Corsair H100 Water Cooler Review

[siopao1984]

---

Corsair H100 Water Cooler Review by VR-Zone.com

Even though computer water cooling started off about fifteen years ago, it was not until a couple of years ago when companies first released closed loop, ready to run liquid based coolers for PC components. One of the first companies which released such a liquid based cooler a couple of years ago was Corsair. Today we are going to have a look at the latest and largest liquid based CPU cooler Corsair ever released, the Hydro Series H100. The H100 features a dual fan radiator and Corsair boasts that the cooler can deliver extreme performance; we will find out if that claim is true in this review.

[siopao1984]

The H100 liquid CPU cooler comes supplied inside a large cardboard box as large as the box of a power supply. The design theme revolves mostly around the core of the cooler itself but information on the features of the cooler can be found at the sides and rear of the box in several languages.



Inside the box the cooler and the bundled items are very well secured and carefully separated using environmentally friendly cardboard packaging material. Every single part is wrapped in plastic bags, except from the manuals.



The 120mm fans supplied with the cooler have been rebranded to Corsair’s logo and their model number is CF12S25SH12A. Corsair shares the specifications of their fans and these ball bearing models have a maximum rotational speed of 2500RPM, at which they move 92CFM and generate 39dB(A). 2500RPM 120mm fans are very noisy because the amount of air they push creates a lot of turbulence as well but this kit can be set to reduce the speed of the fans down to less than half for a low-noise operation.



Inside the box you will find the necessary retention brackets and the backplate needed for the installation of the cooler on various CPU sockets, a black and white manual and all the essential screws and hardware (all of which are black) required to install the cooler inside the case and on your CPU.

[siopao1984]

The Corsair H100 is considerably different than the first kit the company released well over 2 years ago, the well known H50 unit. Clearly Corsair makes these coolers in collaboration with Asetek but the H100 features a new and considerably larger square base, as well as a dual fan parallel liquid flow radiator. The company kept the old but effective corrugated tubing, which is not very flexible but is reliable and exceptionally hard to puncture.



The H100 features a dual fan parallel liquid flow aluminum radiator. The radiator is lightweight and relatively thin but is a proven and cheap to manufacture design which should perform very well. Like all similar radiator designs from Asetek, the very thin and flimsy aluminum fins are extremely easy to bend.



Corsair had to enlarge the base of the H100 in order to house every component they wanted to install inside it. The base houses the liquid pump and of course the thermal absorption plate. The liquid tubes are attached onto the base by using metallic 90° fittings. The wire leaving the base of the cooler splits in two, one to be connected to a Molex connector for power and one to be connected on the motherboard’s CPU fan header for monitoring the speed of the pump. At the center of the top side there is a button which controls the speed of the fans.



The connector seen in the above picture is for connection to the “Link Commander” unit, which Corsair sells separately. This unit can monitor the speed of the fans, the coolant temperature and other parameters. It can also be used to customize the performance profiles of the H100.



At the opposite side of the base Corsair placed four fan connectors. The speed of the fans connected to these connectors is controlled by the H100 itself.



The thermal absorption plate is simple and not particularly smooth. It could certainly be polished better but Corsair has pre-applied a long term thermal compound which is very thick, therefore a better polished plate would hardly make any difference. The plate is held into place with eight hex screws.

[siopao1984]

Corsair managed to make the installation of the H100 cooler very easy. The installation requires some time and only a PH2 screwdriver. Corsair has the Intel processor retention brackets pre-installed on the base of the cooler, therefore if you own an AMD CPU you will have to remove the brackets and replace them with those intended for AMD CPUs. Each of the AMD CPU brackets has a metallic retention hook which is tightened by thumbscrews.



For installation on AMD CPUs, the H100 kit requires the presence of the stock plastic retention bracket of the motherboard. The user has to merely place the core of the H100 unit onto the CPU and tighten the thumbscrews by hand until the setup is firmly secured on the CPU core.



The final step is to install the cooling fans onto the radiator and place the radiator inside your case. The real challenge is that the radiator must be near the CPU itself, therefore a case which can accommodate two 120mm top exhaust fans is virtually necessary. There are several such cases available to purchase, although we are certain that modders will not have a hard time designing their own.

[siopao1984]

In order to provide you with the most professional and accurate reviews, we are using the following equipment to test the performance of coolers. The system automatically calculates the Delta T temperature, which is the difference between the ambient temperature and the temperature at the top of the thermal core.

Custom copper thermal core with automatic power controls
Watlow heat generation rods
PT100 temperature sensors
Lutron DW-6091 Power Analyzer
SL-5868P digital sound level meter
CompuLAB interface
MyPClab thermal interface
Custom calibration box
Custom software

More information about our testing equipment and methodology can be found in this article.



With its fans running at their slowest setting, the H100 liquid cooler overtakes every single air cooler we have ever tested while generating only 39.1dB(A), albeit the performance difference is not great. For those that do care about raw thermal performance, after setting the speed of the radiator fans at their highest setting the Corsair H100 crushed all opposition, moving several degrees lower than all conventional air coolers. At this setting however the fans are very noisy, which is why this speed is intended to be an option for hardcore overclockers and performance enthusiasts alone.

[siopao1984]

Quality (30% of the total score)

Quality has never been a concern when reviewing a Corsair product as the company designs their products to withstand long term usage and punishment, severely outliving the components they are supposed to power or cool. The H100 liquid cooler is no exception; it is a very well made product which Corsair backs up with a 5 year long manufacturer’s warranty. The construction of the cooler is certainly very robust but there are a few minor design flaws which all enthusiasts would like to see improved, such as the thermal absorption plate which could use some polishing work. Corsair could also have made the corrugated tubing just a little longer, which would allow users to easily place the radiator at the front side of their case where there is usually plenty of space.

Quality Score 9.0/10



Performance (40% of the total score)

There is not much to say about the performance of a product when the numbers speak for themselves. Even with the radiator fans at their slowest setting, the thermal performance of the H100 is superior to that of any air cooler. At the same time, the acoustics performance is very good as well and users may only be hearing a slight humming noise coming from the air moving through the fins of the radiator. For those who want raw thermal performance and are willing to sacrifice their hearing for it, running the fans at their full speed can improve the thermal performance of the cooler by several degrees.

Performance Score 10/10



Aesthetics (20% of the total score)

While we certainly cannot compare the H100 to an air cooler aesthetically, the liquid cooler certainly will give any system a different, more futuristic appearance. The all black theme is subtle and will match most themes and designs, while modders and people who enjoy more fancy solutions can easily replace the radiator fans with models featuring lighting and/or other effects. Of course users can replace the fans with models running at different speeds as well, therefore users who want an entirely quiet running system can replace them with slower counterparts, sacrificing some thermal performance for ultimate acoustics performance.

Aesthetics Score 9.0/10



Value (10% of the total score)

With an MSRP of 119.99$ USD the Corsair H100 may not be a very cheap cooling device when compared to air coolers but it certainly offers good value to people who want to move towards a serious, high performance liquid cooling solution. The five year long manufacturer warranty and the socket 2011 support are the icing on the cake, ensuring that those who will purchase a H100 liquid CPU cooler will get great long-term value out of their money.

Value Score 9.5/10