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
Conclusion
Finding the right balance between cooling performance and noise is definitely a challenge. While traditional air-coolers continue to grow in size and weight to deal with this problem, Corsair fights it from a different angle with liquid. All of the Hydro Series coolers tested today are perfectly adequate at keeping our overclocked Sandy Bridge system cool. Picking a cooler that's right for you basically boils down to cooling performance, what noise level is acceptable, the price you're willing to pay, and compatibility. Corsair did a great job with these coolers in providing many different options to cover a variety of needs.
The H100 provides excellent cooling on the high setting at the expense of noise. This could potentially give you the extra cooling for when you need to crank up the clock speed to try and beat your friend’s score in the latest benchmark (or whatever it is you’re doing). Thanks to the built-in fan controller, you can choose medium or low speed for reduced noise on your day to day overclock. The only major downsides to the H100 are the limited amount of cases that are compatible, and of course, price.
With the H80, you get great cooling with the same ability to turn the fan speeds up or down depending on your needs. The performance penalty compared to the H100 is easily made up in case compatibility and price. With its push/pull design, even the H80 on low speed is a reasonable contender for most needs. You may be wondering why I mention price here when there's a mere $10 difference between the H80 and H100. Compatibility is probably the number one factor in deciding between the two; however, with sites like Newegg listing the H80 at $93.99, price difference becomes more considerable.
The H60 may not be the coolest kid on the block, but it is a good, cheaper alternative to the H80. The H60 doesn't come with a second fan for push/pull or have the built-in fan controller, but the price is much lower. For those with a limited budget and/or need for a cooler with a low foot print, the H60 might be up your alley. Keep in mind, the H60 is still adequate enough in cooling our overclocked test system.
One final area to discuss is how these liquid-coolers compare to a high-end air-cooler. We included the Thermalright Silver Arrow in our results, and it’s one of the best performing air-coolers on the market—with a price and size to match. In terms of performance and noise levels, the Silver Arrow is probably the best option out of the tested coolers. You can pick one up for around $75 online, which is only slightly more than the Corsair H60 and about $18 less than the Corsair H80; the Corsair H100 is the most expensive, but even then you’re only looking at around $100. What you get for the additional $15-$30 isn’t always better performance, but installation of the Corsair water block is substantially easier than that of the Silver Arrow—and that’s assuming you have a motherboard and case with sufficient clearance to begin with. There’s also the lingering question of whether it’s a good idea to have 1.2kg of weight hanging from your motherboard. Considering all of this, while coolers like the Silver Arrow can certainly be competitive, there’s still plenty of reason to consider Corsair’s Hydro series coolers.
Do any of these Corsair coolers give us the perfect balance of performance and noise? If one cooler stood out against the rest, it would have to be the H100. With its amazing cooling ability, built-in fan controller, and the option of adding two more fans for push/pull, I think Corsair has covered almost every possible situation with this one cooler. You get great cooling performance and low noise, though not at the same time. All of this greatness does come at a pretty steep price, leaving room for the H80 and H60. With high-end air-coolers delivering near-H100 performance at a lower price, it's definitely a hard sell, but the H100 still easily gets our recommendation as a more versatile cooling solution. Just remember to pair it up with an appropriate case.
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n13L5 - Monday, August 27, 2012 - link
ooops necro alert....JPForums - Monday, November 7, 2011 - link
<quote>(English is my 2nd language so I'm not sure I use all words 100% correctly. Hope I'm understandable.) </quote>Quite.
Also, you seem to have a good understanding of how liquid cooling systems work, and for all practical purposes I agree with you statements.
However, in regards to the function of reservoirs, there are a few technicalities that could dispute your statements in theory, but not in common practice.
First, if the reservoir is made of a thermally conductive material and has good thermal contact with the chassis in which it is mounted, it can remove heat conductively. Commonly, reservoirs are made of plastic and thus provide no effective cooling. As you alluded to earlier, you would need a massive surface area of liquid to radiate an appreciable amount of heat. Further, as most of this heat is lost as liquid turns to vapor (Read: liquid loss), it would not be in your best interest to rely on such a system.
Second, larger volumes of liquid would take longer to heat. If you were to take measurements of two similar systems with varying volumes of liquid, you would find that the system with less liquid would reach steady state temperatures more quickly. If you compared temperatures without making sure the second system reached steady state, then you might indeed conclude that the extra volume of liquid was beneficial to cooling. However, upon reaching steady state, both systems would perform more or less the same.
Again, in practice the reservoir does little to add to the cooling capability of the system.
Death666Angel - Monday, November 7, 2011 - link
Good addition to my post and of course, very true. :-)martyrant - Monday, November 7, 2011 - link
I just have a $30 enzotech cpu block, $5 casa depot homer bucket, $15 eco 264 pump (using 1/2" tubing), and let me tell you, compared to every other "pc built water cooling system" whether I pieced it together of expensive parts off frozencpu or bought a kit, this is by far the best cooling setup I've ever ran. No radiator. Just a 5 gallon bucket of distilled water. If you are worried about algae or other goodies, just run h2o2 (hydrogen peroxide) with it [don't use the medical stuff, grab the stuff that is like 30% h2o2]. Sometimes I can't believe how much I used to spend on this crap. Sure, it's not that portable [but who moves their water cooled computer anyway--you are supposed to drain/fill everytime you do with the other custom kits], and it either loses/gains wow factor depending on how you look at it (I love showing off my ghetto cooling setup that beats the pants off everything beyond going chilled water). The only upgrade would be a car radiator...hah.double0seven - Tuesday, November 8, 2011 - link
It sounds like it is working for you this way, but have you ever wondered why your windows keep fogging up? And the underside of your desk is moldy?martyrant - Sunday, November 13, 2011 - link
It's got a lid, I cut out holes, it's semi-sealed...and even if it wasn't, those wouldn't be an issue...do you know what you are talking about?jewie27 - Sunday, November 20, 2011 - link
they use a 240MM radiator because they are only meant to cool the CPU not the entire system with GPU's...Wakanabi - Monday, February 13, 2012 - link
I just overclocked a new FX4100 cpu from 3.6 to 4.6Ghz per core, quad core, in a NZXT M59 case and using a corsair H60 $60 liquid solution I ran prime95 overnight. Completely stable and better yet the cpu never eclipsed 38 degrees celcius. On top of that it has been idling at 8-15celcius. Compare that to stock or even aftermarket fans.Even the cheap H60 does an amazing job at cooling. Naysayers simply haven't tried them. The H100 in my HAF case is even more amazing with my core i7 cpu.
ashujmc - Monday, August 25, 2014 - link
You make a water cooler with a Radiator surface area equivalent to that of those Huge air coolers, you will get better performance.. additionally, not to forget that Air coolers, However massive, release all their heat Inside the CPU cabinet itself.. so HEATING THE OTHER COMPONENTS.... so heat washout from the cabinet will depend on Air flow through cabinet.. and to make the matter worse, they Obstruct Air flow inside the cabinet due to their Huge size... but Water cooler radiators will release the heat outside the cabinet.. so less heat trapped inside.. and due to smaller nature of main unit, won't block the air flow much.. if at all...zodiacfml - Tuesday, November 8, 2011 - link
surface area. that is why these sealed water cooling kits perform better with faster fan speeds. yet, they still make sense when you have a moderate target cooling capacity like cooling a Sandy Bridge.