Computer locking up after upgrading water cooling. Need Help Troubleshooting

[stewie0056]

So Just installed a new water cooling loop in my PC and now it's locking up randomly. I think I've narrowed it down but I would like some other opinions.

I think It's either the Northbridge getting too hot or the power supply is not powerful enough.

Okay here's the spec's

Asus crosshair v formula motherboard
AMD FX 8150 (not over clocked)
G.Skill Ripjaws z series Ram 4x4gb DDR3 2133
AMD radeon hd 6770 1gb graphics (x2 in crossfire)
Thermaltake TR2 RX 750watt PSU
2 WD green hard drives
1 WD Black hard drive
1 OCZ SSD


Originally I was using a Thermaltake water 2.0 pro closed loop liquid cooler to cool the CPU but it wasn't enough

I now installed a Swiftech Apogee XL water block on the CPU and a pump/reservoir combo using the Swiftech MCP655 PWM. I have the radiator mounted outside the case with two 120 fans in push pull config. No leaks anywhere.

Okay so when I start the computer after being off for a while (several hours) it boots fine and works great but but after running for a 30 minutes of just sitting at the desktop under no load it locks up (screen image freezes and no response to hard buttons) then I have to hard reset it. When I try turning it back on it tries booting but doesn't even get to the bios screen before it freezes. The Q-LED section on the motherboard shows the CPU error led light on. If i turn it off wait few minutes and restart now it shows DRAM LED instead. If i keep repeating this on and off enough I find it will just displays the led wherever it just happens to lock up while booting. So that offers no help.

These are the temps of my system while first booting after being off for several hours
30c cpu
25c water temp
35c graphics
32c built in motherboard temp sensor
33c infrared on Northbridge heatsink

Temps when system locks up
33c cpu
28c water
40c graphics
33c built in motherboard temp sensor
40c infrared on Northbridge heatsink

Not sure if where the generic motherboard temperature sensor I am displayed is located, so i took my infrared thermometer reading on the Northbridge heatsink. I tried to hold the same angle and distance for both reading

The only way I can get my system to boot and stay on is to take the side off and put a Window box fan pointing in and on high setting. I also have the water pump running to a separate power supply unit and I am only using only one graphics card. The other is completely removed from the system.

using various online power supply calculators i came up with
~480 watts estimated max consumption with 1 graphics card on system
~600 watts estimated max consumption with two graphics in crossfire on system

I figure since i'm using of my 2/3 of my power supply that shouldn't be the problem.
Also looking at other people's Northbridge temp online the say they are okay to run hot like 60c average so i don't think that's the issue either.

i would like to try these one at a time to narrow it down but first i want to here your suggestions so i don't damage anything permanently

Anyone have any better ideas of what's going on? I'm baffled what's going on. Never had this probably for the past couple years while I used the Thermaltake closed loop and everything was running hotter than it is now.

Thanks in advance!

[kkn]

did you peal off the plastic on the CPU block?
how mutch termal paste did you use and how did you apply it?
did you follow the instruction when tighten the screws?
are you shure you did not over tighten?

[stewie0056]

yes, plastic is off.
i used a small dot of thermal paste to the center of CPU. Placed the block on top. Rotated the block CW and CCW slightly to spread the paste, then tightened the thumbscrews down.
i used the correct AMD bracket that came with it.
the thumbs screws are finger tight.

[kkn]

so there are a limit so you can screw until it stops?
on mine i had to use a postit sheet when i was tightening it.
since it did not stop in the bottom of the "nut".

try and loosen it a 1/4 of a turn and see what happens.
it can be over tighten and then you will get freezes or BSOD's or no post.
like the CPU error you have.

[stewie0056]

mine do appear to have limit for screw depth, but its way tighter than i feel comfortable making it.
i will try loosening the screws and get back to you

I just want to clarify that the CPU error led does not stay on all the time.
if i immediately turn it on after it freezes it will show me the CPU led.
if i wait a few minutes it will show me DRAM or VGA led and
if i wait like 5 minutes it shows me the BOOT DEVICE led. waiting 10+ minutes allows me to boot to desktop until it freezes soon after.
only one led comes on at any given time. this is whats confusing me where the problem is.

[stewie0056]

loosening the screws a 1/4 of a turn did not change anything. i loosened them even more and still didn't see a change.

i did a few more experiments to determine what the issue is and i'm still not any closer.
i turned off the box fan that was blowing into the computer but left the water pump connected to the separate power supply.
this allowed the computer to boot and stay on for 30 minutes before it froze.
i also turned the fan off and connected the main 750 power supply it will freeze within a minute after booting.

it seem like the power supply is playing a role in this problem but so is temperature. faulty power supply maybe?

i still want to do a test with the window fan on and the main power supply connected to the pump but i ran out of time last night.
i also ran hwmoniter last night and was able to see my actual north bridge temps and it was ~35c with the fan running and over 50c with the fan off when it froze. if you would like to see the export of the hwmoniter i will include it in a post

[Dr__Zchivago]

A faulty PSU would be reasonable - try a different one, if you have access to one.

I'm not sure where you are located; but, in Houston, there are dozens of electronics stores (I use Microcenter), and I've never had a problem borrowing a component off of the "open-box" shelf to test my systems - although, a certain amount of consumer-sales trust would need to be established first.

Z

Edit: To the more experienced folks around here: could it be possible that the PSU isn't bad, just under-powered to drive all of those components AND a water pump?

[stewie0056]

thanks Dr.

i am located in Pennsylvania but i tend to buy my items off newegg.
i tried to do the math myself of the components under max settings and this is what i come up with

before water cooling upgrade
125 watts CPU: AMD FX 8150
40-80 watts Motherboard: Asus crosshair v formula motherboard (could not find exact rating. used average high end motherboard wattage)
8-12 watts Ram: G.Skill Ripjaws z series 4x4gb DDR3 2133 (used generic value of 2-3 watts per card)
220-328 watts Graphics cards: x2 AMD radeon hd 6770 1gb in crossfire
3 watts water block pump: Thermaltake water 2.0 pro closed loop liquid cooler
26 watts fans: two 120mm for radiator, two 120mm in front, one 180mm side
18 watts storage: one OCZ SSD 64GB cache, one WD Green 1TB, one WD Green 4TB, one WD Black 1TB
20 watts drive: blu ray
612 watts Total out of 750 watt rated PSU

after water cooling upgrade (this is what i have attached to the system when it freezes)
125 watts CPU: AMD FX 8150
40-80 watts Motherboard: Asus crosshair v formula motherboard
8-12 watts Ram: G.Skill Ripjaws z series 4x4gb DDR3 2133
110-164 watts Graphics cards: x1 AMD radeon hd 6770 1gb
37 watts water pump: Swiftech MPC655-PWM
12 watts fans: two 120mm for radiator
9 watts storage: one OCZ SSD 64GB cache, one WD Black 1TB
439 watts Total out of 750 watt rated PSU

i do not have a spare i can throw in at the moment but i would like to try some other things before i go and buy a brand new one to rule out it being faulty. seems odd that it would start acting up right now.

[kkn]

it "could" work but he have 2 cards in x-fire too, and i personaly dont know what they pull.
and it can be the PSU whit out been too shure.
how old is the PSU?
if you have a friend that have a larger PSU and if you could ask him if you could test it to be shure if its the PSU, or like Z posted.

[Dr__Zchivago]

I suggested the pump as the possible proverbial 'straw' because electric motors can be finicky under load, in the sense that as water flows and pressure fluctuates, the pump will draw more and less current as needed. I'm leery of using pulse-width modulation on a water pump, so you might consider disabling that once to see what happens.

So far, though, it seems to me like the PSU is going to be the most likely issue.

Z