Corsair H100?

[rack04]

I am piecing together a new system which so far consists:

Fractal Design Arc Midi
Samsung 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR3 1600
Crucial M4 2.5" 128GB SATA III SSD
Corsair TX Series 650W ATX 80 Plus Bronze
Intel Core i5 2500K 3.3GHz LGA 1155

I will be overclocking the Core i5 2500K to as far as I can go. My question is about a CPU cooler. I understand the new H100i have been released to replace the H100 but it seems like there are some firmware problems. Newegg has the H100 on sale for $79.99 after MIR. Is there any reason I shouldn't jump on the H100 and splurge for the H100i?

 

[MacLeod]

No reason at all not to. I love mine and it handles my beast of a chip. I keeps it under 62C as far as it will go and Ive tried voltages of 1.5 trying to get 4.7 stable and it kept it right at 62C on medium settings so itll handle anything your 2500K can throw at it. The H100i is a little better but that is an awesome price for a H100. There was an issue with them with pump grinding noises but if you get one of the later batches theyre fine. Mine is silent.....well the pump is. The fans get a little loud at high speeds but Im able to run the fans on the lowest setting and theyre not any louder than the dual fan Hyper 212 I had before.

So yes, for $80 that is a steal!

 

[FM_Fixxxer]

Honestly. Corsair has just sent me an H-100i replacement, it's in the mail as we speak. I'm on my third H-100 and they've all been from different batch numbers, and all have had the pump grinding noise. The only way to get rid of it it to run it on a fan controller and dial it down a hair voltage wise. It still keeps things extremely cool, but the hassle of it all has been a major pain in the ass. When I told them it was the same issue again they told me they've decided to replace them with the H-100i. If I was in your shoes, I'd save myself the headache and just go right for the i .

EDIT: To be clear, this is the 3rd one I'm on, and it ran flawlessly for about 2 months, then the noise just happened one morning on boot and didn't go away.

 

[nightwalker]

I used a H100 for a bit, no grinding noises and worked perfectly.

 

[doyll]

I wouldn't get one. Don't think I would even use one if it was given to me. Definitely not if I didn't have a good air cooler just waiting to go back on when (not if) the Hydro fails. Corsair Hydro series do not have a good track record. The new H80i/H100i had many problems right out of the gate and now I'm beginning to see 2 week old ones with what appear to be pump failures resulting in CPU overheat warnings.

 

[MacLeod]

I too am worried about lifespan on these things. Sometimes I think I should've just gone with a D14. Yeah its a 40 pound chunk of metal hanging from my motherboard but its virtually silent and will last forever. If this thing does die on me prematurely I will probably eat the $100 as a lesson learned and get a D14.

 

[trick0502]

i hate my h100. yes the temps are great, but the thing is so loud!! it is by far the loudest thing in my case.

 

[MacLeod]

Yeah it ain't quiet. I stress test with the fans set to Medium and its a little loud but for 24/7 use I keep it set on the Low setting and its much quieter. Its no louder than my Hyper 212+ was.

 

[doyll]

I agree. It's much louder than a D14, Phanteks PH-TC14PE, Alpenfohn K2, Silver Arrow SB-E, Be Quiet Dark Rock Pro, True Spirit 140, Alpenfohn Matterhorn and slew more all within a 5c of H100. I'm using a TC14PE but only about half of what it's capable of. My 980 idles at 2-5c above ambient at 660rpm (silent) and full load is 50c or less and no more than 1000rpm (almost silent). I could do everything with a (cough) 212 (choke) at 10-15c warmer and of course much louder (choke, sputter).