So eventually, after going in circles with the idiots MSI has in their 'support center', got an RMA for this thing. Sent it in, finally got a replacement (That they couldn't bother shipping in a box, it was wrapped in bubble wrap with a shipping label slapped on) and have the same bloody issue.

I can control the LCD and fan RGB, and the radiator fans are turning. The water pump refuses to engage, and the VRM fan never turns on. All of the connections are in the right place. I can't figure out what the hell to do with this stupid thing to get it up and running.

Beginning to think I should have bought an EVGA or ThermalTake cooler.

Is there some sort of software/firmware/bios update from EVGA I need in order to get an AIO to work? I'm at my wits end at this point.  MSI tech support is worse than useless, all they do is make me redo things I've already done. When they answer at all.

@rogue,
 
check out the end of this video:
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7QE1xgL7uw
 
start about 21:00
 

RogueMaster
Beginning to think I should have bought an EVGA or ThermalTake cooler.

 
From a performance perspective, I can highly recommend the Arctic Liquid Freezer II. I don't know of any AIOs that are the same size that beat their lineup (for performance or performance/dBA) and they even added RGB models to the whole lineup (not my bag, but I can't blame them for how many people love it these days).
 
I am not at all knocking the EVGA CLC lineup. I ran their 280mm for about 5-6 years and it performed very well. Comparing the two series reviews, it seems the performance can be similar, but the EVGA one will be quite a bit louder. I think that's because the radiators Arctic uses are thicker, so they don't require as much noise (airflow) to get the same amount of cooling. You just need to have space. Also, I don't know if EVGA still supports their software for the CLCs (I'm completely ignorant on this as I never used it), but I have seen some complaints about bugginess and functionality on that forum section before. The good thing (really good from my perspective) is that you don't even need to plug in the USB cable at all. You can make it 100% fully operational just using the fan header. One less thing to troubleshoot or have go wrong lol.
 
 

RogueMaster
Is there some sort of software/firmware/bios update from EVGA I need in order to get an AIO to work? I'm at my wits end at this point.  MSI tech support is worse than useless, all they do is make me redo things I've already done. When they answer at all.

Just to kind of start over as it's been a while...Looking at the user manual and ignoring fans for a second, you have 3 connections you can make:
1. Motherboard Fan header (a 4-pin is shown in the manual even though the only signals are RPM/tachometer and GND...not PWR, not PWM-control.).
2. Motherboard USB header
3. SATA Power direct to the PSU
 
1. for the fan header connector, no setting you apply in BIOS is going to do anything to that. It's sole purpose is to tell the motherboard how fast the pump is spinning. I would plug that into the pump header if it was me, just to keep the labeling easy in my head. That way, if you go into your BIOS and look at the PUMP RPM, you should see if the pump is moving or not, regardless of what the MSI software might tell you. As for setting up the parameters of that header, I'd just set it on DC and 100%. That won't have any impact on the pump because that wire is not connected, but I don't know if it would try and adjust anything if it sees a pump speed but isn't outputting do to a smart profile so just setting it at 100% would keep everything constant (this is probably not an issue, but I feel like its the safest way to set it and avoid any...weirdness).
 
2. Assuming you have this plugged in, as you say you do (I'm not questioning this), the website indicates MSI Center is the application to use. I haven't used that before, but their FAQ says there may be firmware available through the MSI Center. You go to Live Update -> Advanced to scan for new firmware. 
 
3. Like the old commercial said "plug it in, plug it in"...and of course you did or I don't think any of it would work at all.
 
So factoring in that 1. is a feedback to the motherboard (not control from the motherboard), nothing in the BIOS or motherboard control is going to fix this cooler. The only possible thing that can fix this is a driver or firmware from MSI to make their software control it better, unless of course, the pump is just bad and you got two bad pumps in a row. 

@rblaes_99  Did a little more digging, based on that video, and found this at the bottom of a page on MSI's website.

The MPG CORELIQUID K Series’ powerful features are made possible thanks to the MSI Center. However, it is important to know that the MSI Center only functions when the MPG CORELIQUID K Series is paired with the Intel 500 Series motherboard. Otherwise, you need to use the Dragon Center with the Coreliquid APP.

I'm using the MSI Center software, which was even what MSI told me to use.  I'm wondering now if perhaps that's incorrect. Looks like I need to reconnect the new machine again and try to download that, and see what changes, if anything.  I also noted in the video that the software he's using doesn't look anything like the software I'm using, which is making me curious about Dragon Center vs MSI Center.

@B0baganoosh Thanks for the confirmation.  I had a suspicion that this wasn't going to be solved by anything related to the MOBO, but I had to tick that box to be sure.

Thanks again to you both for giving me some new direction to investigate. I'll see what happens with that info, and hopefully have good news to report.

Well, that was a bust.

Uninstalled the MSI Center software, installed the Dragon Center software, no change. Still can't get the VRM or water pump to engage.

Predictably, MSI support isn't answering queries. Again.

Think I may just mothball this new build until after the holidays. I'm not going to spend $50 or more a pop to send back units in the hopes that I'll get one that works, and I've about had it with MSI's lack of concern or support getting their hardware to work. Probably just time to eat the $300 and write this one off.

RogueMaster
Well, that was a bust.

Uninstalled the MSI Center software, installed the Dragon Center software, no change. Still can't get the VRM or water pump to engage.

Predictably, MSI support isn't answering queries. Again.

Think I may just mothball this new build until after the holidays. I'm not going to spend $50 or more a pop to send back units in the hopes that I'll get one that works, and I've about had it with MSI's lack of concern or support getting their hardware to work. Probably just time to eat the $300 and write this one off.

Second bad unit in a row, can you get a refund?
 
Edit: I know AIO reviews are hit and miss (I guess everything is these days), but there seems to be a lot of people who bought that and had the pump fail in a few months (some may be a different model though, the way Newegg and Amazon like combining product-pages these days). I wonder if they sent you one of those "by mistake".

B0baganoosh
 
Second bad unit in a row, can you get a refund?
 
Edit: I know AIO reviews are hit and miss (I guess everything is these days), but there seems to be a lot of people who bought that and had the pump fail in a few months (some may be a different model though, the way Newegg and Amazon like combining product-pages these days). I wonder if they sent you one of those "by mistake".

Too late for that, it was bought in May. Well past the return window from Amazon unfortunately.

The LCD screen had a small scratch on it, but otherwise everything looked fine. Nothing on the packaging indicated a refurb, but one never knows.

I asked Jacob for help, over on Twitter.  I don't know if there's a hardware incompatibility issue, or maybe a software conflict with Eleet, etc..  that might be interfering with MSI's software.  I figure it can't hurt to ask. I'd even be willing to fire this thing off to EVGA for testing to see if perhaps it doesn't like their hardware/software.  I saw a few things mentioned in random posts/reviews that made it look like some MSI hardware doesn't like to play with anything other than MSI hardware.  I really hope that's not the case here.

Hope maybe Jacob, Lee or one of the other techs might be able to shed some light on things.