Loud humming coming from AIO pump (Corsair iCUE H150i Elite RGB)

sean16

Bronze Level Poster
Hi there.

For a while now, after doing some work to my computer, my AIO pump has been making a very loud humming noise. I have a Corsair H150i Elite RGB with the radiator mounted on top. I think it may either be coil whine or a trapped air bubble but I'm not sure how to get rid of it as I've already tried a few things to get it to stop. My PC always used to make a very low, bearable audible humming but this is much louder.

A few months ago I replaced my front case fans. I have a Cooler Master Masterbox TD500 Mesh V1 and replaced the stock fans with Corsair AF120s to match those on my radiator, as well as installed a Commander Core XT to centrally control all of my fans. To connect the AIO I had to swap its USB connector from the motherboard to the Core. I had to remove the radiator to give myself some room.

It was around this time after putting my PC back together that I noticed the loud humming. A few weeks later, I decided I didn't like the AF120s and replaced them with Cooler Master Mobius 120Ps instead. I removed the Commander Core and connected the AIO back to the motherboard, though I noticed that the USB connection was loose. I don't remember if it was loose before and all the pins on the actual header seem okay. I'm not sure if by plugging it into the Core it's stretched the connector. I read that a lack of sufficient voltage may also cause humming but the pump and its RGB both work so not sure if this is the problem.

It's definitely not the fans as even with all the fans at 0 RPM the humming still persists and it's definitely coming from the CPU area. I had reinstalled iCUE after my initial fan swap to the Corsairs and connecting everything to the Commander Core, and updated my drivers just to make sure everything was working okay. I have since uninstalled iCUE after switching to the Cooler Master fans as I also read that there could be background processes causing the humming, even if the software isn't set to open on start up. While using iCUE, I changed the speed of the pump and the pitch of the humming changed, though even on Quiet it was still way too loud.

I'm beginning to think that it's a trapped air bubble that made its way into the pump when I originally removed my radiator as I did notice a gurgle when I turned my PC on. I've tried running the radiator fans at high speed for a while and some also suggested tilting the PC backwards and backwards while it was running, but none of this has worked. I'm not sure if it's to do with the positioning of the coolant tubes. My radiator is mounted atop my case so the tubes loop upwards, though there is a slight downwards curve due to their length. Looking at how others orientate theirs, it looks pretty much the same.

I've read online that the Capellix version of the AIO is susceptible to coil whine so I'm not ruling that out either but it just seems like a strange coincidence that after doing some work to my PC that the humming began. I've opened up my PC several times since to try different things and to make sure that everything is nice and tight, that there are no loose screws or if anything has broken. It looks fine and the only problem I seem to be having is the noise from the pump.

I'm at a loss and not sure what to try next. If it's the loose connector, I could always buy a new USB harness or even a new AIO altogether, but I want to try a few more things before I resort to that. I'm just not sure what to do next though. The PC works fine and the new fans sound great, it's just that the loud humming is very distracting.

Would greatly appreciate any suggestions you guys may have, have included my specs below.

Thanks.
  • Case: COOLERMASTER MASTERBOX TD500 MESH ARGB GAMING CASE
  • CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D Eight Core CPU (3.4GHz-4.5GHz/100MB CACHE/AM4)
  • Motherboard: ASUS® ROG STRIX B550-F GAMING (DDR4, USB 3.2, 6Gb/s) - ARGB Ready!
  • Memory: 32GB Corsair VENGEANCE RGB PRO DDR4 3600MHz (2 x 16GB)
  • Graphics Card: 10GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 3080 - HDMI, DP, LHR
  • Graphics Card Support Bracket: PCS GRAPHICS CARD SUPPORT BRACKET
  • 1st M.2 SSD Drive: 500GB SAMSUNG 980 PRO M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 6900MB/R, 5000MB/W)
  • 2nd M.2 SSD Drive: 2TB SAMSUNG 980 PRO M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 7000MB/R, 5000MB/W)
  • DVD/Blu-Ray Drive: NOT REQUIRED
  • Power Supply: CORSAIR 1000W RMx SERIES™ - MODULAR 80 PLUS GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
  • Power Cable: 1 x 1.5 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead, 1.0mm Core)
  • Processor Cooling: Corsair iCUE H150i ELITE RGB High Performance CPU Cooler
  • Thermal Paste: STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
  • Sound Card: ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
  • Network Card: 10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT
  • Wireless Network Card: WIRELESS INTEL® Wi-Fi 6 AX200 2,400Mbps/5GHz, 300Mbps/2.4GHz PCI-E CARD + BT 5.0
  • USB/Thunderbolt Options: MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
  • Operating System: Windows 11 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KUK-00003]
  • Operating System Language: United Kingdom - English Language
  • Windows Recovery Media: Windows 10/11 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
 
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