The Corsair H80i GT and H100i GTX AIO Coolers Review
by E. Fylladitakis on November 16, 2015 8:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
- Corsair
- Liquid Cooling
- Corsair Link
Testing Results, Low Fan Speed (7 Volts)
Shifting gears, let's take a look at performance with the fan speeds lowered and the fans fed at just 7 Volts.
| Core Temperature, Constant Thermal Load (Low Fan Speed) |
The H100i GTX continues to impress us when its fans and pump voltage is reduced down to 7 Volts. Once again, it displays the best low load performance of all AIO coolers. The high load performance also remains excellent, outpacing even Corsair's own H110 that is using a 280 mm radiator. Otherwise Cooler Master's models outpace the H100i GTX under heavy loads and on the average thermal resistance, but their noise output is about 8 times higher.
Not unexpectedly, the H80i GT fares better that most other similarly sized coolers when the supply voltage is reduced to 7 Volts. The low load performance is a little weak but it improves as the load increases, competing with much larger radiator AIO coolers under heavy loads. The average thermal resistance of the H80i GT is significantly better than that of similarly sized coolers and comes closer to the performance of 240/280 mm radiator coolers.
Ultimately neither the H100i GTX or the H80i GT are actually quiet when operating at 7 Volts, however the noise levels are comfortable for everyday use. The primary improvement, in our opinion, is that the whining noise of the pump is now nearly imperceptible. Even though that kind of noise would not raise the dB(A) figures by a significant amount, its high pitched frequency would be intolerable to the majority of users.
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hapkiman - Monday, November 16, 2015 - link
I recently used the H80i GT in a new Skylake i7 6700k build and I am very happy with it. Very happy! It is quiet as a mouse and was relatively easy to install. I have a large Corsair Air 540 case, so the size of the unit was not an issue for me. I'll have to say that I am still old school and don't trust that factory TIM they pre-apply. I always remove it with alcohol and apply a pea sized dollop of MX-4 on the CPU die before mounting the water block. I am amazed everyday when I use this rig that it idles so cool. Right now RealTemp shows 14/13/12/15 (C). Absolutely great cooler. One thing you didn't realty talk too much about was the Corsair Link software. This software caused a slew of issues for me, including crashes, lockups/freezes, and a dozen errors in my Event Viewer. I uninstalled and reinstalled the software until I finally got fed up with it and completely uninstalled it and detached the USB cable from the pump. The cooler works great as I already stated, and I can still control the fans in my BIOS so no biggie I guess, but this Corsair Link leaves something to be desired. It's buggy and not worth the headache to have a multi-colored logo on the pump.HollyDOL - Monday, November 16, 2015 - link
What was your ambient temperature (give or take) while you measured those temperatures? Because 12-15°C sounds more like a peltier+compressor cooler...hapkiman - Monday, November 16, 2015 - link
Ambient in my office is about 21C or around 70F. I know - my best friend didn't believe me either and he came aND SAW.hapkiman - Monday, November 16, 2015 - link
Oops soory cut off answer there. It has to be a combination of this cooler working great, an extremely cool running processor, and my basement office staying cool 24/7. It's about 75F outside right now and my office is still around 20-21C and my idle temps are 15/13/12/13 C. It is AWESOME!HollyDOL - Tuesday, November 17, 2015 - link
I rather suspect there is something wrong with your measurement tool (does CoreTemp64 show same values?), otherwise you are 6-9 degrees below ambient (which shouldn't be possible without forced cooling). Such a temperature difference quite rings water condensation warning bells, depending on humidity and air flow around cpu block.maximumGPU - Tuesday, November 17, 2015 - link
Yeah sorry to burst your bubble but there must be something wrong with the measurement as HollyDol suggested. You cannot have lower temps than ambient with an AIO!Beararam - Tuesday, November 17, 2015 - link
Real temp is drunk. At the risk of being redundant, no AIO is going to get you below ambient. Not possible.hapkiman - Tuesday, November 17, 2015 - link
Ok - so I rechecked with AIDA 64 Sensor Panel and it shows temps a little higher, but still very good. Real good. Still below 20C. The digital thermometer on my wall next to a window reads 20C.17/18/15/16 on Aida 64 Extreme sensor panel.
hapkiman - Tuesday, November 17, 2015 - link
http://i1116.photobucket.com/albums/k561/hapkiman/...HollyDOL - Wednesday, November 18, 2015 - link
okay, that's officially weird. I'd be tempted to put thermometer on cpu block to get alternate readings. And, if it is still that low, sell that cpu back to Intel for lots of $$$.