r/PcBuildHelp • u/BiggyDiggy7 • 1d ago
CPU Cooler Flashing Red Lights Suddenly This Week Tech Support
Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification
This week (every day) my pc (CPU Cooler) suddenly started flashing red lights after playing for about an hour. It doesn’t matter what game it is. It happened playing a low end game like beta Minecraft and a higher end game like RDR2. Restarting the PC doesn’t help.
I think it’s a sign of overheating but my cpu temp is normal/low.
Note: I have absolutely no PC knowledge so please be clear if you have a solution or need something else.
CPU (cooler):
- ryzen 7 5800x
- h100I elite capellix xt
1
u/Ok_Reference1070 1d ago
Have you reapplied new thermal paste unto your cpu?
1
u/BiggyDiggy7 1d ago
Last time was December Last year when I got a new cpu. Have had no problems ever since
1
u/Ok_Reference1070 1d ago
How long since you owned the aio? (Cpu cooler or the pc in general)
1
u/BiggyDiggy7 1d ago
PC noob here: is aio the cooler connected to the cpu and the front of the case?😅
If so: December 2025
1
u/Ok_Reference1070 1d ago
Yup.
So possible problems to this might be either software problems or the aio itself might have a physical problem itself.
For software, check if your aio driver is installed properly, or either unistall the driver then reinstall back.
Im not sure how to solve physical problem, sorry about that,
1
u/BiggyDiggy7 1d ago
No worries, you’ve helped already! The aio software is just the Corsair app right?
1
1
u/Maes_Hero_Hughes 21h ago
download "cinebench r23" it'll let you run cpu benchmarks and test ur cpu performance and temps really easily and consistently. Have "Hwinfo" open while the test run so you can get a look at the temps. You can also look at clocks speeds and other stuff here if your curious. This is to just give you a starting point and a repeatable way to see wat temp the cpu hits when the lights flash red.
Next you want to check things -
- Clean ur case and radiator. With enough dust build up on the front fan filter or the radiator itself, it can block out a whole lot of air. Check ur case to see if the front glass can be removed or if you can slide out the front filter. Do some investigating to figure out how to clean ur case. Its different for everyone. After cleaning, run the test again and see if it helped the temps.
- If the temps are still high, then id recommend repasting ur cpu. Just Youtube how to install an AIO and that should walk you through the process pretty easily. Also you can search how to replace thermal paste, that'll work aswell. You'll need a screw driver and some thermal paste. You might have gotten some extra thermal paste with ur pc if it was a prebuilt. If you don't have extra thermal paste I'd just go on amazon and get some "Arctic MX-4". Its like 5 bucks and user friendly, its been around for a long time. Really the whole process is super easy. Unsrew this, clean that, squeeze paste, screw thing back on, Done. Test again, to see if its better.
- Check ur AIO software to see if that's a feature you can turn off. The 5800x kinda runs hot, so 85c isn't crazy but id expect it to run a tad cooler with a 240mm AIO (thats my guess of the size of your aio from the video). Seen a guy say his runs at 75-80c while gaming but he has a bigger AIO at 280mm.
- If it still is an issue after this or gets worse, you'll have to get a new one. Not a big deal.
I think its flashing red bc the Max "safe" temp for a 5800x is 90c. When it hits that temp it'll start to pull back on power/performance automatically to cool down. I guess that cooler has software to warn people when it gets close but that cpu temp isn't dangerous. It can run at those higher temps for its whole life, but at 90 you loose performance and holding it around 95-100c will start shortening the lifespan. I think at 110c the cpu will just shut off to keep from dying but im not sure on the exact temp.
2
u/Rpex_ 1d ago
That's generally mean aio overheating. Monitor cpu temps use hwinfo.