Corsair Hydro Series: H60, H80 and H100 Reviewed
by Jared Bell on November 7, 2011 12:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
- Corsair
- Water Cooling
Noise Results
Due to the built-in variable fan controller on the H80 and H100, testing the noise on these two coolers proved to be challenging. Our test system, even when overclocked to 4.8GHz, didn't generate enough heat to max out the RPM on the H100 high speed test. When plugged into a direct power source, the H100 fans were barely, but noticeably, louder than when powered by the controller on the high setting. We opted to power the fans as intended using the built-in fan controller, but it should be noted that these fans could be slightly louder if directly powered or used in a hotter system/environment. The H80 appears to hit max RPM on all tests, while the H60 is forced to 100% with it having the only PWM fan in the bunch.
The H100 and H80 when set on low speed are neck and neck for the quietest coolers of the bunch, beating even the virtually silent Silver Arrow and Intel reference cooler. The H60 with its slower RPM fan barely edges out the H100 and H80 when they're set to medium. The H100 and H80 when set on high speed top the charts here, as we would expect. While the H80 and H100 sport the same fans, but the H100 comes in quieter. This is most likely due to our test system not being hot enough for the H100's fans to fully kick in.
Here we finally see the penalty for the excellent cooling capability of the H100 when it's running on high speed. As you can see, it's quite loud at this setting. Let's take a look at the noise graph again, but this time we'll overlay the temperature graph to get a better idea on how nose and performance are related.
For the most part, the better the performance, the louder the cooler. Ultimately, it's up to you to decide what the perfect balance of cooling performance and noise acceptance is for your particular situation.
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prime2515103 - Monday, November 7, 2011 - link
"Each Corsair Hydro Series cooler is mounted to blow air from outside the case over the radiator."compudaze - Tuesday, November 8, 2011 - link
You can always mod your grill like this: http://i.imgur.com/FQiID.jpg -- but you're right, it sucks and you shouldn't have to do that.mschira - Monday, November 7, 2011 - link
Then this would solve the compatibility issues right from the start...M
Earthmonger - Monday, November 7, 2011 - link
Kind of disappointed you didn't open the coolers up. I'd like to know just what kind of build quality one can expect; whether it is deep-fried korean junk, or pristine japanese craftsmanship. It does a lot to ease the mind.Mjello - Monday, November 7, 2011 - link
Why isn't anyone making a "ready to use" closed circuit cooler for gpu's ?My gpu needs watercooling more than my cpu.
ggathagan - Monday, November 7, 2011 - link
It's a matter of market scale.You can accomodate any CPU from the last 5 years with a single design and two styles of mounting mechanism.
For GPU's, there are too many variations of design that would have to be considered to make it anywhere near as profitable.
cjs150 - Monday, November 7, 2011 - link
I rather like these kits. They are a lot worse than a custom loop but for someone just starting on water cooling they are a good introduction.Water cooling CPU only is not particularly sensible because air coolers are just as good (although big). A custom loop would cool both CPU and GPU at very least.
Nice review
Hauk - Monday, November 7, 2011 - link
I bought the H80 last month and was less than impressed with the quality of the mounting hardware. Perhaps I've been spoiled with the superb quality found with Thermalright mounting hardware. In any case, the hardware Corsair provides is cheap garbage in comparison. Yes it works, but it's poor quality, soft metal. Hold this mounting hardware in one hand, and typical Thermalright hard metal (and chromed) hardware in the other. It's easy to see which was designed for multiple mounting and unmountings.The installation instructions are poorly written as well. I learned more from this article about how the push button affects fan speed than I did from anything Corsair provided. And no words Corsair? Just pictures? You'd think there'd be something written, if anything, a paragraph explaining the push button, or how to properly torque the fittings.
Other than that, meh, so I got water in my case now.
Mjello - Monday, November 7, 2011 - link
I have had the h100 for a year or two now. Could have done with the H60. I don't care about 3-4 degrees difference or overclocks.I want absolute silence and water does that. Just need something for my gpu as well. It gets a bit noisy when gaming.
Big cpu coolers are also silent. However the heat tends to build up in the case and then you need extra fans to move the air out of the case. With water you can place the radiator outside the case with a 900 rpm fan on.
When my gpu isn't working hard, all i hear is my harddrive. So please, someone make a gpu version of this.
kg4icg - Monday, November 7, 2011 - link
I don't seehow you had the H100 for over a year, when it just came out this year. It's less than 6 month's old. Try that again?