Hi All, I'd just like to apologize for a lack of updates and lack of responses for some comments people have been leaving here! I've have since graduated from college and currently work full time as a software developer so I no longer have much free time. It also seems that I have lost access to the Pier78.ga domain so I'll figure something out once I have time. Overall I didn't expect to get any comments at all on this blog when I first created it so I'm glad that some of you guys appreciate the content. Thanks, and happy new year!

So recently I posted about my H55 failing. I have since swapped out the cooler with a Phantek PH-TC14PE, and now my 2500K temperatures are back to normal. woo

PH-TC14PE Box

The cooler was a lot larger than I had imagined. It pretty took space from the entire box.

Specifications on the box.

Well I'm going to open my case, might as well clean out the dust filters, #330R.

 Since the TC14PE comes with two of its own 140mm fans I decided that I would move the SP120's that I bought with my H55 cooler to the front since Static Pressure fans are excellent intake fans.

Rig before changing out the cooler.

I have to put this away since the TC14PE doesn't have enough clearance.

 Overall Corsair CMYAF Memory Cooler is the most useless component I have ever purchased for a computer. The fan rattles at all RPM. As you can see in the picture I had even used a low noise adapter (it's actually just a cable with 4 pins with a resistor in between). 

H55 Radiator. As you can see Corsair definitely cut corners here as the spacing between the fins are not uniform

Right before removing the H55

Cleaned the 2500K

Front Paneling actual blocks the screws for the 140mm Fan

 This was a surprising find. When I was getting ready to swap about the front intake fans, I noticed that the top fan's screw is partially covered by the front paneling. Although it is easy to pop off the front paneling (I initially thought you needed to unscrew it but you actually can just apply pressure and pull it out), its an extra step that shouldn't be necessary.

Popped out the front paneling, and unscrewing the fan.

Cleaning the dust from fans (cringe)

Comparison of the TC14PE's height to the width of the Corsair 330R case.

The instructions claim you need to take out your motherboard to install the mounts, but it depends on your case. The 330R has a hole from the backside so you don't need to remove the motherboard.

Ready to mount the heatsink.

Managed to secure the enormous heatsinks onto the motherboard.

The image is helpful, but isn't very easy to decipher until you zoom in...a lot

All done. Ready to go!

New temperatures, I actually hit 26C this morning. Pretty good temps (I live in Hawaii--for reference)

Temperatures were measured using OpenHardwareMonitor. I'll do a more in-depth test when I have time (e.g. using LINX). 100% load was achieved using Cinebench R15 so I'm quite satisfied with the temperatures. If I recall correctly, the H55 was not able to maintain temperatures below 65C while running Cinebench (even the Hyper 212+ from Coolermaster could). 

So recently I started noticing that my Corsair H55 was occasionally making gurgling noises or I guess "water movement noises".  There are no grinding noises indicating a failing pump. The fans are spinning at the proper RPM's and the pump is connected to a working power source. I have been been experiencing issues with hard lock ups (which typically indicate unstable OC's on the processor) so I ended up lowering my 2500K's OC (I actually bumped it up to 4.6 GHz a while back). 

However I was curious one day and watched my processor's temperatures fluctuate quite a bit while the H55 made gurgling noises. The temperature didn't skyrocket by any means, but I was a bit intimidated by the noise. Whats the worst that could happen? ...The H55 spontaneously bursts and liquid splashes all over my components!! But seriously, I decided to leave Open Hardware Monitor running while doing basic activity (programming, web browsing--not even anything cpu intensive) and I noticed this:

So I've always wanted a mechanical keyboard with blank keys. Unfortunately CoolerMaster does not sell one. I have a CM Storm QuickFire Rapid that I had purchased off Amazon a while back (2 years+). It is 10-key less and has amazing durability (still up and running after two years) and feels like its indestructible. 

Final Product

A couple of months ago I had purchased Plastic White Blank PBT Keycaps off ebay for about $26. I also disliked the color of the QFR which is a darkish brownish grey sort of color so I initially planned to use plasti-dip but unfortunatley they do not ship canned spray anything to my area and the last time I visited Home-Depot plasti-dip was out of stock. I ended up just buying some faux carbon fiber vinyl from ebay for $6.25 for a 5' by 1' roll--pretty sweet. Though its not 3M di-noc quality by anymeans, it is cheap and worked.

Clear o-rings + Blank White PBT Keycaps and Wrapped Plastic Cover

 I also bought some o-rings off ebay for the keycaps. It was much more worth it on ebay--I just made sure to get o-rings with the same specs as the ones you would find on Amazon. I'd avoid buying them from Amazon since they charge some pretty crazy prices ($15 minimum for a set of 125 pieces) when I found the same for a dollar or so from ebay. 

Not sure how that black speck on the W key got there but I cleaned it off :o

Ultimately I really liked the keycaps and o-rings. PBT caps feel a lot more durable than the ABS caps that CoolerMaster uses. However I wasn't quite satisfied with the Vinyl Wrap. Unfortunately it wasn't quite effective at wrapping around corners and as a result did not meet my satisfication. I might end up attempting to find some black plasti-dip at Lowes or trying Home Depot again but for now I am really digging the new look. This definitely brought some new life back to my keyboard.