Corsair H100 Extreme Perf. Liquid CPU Cooler Review @ [H]

FrgMstr

FrgMstr

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Corsair H100 Extreme Perf. Liquid CPU Cooler Review - Corsair comes back to liquid processor cooling with a unit more tuned towards enthusiast needs. Low profile water block and pump unit and a dual length 240mm radiator with two 120mm fans. Let's how well it works when compared to other coolers we already know well.
 
Good review.. I've been waiting for this it seems, forever..

I'm still considering paring this up into the corsair graphite 600t for my next build.
 
Fixed. My bad, editing H80 and H100 at the same time, got confused. - Kyle

Not entirely sure its worth the upgrade from the H70 yet.
 
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Nice review.

Is the Swiftech AIO not good at all? or is it just to expensive to even consider.
 
We got one of the first ones inside the unit states that was a retail sample....so I would not expect to find stock this week, maybe next? Maybe Redbeard will chime in on that.
 
Patonb said:
Nice review.

Is the Swiftech AIO not good at all? or is it just to expensive to even consider.
Click to expand...

Swiftech AIO cannot even begin to be compared to the H100. The Swiftech is expandable, has a much more powerful pump, and is overpriced (Swiftech radiator+pump+reservoir combo carries a huge price premium for integrating all those units in one). If you're looking for a kit to compare, compare with the XSPC Rasa kits.
 
Looks neat but based on the numbers presented a high-end air cooler (TR Silver Arrow/Archon) can perfom about as well but with less noise. To me that seems kind of ironic, although this cooler won't interfere with your memory. Then again, you have to find a spot for a radiator I guess.
 
Also,

I am surprised that there is such a difference in performance between the H100 and the ECOII 240.

I was under the impression that these were essentially identical radiator units. Maybe the H100 comes with beefier fans?
 
Zarathustra[H];1037554974 said:
Also,

I am surprised that there is such a difference in performance between the H100 and the ECOII 240.

I was under the impression that these were essentially identical radiator units. Maybe the H100 comes with beefier fans?
Click to expand...

That's not the ECO II 240 if I'm not mistaken, it's the ECO I in that graph...
 
Tsumi said:
Swiftech AIO cannot even begin to be compared to the H100. The Swiftech is expandable, has a much more powerful pump, and is overpriced (Swiftech radiator+pump+reservoir combo carries a huge price premium for integrating all those units in one). If you're looking for a kit to compare, compare with the XSPC Rasa kits.
Click to expand...

Theres a online shop in canada which sells it at 209.00cdn. Which is why i wonder if the 80 bucks is worth the AIO.
 
Fantastic news!!! I hope to move over to one this weekend if possible!
 
Looks like a very nice unit. Had this been around when I was building my watercooling setup, I would probably have went with it instead of doing a 360x120mm radiator and all of the associated tubing / clamps etc. just because of ease of use and cost. I'll definitely pick one up next time I build a system.
 
Heavy_Nova said:
Not entirely sure its worth the upgrade from the H70 yet.
Click to expand...

If you just want better performance, perhaps not. However, looks to me based on the article that the H100 can get that level of performance at lower noise levels.
 
do you think if you ran it fanless it would be able to cool the 920 when it is oc'ed?
 
tricky0502 said:
do you think if you ran it fanless it would be able to cool the 920 when it is oc'ed?
Click to expand...

I doubt it under full load.

What I do to compensate for this is run the fans off of the CPU fan header on my motherboard, and enable the intelligent fan control setting in the BIOS.

On my H50 I wound up setting a minimum fan speed of 12.5% just to have some airflow at all times, but it may not be necessary. My target temp was 50C.

At 12.5% the fans were inaudible to me, just as if they weren't there at all. The system still spins up the fans when under load, but under normal use they never go above 35-50%. When i stress test they fly all the way up to 100% but this really isn't representative of how I use the system.

Fans don't necessarily need to = loud noise.

Since idle temps really don't matter much (within reason) its fine to automatically spin the fans down when not needed and have a much quieter system.

All around its pretty quiet. I can't wait to see how it performs with the 180mm unit.
 
Maximum PC used the Corsair Hydro Series H100 in it's Dream Machine 2011 and wrote..

Even the most risk-averse person can admit that coolers such as Corsair’s super H100 pose very little chance of leaking. And the fact that it’s easy to install and requires zero maintenance makes it a win for even those of us who aren’t plumbers.
Click to expand...

Like Marc mentioned about the unit's one fault being it's size, the Maximum PC dudes wrote..

We’d have added two more fans for push/pull cooling, but didn’t quite have room
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And that was in a prototype Cooler Master Cosmos II, a case 20% larger than the Cosmos S.
 
Insula Gilliganis said:
Maximum PC used the Corsair Hydro Series H100 in it's Dream Machine 2011 and wrote..



Like Marc mentioned about the unit's one fault being it's size, the Maximum PC dudes wrote..



And that was in a prototype Cooler Master Cosmos II, a case 20% larger than the Cosmos S.
Click to expand...

Maximum PC... How cute. :) I remember back when I used to get a floppy with those when I bought one at the local news stand. :p
 
I notice you show the temperature of the stock fan but then omit the stock fan for the sound portion. It is probably not neccesary but would be nice as a reference point for someone using the stock fan and looking to upgrade.
 
I'm glad they're pushing water cooling in the mainstream modding now.

I'm just hoping that one of these would integrate a VGA cooler in the kit in the setup even if you have to buy the video card in the kit.
 
Arcticfox04 said:
I'm glad they're pushing water cooling in the mainstream modding now.

I'm just hoping that one of these would integrate a VGA cooler in the kit in the setup even if you have to buy the video card in the kit.
Click to expand...

id settle for the video card not being in the same loop and just having a 120mm radiator.

could then just have the H100 mounted to the top inside a case and the videocards mounted to the extra 120mm exhausts on the back of the case.

;)
 
I didn't realize $120 was a high price for a dual radiator complete water setup. My water system was at least $200. The one before this one was even more expensive. Wish I know how my current one compares to the H100.
 
Pretty impressive for the price. Especially considering when I built my own 3x120 about 5 or 6 years ago it cost about $250 in parts. Granted. Everything but the cpu block is still origional and has chugged it's way through 3 builds and multiple small upgrades. The only thing that's actually failed so far is one fan that's starting to make a little noise.
 
Arcticfox04 said:
I'm glad they're pushing water cooling in the mainstream modding now.

I'm just hoping that one of these would integrate a VGA cooler in the kit in the setup even if you have to buy the video card in the kit.
Click to expand...

I tried the vga water cooling route. The problem is that it seemed like with every generation of card the mounting requirements change and the previous block won't work. It was so expensive I was better off just buying a better card when you included the cost of the water block purchase with every card. I still have an old DD vga cooler in my basement; since it's more or less worth scrap value once a new generation of cards come out.
 
wtiger said:
I tried the vga water cooling route. The problem is that it seemed like with every generation of card the mounting requirements change and the previous block won't work. It was so expensive I was better off just buying a better card when you included the cost of the water block purchase with every card. I still have an old DD vga cooler in my basement; since it's more or less worth scrap value once a new generation of cards come out.
Click to expand...

X2

I used to WC the vid cards too but at ~$100 a pop for the block it just became too expensive. At one time I had my cpu//2xgpu&memory/northbridge WC'ed.
 
I wish I had somewhere to mount this inside my case. I had to go with the Antec 920 instead.
 
Currently on a D14 with an FT02 case and was curious to hear/see how the H100 would work in it.
 
Everything I was looking for. I just hope it will fit in an NZXT Phantom...
 
Zap said:
If you just want better performance, perhaps not. However, looks to me based on the article that the H100 can get that level of performance at lower noise levels.
Click to expand...

Noise is always a problem thats fairly easy to fix, the size how ever is not. Its a more then decent cooler, priced pretty damn competitively but thats one big cooler!

Wish I could use it, not like I'd pay that much for a cooler but I want it :D.
 
Numbers look good and thanks a ton for the review. If I can figure out how I'd mount this in an Antec 902 then I'll probably get one.
 
Very nice. I might grab this when I upgrade or I might for a good (and significantly cheaper) air cooler. I'm not sure. I'm still trying to decide what I want to do case wise (and money wise) and that will define what route I go. Either way I'm replacing my H50 with something.
 
Thanks for the review. I wonder which cases accommodate the push/pull setup. Any of the Corsair cases? Redbeard?
 
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