Testing Results, Maximum Fan Speed

Our maximum speed testing is performed with both the fans and the pump of the kit powered via a 12V DC source. At this voltage, the speed of the pump and the fans should match the manufacturer’s ratings. As per Corsair's specifications, the ML120 fans included with this cooler should have a rotational speed of 1600±10% RPM. Our tachometer's reading was 1620 RPM, almost a perfect match, and all three fans were rotating at the same exact speed, indicating and exceptional quality manufacturing process with minimal variation.

Average Thermal Resistance

Core Temperature, Constant Thermal Load (Max Fan Speed)

When having a look at the maximum thermal performance charts, the H150i Pro RGB is hardly impressive. It does land near the top of our charts but it cannot really outperform significantly smaller AIO coolers. The average thermal resistance of the Corsair H150i Pro RGB is 0.0731 °C/W, better than that of most AIO coolers that we have previously tested, but the performance difference between its smaller counterparts seems miniscule. Even Corsair's own H100i GTX matches the performance of the H150i Pro RGB, with an average thermal resistance of 0.0732 °C/W, whereas Alphacool's liquid cooling kit lands at 0.0532 °C/W and retains its massive performance gap compared to standard AIO coolers.

Fan Speed (12 Volts)

A careful look at our sound pressure level charts reveals the great advantage that the H150i Pro RGB has over smaller implementations. Even with its fans running at maximum speed, the noise level of the H150i Pro RGB is just 39.2 dB(A), a figure that is audible but generally considered comfortable. Furthermore, the pump is dead silent, without any perceptible high pitch "whining" noise that plagued earlier AIO cooler designs.

Noise level

Testing Methodology Testing Results, Low Fan Speed
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  • tamalero - Sunday, August 19, 2018 - link

    Good for you man, but anecdotal evidence isnt exactly a basis for fact.

    Many people never had Xboxes fail on them, does not means others did.
    Hell, my cousin had more than 10 CONSECUTIVE xbox failures (as in replacements) during the Xbox design BS.
  • Shlong - Friday, August 24, 2018 - link

    It doesn't matter if it's anecdotal evidence or not. There is no evidence that AIO's have a high failure rate. The failure rate reported is like 0.01%. The Xbox comparison isn't apt because that had a high failure rate.
  • FullmetalTitan - Friday, November 16, 2018 - link

    It would be one thing if the risk he was pointing out was that AIOs will fail somewhat stealthily, but whatever cooling method you are using you will definitely notice the first time your PC hits a BSOD for CPU over temp. Troubleshooting both takes exactly one failure to identify the problem.

    On the xbox note, I was actually pretty happy I got the red ring naturally because MS had just changed it's warranty policy like the week before, got an upgrade from the janky first shipment of 360s to the newer version with better power management/safer power brick.
  • loadbang - Monday, August 27, 2018 - link

    Have put together into boxes with i9 and an H150i with four 1080Ti's installed. I was surprised at how quiet the whole box was, the client ended up having the rendering PCs in their office rather than the comms room. You can pretty much let the fans idle at the slowest speeds, CPUs are pretty happy running up to 100ºC, this AIO gets temps well below that.
  • TEAMSWITCHER - Thursday, August 16, 2018 - link

    I read somewhere that a custom PC manufacturer switched to all-in-one water coolers to eliminate problems they had in shipping. Large heavy heatsinks would damage the motherboard when the package they were shipped in received a sharp impact. Computers that worked fine before shipping were broken by the time they reached the customer. This article prompted my switch to water cooling.
  • mkaibear - Thursday, August 16, 2018 - link

    That would make sense if you move your computer a lot, but most people build it and leave it in one place...
  • Cableaddict - Friday, June 28, 2019 - link

    I've been taking oc'd PC's on the road for about 20 years now. Water cooling scares me to death, even today. As the air coolers got larger, I did start having problems with micro-cracks in my mobos.
    Then I came up with a simple solution: I run a length of angle aluminum across the top of the rack case, then I use plastic ties to secure the Noctua cooler to the aluminum. Dead solid. I haven't had a mechanical failure in at least 6 years, with 3 PC's getting thrown around my truck several times a week. With my new i9x build, I'm finally considering an AIO, but it would have to offer more than just a 10% improvement.
  • Diji1 - Friday, August 17, 2018 - link

    Yeah but how quiet is that top of the line air cooler with 100 CPU load?
  • Diji1 - Friday, August 17, 2018 - link

    *100% even
  • Apharot - Monday, June 10, 2019 - link

    Keeping it cool at 100% load is far more important than noise level. I'll take cooler over quieter every time.

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