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.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
91 Comments
View All Comments
Mjello - Monday, November 7, 2011 - link
Mine is the old version with the bulky cooler/pump unit. May even be other make. I dont remember and don't care to open the computer to check. However its a dual 120mm fan radiator in a closed loop ready to use. Just as this one. And I don't think there is much diff. if any at all ;). I actually thought mine was the h100.Gonemad - Monday, November 7, 2011 - link
I am a bit concerned about systems that consider the placement of the Fan on top of the CPU to cool everything else around it, like the ram, and so forth. This radiator installation inside the case seems to help this unease feeling.Mjello - Monday, November 7, 2011 - link
I found that the power supply fan alone is creating sufficient airflow in the kabinet for cooling the motherboard components when there is no cpu fan. But I dont overclock in the extreme. And motherboards are not all the same.Oberst - Monday, November 7, 2011 - link
Hello,could you please also post the dimensions of the cooling unit (cooler, pump unit, fan controller)?
That would be quite interesting for people mounting the radiator externally and putting the cooling unit through a fan hole ore something similar into the case onto the mainboard.
As the price difference in Europe between the H80 and H100 is quite low (only about 9 Euros), i'm interested in upgrading my quite old case with a external mounted H100.
k.r. Oberst.
haplo602 - Monday, November 7, 2011 - link
I have a dual CPU system with 92mm coolers (no space for larger ones). However the case has holes on top for 2x140mm fans. Would to H60 radiators fit there next to each other ?I know I can do a better and cheaper open loop with one radiator and the CPU waterblocks in series, but I like the idea of cooling both CPUs as they needed and not as the more loaded one needs.
geniekid - Monday, November 7, 2011 - link
This is definitely a niche product, even for enthusiasts. One of the biggest selling points of water cooling is to reduce fan noise, but it looks like the fans on these things aren't much quieter than the stock fan for low load usage (i.e. normal HTPC use). For gaming machines, the biggest noise offenders (in my anecdotal, personal experience) are usually the GPU and the power supply fans.Maybe if your goal is to overclock as much as possible with a cooling solution around $100, then this is for you, but I would have to see many more comparisons to air coolers and alternative water coolers before I'd be convinced of that.
kg4icg - Monday, November 7, 2011 - link
Have no problems what so ever mounting the H100 inside a Corsair Carbide 400R case. 500 and 600 Carbides are the same way.[IMG]http://i445.photobucket.com/albums/qq175/kg4icg/te...[/IMG]
WT - Monday, November 7, 2011 - link
I bought an H80 for my new build to cut down on the noise that my current air cooler (Nirvana NV120) created, and to that end it is an amazing difference, so I consider it a worthwhile purchase for what I wanted.As far as the directions, I agree that they are pitiful, and I even had to do a google search (Corsair tech support hours = Mon-Fri) to find out where the 4 included washers were to be mounted.
I did end up replacing the 2 stock Corsair fans with Gentle Typhoon AP-15's, and I mounted them so that they blow out of the case rather than pulling air from outside as Corsair recommends.
Beenthere - Monday, November 7, 2011 - link
There are plenty of quiet HSFs that perform as well or better than the Corsair CLCs and cost less. Having to spend more moeny for quiet fans makes a Corsair CLC an even worse value. The biggest liability with H2O cooling however is the damaged from leaks that can destroy hundreds of dollars in PC hardware and for what when there is no advantage to a Corsair CLC.Buy what makes you happy but don't buy the Corsair or other brands of CLCs for thermal efficiency, quietness, value or reliability because they suffer in these areas compared to a decent HSF.
pcfxer - Monday, November 7, 2011 - link
And yet liquid cooling is still FAR too loud for any SPCR reader, that's for sure!