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

Great review, really looking forward to getting this (or maybe an H120? ;)) on my next system which'll be Ivy Bridge probably.
 
Fits perfectly inside of a Fractal Arc Midi.
Nothin' fancy, my 'work' computer.

fractal_a_crop.jpg
 
I think the photo makes them look a lot close than they actually are. There is over an inch of space between the two. FYI those hoses are made from some tuff material and are very stiff.
I don't think they would get any closer even if I tipped the case on it's rear.
 
Just revamped one of my rigs this weekend with a H100 and 500R case. The H100 fit perfectly into the case with the fans inside the top (I'll add pics later). There seems to be enough room inside the case for pull fans, however they may need to be slim. Once I get my OC issues sorted out I'll probably get some pull fans to see if that helps out my temps. OC issues aside, I've been able to keep load temps running Prime95 below 60c on my 2500k at a high of 1.38 VCore (shown as peak 1.42v in TouchBios during load).

*Just looked at some fans to add inside the 500R to pull air through. Has anyone tried the SY1212SL12H Scythe Kaze-Jyuni Slim Slip Stream 120mm x 12mm Fan?
There is 1200, 1600, and 2000 rpm versions.
 
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med1kl said:
Love my new H100 but damn this sucker is loud.
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If the pump unit sounds abnormally louder than your fans with the case closed, you can request a rma if you want. There's a support thread in their forums about some pump units being louder than normal. Thankfully their customer support is great. :)
 
Hey All, I have the h100 setup i a push/pull. Currently, I do not have the 3 pin connector connected to the mobo due to cable routing. I have an 17 2700k at stock speeds and voltage and when i run prime 95 I am getting temps in the 70s, and even low 80s. This seems extremely high. Could this all be due to the fact that I have not connected the 3 pin header on the pump unit to the mobo?

I have resetaed everything and it is making good contact. I just dont have a 3 pin extension yet, so i cant test this out. But those temps are way to high(this is with 4 fans on high setting push/pull)

THanks for any help you can provide!
 
Hmm, I was under the impression you should only connect one of the power cables for the pump. I've been running my 2500k overclocked to 4.7Ghz without the 3 pin and it never goes above 52c or so under full load.
 
THis is pretty annoying, I have no idea what it could be. I do notice that the pump is making some noise. I wonder if the pump could be bad on this particular unit.
 
Yeah, it could be the pump. I can't hear mine at all over the noise of the fans on even low (and other system fans etc). Is the pump/block hot to the touch on top?
 
Hmm, I will check when i get home from work tonight. I seem to recall it being warm, but not extremely hot. more to come!
 
The 3 pin connector doesn't provide any power, it's only provided to allow the motherboard to get a cpu fan speed reading since some mobos will throw an error if they don't detect a CPU fan connected.


Something is definitely wrong with your pump, I'm running an h80 on the low fan profile and barely crack 52-55C during usage with my 2500k at 4.8ghz.
 
I am going to RMA the cooler and see what happens when I get the new one. Thanks everyone for the help.
 
Hopefully you'll be able to get a replacement pretty quick. From what I've experienced Corsair's service is really good.

Here is the system I recently moved to a 500R and put the H100 in.

 
I installed one of these last nite, and it seems like the fans are at full speed regardless of the setting i put it at, Did i plug the fan into the wrong headers :p?
 
Digital Viper-X- said:
I installed one of these last nite, and it seems like the fans are at full speed regardless of the setting i put it at, Did i plug the fan into the wrong headers :p?
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Sounds like it.

The fans for the radiator should plug into the headers on the top of the pump.
 
damn it's actually the pump, i might have a troubled batch as well ><

on the other hand
coretemp reports an load temp of about 68-72 ranging across the cores @ 4.8ghz 1.35v(all cores loaded with prime)
 
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Yeah, mine isn't ramped up all the time. It will ramp up on cold boot then go down to low. It also goes up after a minute or so of stress testing. I'm guessing the block/pump has some sort of temperature gauge built in? The temps on both my 2500k and 2600k show strangely in coretemp. If I only pay attention to the first core they seem about right (mid to high 60's during IBT), but the others jump around a lot. I read that the gigabyte board the 2500k is installed on shows inaccurate temps by 10c in coretemp, so I used the touch bios utility to watch temps.
 
Is there any difference between plugging the H100 into the CPU fan header vs just plugging it into a PSU power molex?
 
defiant007 said:
Is there any difference between plugging the H100 into the CPU fan header vs just plugging it into a PSU power molex?
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Yeah afaik the pump wont run if you do that. It gets its power from the molex connector, the cpu fan header is just to give a cpu fan speed rading in the BIOS.
 
So.... looking at the review temps I'm not sure mine are so good.
I recently changed from a 2500k to a 2600k. My temps at full load (IBT or Prime95) max out in the high 70's. One core even hit 81... Although they tend to settle more in the high 60s to low 70s. This is at 1.39v (4.8Ghz). The 2500k pushed 1.42v and had lower temps. I'm not sure if it's the difference in the CPUs, or the difference in the tim. The 2500k had the included Corsair stuff, and I used some other junk (Apex/BestBuy) when mounting the 2600k. I know, I know, I should get some better tim.
 
I have a Coolermast Haf X case with stock fans with the H100 mounted as push under the top exhaust fan. With my i7-2700k running 4.5 GHz at 1.37 volts, I'm getting load temps of 72-74 degrees. I left the stock TIM on from the H100.

I also just realized hitting the fan speed button on my H100 does nothing, but my batch number supposedly doesn't fall into the "bad" batch.

Is this an RMA candidtate? I do have two reference HD 5850s in there doing bitcoin mining at all times though.
 
Im running an H100 with a 2600K @ 4.6 GHz. Im in push pull with the stock TIM. At lowest setting on the H100 my prime95 temps never got over 58C four almost 4 hours. It barely even ramped up. I would say that your due for a RMA.
 
So I am on H100 number 3 in a client build. The first two were from reported troubled batches and had the fan speeds all over the place with the firmware reset doing nothing. I picked up two more from a newer batch and now I have the reported loud pump issue.

So, has anyone here had the loud pump that sometimes works itself out (supposedly air bubbles go away?) or am I on returned H100 number three and should go for lucky number four I have sitting next to the bench?
 
After pouring over multiple articles and reviews, I still can't really see these as a good solution for quiet PC's. The Hydro series coolers do offer great cooling, but only if you don't care about noise.

I basically just compared the temperatures that various heatsinks managed to attain while keeping within the noise range that I find acceptable. Everything I've read seems to indicate that the you have to seriously reduce the fan and pump speed to get these Hydro series coolers truly quiet, and when you do that, their cooling performance takes a nosedive (and the nosedive is so bad that regular air coolers beat the cooling performance of the Hydro coolers at the same noise level).

These reports of noticeable pump noise coming from the H100 don't inspire confidence either...
 
Unknown-One said:
After pouring over multiple articles and reviews, I still can't really see these as a good solution for quiet PC's. The Hydro series coolers do offer great cooling, but only if you don't care about noise.

I basically just compared the temperatures that various heatsinks managed to attain while keeping within the noise range that I find acceptable. Everything I've read seems to indicate that the you have to seriously reduce the fan and pump speed to get these Hydro series coolers truly quiet, and when you do that, their cooling performance takes a nosedive (and the nosedive is so bad that regular air coolers beat the cooling performance of the Hydro coolers at the same noise level).

These reports of noticeable pump noise coming from the H100 don't inspire confidence either...
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In my experience they're pretty good for low noise cooling solutions. The stock fans go up to 2600 rpm, so of course if you leave the fans on the high profile they're going to be loud. The pump always runs at 100% and I could never hear any noise from mine, but I guess some people got duds.

Either way on the 'low' setting it was enough to cool my i5-2500k at 5ghz, so I think it's more than adequate.
 
"low" is still too loud for me (37.5 dBa). Even at that volume, the H100's cooling performance has slipped into "meh" territory.

Anandtech saw load temperatures of 54.5c on the "low" setting: http://www.anandtech.com/show/5054/corsair-hydro-series-h60-h80-and-h100-reviewed/6

That already puts it below the performance of a Thermalright Venomous X and the Noctua NH-D14 (when all coolers are operated at the same volume level).
 
There is no way it's near 37 dBa on low.

Can't really argue with the measured temps, but 54c isn't bad at all IMO.

Unknown-One said:
"low" is still too loud for me (37.5 dBa). Even at that volume, the H100's cooling performance has slipped into "meh" territory.

Anandtech saw load temperatures of 54.5c on the "low" setting: http://www.anandtech.com/show/5054/corsair-hydro-series-h60-h80-and-h100-reviewed/6

That already puts it below the performance of a Thermalright Ultra Extreme 120 (when both coolers are operated at the same volume).
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Can anyone illuminate on Corsair's current leak-damage replacement policy? Do they liberally replace parts that are affected by their water cooling devices?
 
Kenworth said:
So I am on H100 number 3 in a client build. The first two were from reported troubled batches and had the fan speeds all over the place with the firmware reset doing nothing. I picked up two more from a newer batch and now I have the reported loud pump issue.

So, has anyone here had the loud pump that sometimes works itself out (supposedly air bubbles go away?) or am I on returned H100 number three and should go for lucky number four I have sitting next to the bench?
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RMA it. I'm about to send mine back after weeks of having this noise. I don't see any entry/exit point to release the bubbles...
 
I just received my H100 and I will be installing it on a Haf 922 case and I'd like to know which way the fans are suppose to flow air? There is a little arrow that indicates up depending on which way I'm holding the fan. I also keep reading about push/pull and I can't find a good answer to what it means. Should I make the fans just shoot air up out of the case or have one shoot down and one up?
 
P4rD0nM3 said:
RMA it. I'm about to send mine back after weeks of having this noise. I don't see any entry/exit point to release the bubbles...
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Corsair's official response is that there are no exit points but there are supposed to be air traps built into the radiator but sometimes the air bubble gets stuck in the pump and then it makes the horrible thrashing noise. It should work itself out better in H100s than their other designs as the radiator is mounted above the pump in almost all cases they are installed in and the bubbles should naturally flow upwards.
 
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