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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ypsylon - Monday, November 7, 2011 - link
What advantages bring Closed Liquid Cooling solution. Yes big air coolers like Noctua DH-14 or Thermalright/Cogage Silver Arrow (using one of those) easily outperform CLC. But nobody is thinking about how much problems such big radiators bring to your life. Not everybody own case with horizontal motherboard (I do). In standard vertical mounting bolting 2kg to motherboard is a risky business. It can easily bent, brake and destroy brand new and spangling board you just bought. Need some work to reduce stress on the motherboard. From my own experience, I had that problem when I went from vertical to horizontal. There was certainly microscopic bent on CPU socket because short time after switching when board warmed up everything crashed to hell. Screwing everything even tighter helped for a week, but then whole circus started again. After replacing the board problem was gone, but that is the possible problem with humongous radiators. On the other hand CLC are small, weight very much nothing, performance is very good, often on par with extreme air coolers. Of course standard open LC is better option but it cost much more. If you don't do extreme OC and all what you need is excellent cooling for affordable price with minimum clutter around CPU socket then CLC is simply UNBEATABLE! Simples.What I don't like about these Corsairs is that stupid LED display on top of them and that you need to replace fans for something really useful (well all CLC have this problem).
As for why big air coolers still outperform CLC answer is fairly simple: Radiator thickness. 27mm is very thin for an radiator in liquid cooling setup. If they put 50+mm one day then air coolers will be dead. And I mean D.E.A.D.
Tetracycloide - Monday, November 7, 2011 - link
If you don't do extreme OC and all you need is excellent cooling for an affordable price expensive CLCs or expensive big air coolers are easily bested by fairly simple parts. If there's no extreme OCs any of the price points offered by corsair for CLCs are more than you should spend really and price/performance wise the CLCs are actually pretty poor performers relative to standard air coolers. The only thing CLCs really offer are space savings, they trade space around the CPU for space around an exhaust fan which is some chassis is a very good thing.Beenthere - Monday, November 7, 2011 - link
Exactly. Those were my points. The CLC's are a poor value, inefficient and over-rated. One leak can cost you hundreds of dollars is damaged PC hardware.Mediarocker - Sunday, December 18, 2011 - link
Inefficient? Hardly. They perform as well as most air coolers, with the exception of the giant Noctunas and ETC. but when it comes down to it, and you need space savings these are perfect for the job.So no they aren't of a Poor Value, and aren't inefficient and over-rated. They just don't belong in YOUR market segment.
Just because you don't have any use for it doesn't mean that they don't have a place to belong.
Nevertheless these CLC's won't leak as easily due to there being less user error. The CLC's are sealed shut. So leaking is highly improbable without there being some abuse involved, E.G. taking a screwdriver to the rad accidentally.
Take your fears elsewhere. It's been established that you are afraid of liquid cooling and prefer air cooling. That is entirely alright, but don't dismiss the merits of CLC cooling just because it has no use for you.
jed22281 - Monday, November 7, 2011 - link
All-in-one's from Swiftech (latest rev H20-220 etc) & similar specialist vendors are far better performers than the H100.And they're more flexible when it comes to adding your own tweaks/improvements etc.
jed22281 - Monday, November 7, 2011 - link
Pop over to xtremesystems where everyone talks about nothing but water-cooling.And they'll recommended it any day over the sealed loops from Corsair.
Fastidious - Monday, November 7, 2011 - link
Why not include some good cheap air heat sinks as well for comparison as well? I really don't see how this is recommended by Anandtech, very expensive with no major advantages along with added complexity and danger of leaks. It also seems impossible to refill these if they are losing liquid? They do have nice 5 year warranties but I suspect most air heat sinks will last much longer.Iketh - Monday, November 7, 2011 - link
heat pipes would need refilling if they leaked too... your point is mootkyuu - Monday, November 7, 2011 - link
Part of the whole point of closed-loop (these) vs. open-loop water-cooling is that they are much less complex (from the article, it seems that they're actually easier to mount than many traditional air HSFs), and, since they're sealed, there should be no danger of leaks (unless the unit is defective, in which case I'd assume the warranty should cover replacement of any damaged components). And of course it's impossible to refill them... again, they're sealed. You shouldn't have to worry about loss of liquid for the same reason.Personally, I love the idea of the CLCs (water-cooling performance without the expense, trouble, and risk of an open loop water-cooling setup), but unfortunately it's just not there yet. While it does provide a good alternative to mounting bulky, heavy air-coolers, you still have to pay a premium to get merely competitive performance with cheaper airs.
Hopefully, soon they'll be able to get these to outperform air-coolers as a water-cooler should.
mrjoltcola - Monday, November 7, 2011 - link
Maybe I missed it, but I see no mention of fan direction / configuration. For the H60 in particular it is important to mount the fan to push into the case/radiator.The H100 + 600T is really not the best test for that cooler. I reported this to Corsair tech support after I bought the combo, and they wouldn't even admit there was a problem. The grille between the top slot and the radiator causes major turbulence if you mount the fans to push into the case the fans vibrate like crazy. I had to do the same thing Jared did, leave the top grille off. Unacceptable for the money spent, considering Corsair claims compatibility. They were no help, though.
I opted to buy a 650D to move my rig into, but Corsair messed up with the 600T. Most of their other cases are perfect for the H100, though.
I'd like to see AT test the H100 without that inefficient 600T grille, in a case that actually sets up for it like the 650D.