a difference. I have reseated, tried different configurations, etc.

I also have similar symptoms as the OP. I can hear a faint clicking type noise and sometimes hear air flowing through the tubes. I am wondering if I have a defective unit or something. I have ran this CPU in other systems and get load temps around 70 on avg. I really do not feel like trying this in my other systems. I have a couple other systems that run around 60-65 load temps and I am seriously thinking about seeing how this does on those for comparison. I am at a loss. I just bought this last week.
Maybe I should try another on or exchange this one.

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

EDIT; I have the pump hooked to my PSU too; so it should be getting full power for sure. It does the same as if it were hooked up to any of the fan headers
 
what are you guys getting for full load temps on a 920 in the 4ghz range?

I installed my H50 on a 920@4ghz 1.264v. My idle temps are around 50 and full load is in the mid to high 80's. It doesn't matter what I do. I even cleaned off the factory TIM and used AS5, doesn't make a difference. I have reseated, tried different configurations, etc.

I also have similar symptoms as the OP. I can hear a faint clicking type noise and sometimes hear air flowing through the tubes. I am wondering if I have a defective unit or something. I have ran this CPU in other systems and get load temps around 70 on avg. I really do not feel like trying this in my other systems. I have a couple other systems that run around 60-65 load temps and I am seriously thinking about seeing how this does on those for comparison. I am at a loss. I just bought this last week.
Maybe I should try another on or exchange this one.

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

EDIT; I have the pump hooked to my PSU too; so it should be getting full power for sure. It does the same as if it were hooked up to any of the fan headers

Air flowing through the tubes?? There shouldn't be any air in the tubes being a sealed loop, you could take it apart and bleed it in a bucket of coolant? Or RMA

It may be a bad pump, but not much to go on without asking a few questions.

What case have you got?
What fans are you using for the case?
What fan/s are you using for the H50?
What's the ambient temperature?
 
Air flowing through the tubes?? There shouldn't be any air in the tubes being a sealed loop, you could take it apart and bleed it in a bucket of coolant? Or RMA

It may be a bad pump, but not much to go on without asking a few questions.

What case have you got?
What fans are you using for the case?
What fan/s are you using for the H50?
What's the ambient temperature?

I currently have this in a coolermaster elite310. not the greatest case, but thats what my son wanted and the reason why I chose the H50.
I have tried blowing aire through the rad out the case, blowing fromm the rear of the case into the case as recommended, tried push-pull, tried a fan blowing cool air to the fan inside the case blowing out the rear, tried reseating the pump/block, tried AS5, the side panel off; none of it makes a difference; maybe a degree or 2 but not enough to warrant my current 90c temps.
as far as ambient, It is roughly 70F in here maybe slightly warmer, but not bad. Even with the window open and cold air coming in doesn't make enough difference. Oh I also am using the stock corsair fan, tired with lian li fan, used my san ace to blow cool air into the corsair.

I just do not know what is going on.:confused:
 
what are you guys getting for full load temps on a 920 in the 4ghz range?

I installed my H50 on a 920@4ghz 1.264v. My idle temps are around 50 and full load is in the mid to high 80's. It doesn't matter what I do. I even cleaned off the factory TIM and used AS5, doesn't make a difference. I have reseated, tried different configurations, etc.

I also have similar symptoms as the OP. I can hear a faint clicking type noise and sometimes hear air flowing through the tubes. I am wondering if I have a defective unit or something. I have ran this CPU in other systems and get load temps around 70 on avg. I really do not feel like trying this in my other systems. I have a couple other systems that run around 60-65 load temps and I am seriously thinking about seeing how this does on those for comparison. I am at a loss. I just bought this last week.
Maybe I should try another on or exchange this one.

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

EDIT; I have the pump hooked to my PSU too; so it should be getting full power for sure. It does the same as if it were hooked up to any of the fan headers

Do you have the same CPU under a different HSF for comparison?

I have 2x 920s and both are on H50s, one of them runs much hotter than the other though.
 
Do you have the same CPU under a different HSF for comparison?

I have 2x 920s and both are on H50s, one of them runs much hotter than the other though.

I have had this exact cpu under a TRUE and Megahalem; Megahalem single fan for the best temps. Under True this cpu will run around 70-mid 70's full load, I also have 3 other 920's. I was using this H50 on another cpu cause it was getting high temps, but not quite this high. maybe i need to try and reseat it once again.

I did open the window all the way, not sure what it made ambient, but it was freezing in here. Dropped the H50 into the low to mid 70's; so I guess I need to put this computer in the garage:D j/k.
 
For what it's worth, my H50 runs whisper quiet. I've got the rad up against the case with a CM fan exhausting on it (contrary to Corsair recommendations). I'm idling just south of 40 - not much different from the recommended configuration.
 
For what it's worth, my H50 runs whisper quiet. I've got the rad up against the case with a CM fan exhausting on it (contrary to Corsair recommendations). I'm idling just south of 40 - not much different from the recommended configuration.

Wish I could say the same. I haven't really hear any noise today, but temps still suck *ss

What cpu are you running and at what speed/voltage? Is it thesystem in your sig?
 
Yes, it is the system in my sig.

As far as cooling, it’s all stock CM Scout fans. 140mm intake in front (60 CFM), 140mm exhaust up top, and using the stock CM Scout 120mm exhaust (40 CFM) to cool the H50 rad.

I stress tested with Prime95 (very brief test just to see core temps) and temps maxed at 60.

Putting my hand over the rear exhaust I do feel significantly hotter air whereas the air coming from the top exhaust is cool.
 
The air in the tubes is normal. The Corsair rep said it is for expansion purposes when the water heats up. (Though the gurgling should stop. They recommend you tip your rig on it's side to get any air away from the pump.)

So I managed to get my 9550 to 3.5Ghz on the new motherboard and with the H50 I idle at 38-40C, and load maxes at 61C. (IBT on Very High kinda load.)
 
If your hitting 61c, you exceeded the H50's ability to cool it.
I would recomend something like this. It's made by Asetech who also makes the H50 for Corsair.
nq3590_01_640.jpg
 
I see no issue with 61C using IBT. This CPU has always run hot, and the H50 has kept it the coolest so far under that kind of load. (Noctua P12 SE2.)

When I game on a CPU heavy game, it tops out at 51C, but it's usually under 50C.
 
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