Introduction and First Impressions
Corsair’s signature 240/120mm liquid coolers get a refresh.
Corsair's venerable single and double-width liquid CPU coolers based on 120mm fans have been refreshed with added style and a new underlying design. How do they perform? We're about to find out!
Introduction
There isn't much left to say about all-in-one (AIO) liquid CPU coolers these days, other than they are often better performing and more expensive than traditional air coolers. A good design gives an AIO liquid cooler a distinct advantage with overclocking headroom, and often in noise output as well (at higher levels of performance). This is not to dismiss air cooling as massive dual-tower coolers from Noctua and others certainly have the potential to out-perform all but the very best AIO liquid coolers, though not every enclosure will have the room for such a cooler. Thus, a good AIO liquid CPU cooler can offer not only space savings but potentially outstanding cooling performance as well. But this is a road we have traveled many times, with cost often the deciding factor even in the face of compelling evidence in favor of what are often very expensive solutions. Has that changed in 2015?
Corsair has done as much as any manufacturer to make AIO liquid CPU cooling mainstream, and their original H100 cemented the AIO's place as an enthusiast-level cooler and not simply a shortcut to traditional water cooling. The 240mm H100 and corresponding 120mm H80 have been refined a couple of times since their introduction, and though other variants such as the H105 and H75 (at the same 240/120mm sizes) have been released and crowded the market further, the H100/H80 series still occupy an important position.
These new coolers are both Asetek designs, and while the 280mm H110i GT (a CoolIT design) has been released as a powerful alternative, the new iterations of the H100 and H80 point to their status as flagship coolers for Corsair and offer greater compatibility accross existing enclosures that may not have dual 140mm fan mounts. But all of this is academic unless they perform well, so let's take a closer look at these new coolers and then check out some benchmarks!
Hydro Series H100i GTX Extreme Performance Liquid CPU Cooler
Socket Support: AMD: AM2, AM3, FM1, FM2, Intel LGA: 1150, 1155, 1156, 1366, 2011, 2011-3
Cold plate material: Copper
Tubing: Large-diameter, low permeability
Radiator Material: Aluminum
Radiator dimensions: 276mm x 125mm x 30mm
Fan specification: 120mm (x2)
Fan dimensions: 120mm x 120mm x 25mm
Fan speed: 2435 +/- 10% RPM
Fan airflow: 70.69 CFM
Fan static pressure: 4.65 mmH2O
Warranty: Five years
Hydro Series H80i GT High Performance Liquid CPU Cooler
Socket Support: AMD: AM2, AM3, FM1, FM2, Intel LGA: 1150, 1155, 1156, 1366, 2011, 2011-3
Cold plate material: Copper
Tubing: Large-diameter, low permeability
Radiator Material: Aluminum
Radiator dimensions: 154mm x 123mm x 49mm
Fan specification: 120mm (x2)
Fan dimensions: 120mm x 120mm x 25mm
Fan speed: 2435 +/- 10% RPM
Fan airflow: 70.69 CFM
Fan static pressure: 4.65 mmH2O
Warranty: Five years
Our thanks to Corsair for providing the H100i GTX and H80i GT for this review!
- Corsair H80i GT: Amazon – $99.99
- Corsair H100i GTX: Amazon – $119.99
First Impressions
Typical for Corsair both coolers arrive in attractive packaging, and inside we see a densely packed box with everything safely held in place.
Corsair's excellent mounting hardware package (identical for each cooler)
The pump design is new for these coolers, and the silver trim matches the new accent on the side of both radiators. Also worth noting are the slightly larger hoses with the new design, which are covered with a nice looking braided material.
The corsair logo lights up with customizable RGB colors
There is quite a bit of difference in the thickness of these radiators, with the H100i GTX at 30mm and the H80i GT at a hefty 49mm.
And here's a look at the aluminum radiator fins:
And we can't forget the pair of SP120L PWM fans included with both coolers.
Next we'll see how these new coolers performed!
I’m using H110 with 4790k in
I’m using H110 with 4790k in 750D glad to see corsair coming out with these coolers next time i replace H110 definitely will be looking at corsair.thanks for reveiw
Nice review. I love the
Nice review. I love the aesthetics on these. Picked up an H80i GT for my system a couple weeks ago and it’s working great!
Great review, it’s nice to
Great review, it’s nice to see reviews of new coolers coming out. 🙂
*sigh* Except cooling heavily
*sigh* Except cooling heavily overclocked LGA2011 builds I don’t see much use for these coolers. They would be much more useful on graphics cards.
I went to a CLC AIO a few
I went to a CLC AIO a few years ago mainly for aesthetics and to take some weight off the CPU/mobo socket.
Its still good for LGA1150 builds though, as those tend to run hot and any help from the cooler to shed a few C helps. Ultimately though, the poor thermal paste really prevents good cooling from shining on those CPUs.
But yes these CLCs are great for LGA2011 builds that still have solder. My 5820K with H105 is running at only ~55C at 4.5GHz, while my 4770K would run at 85C under load at just 4.3GHz.
This cooler looks to be a big improvement over the H100i though, which I wouldn’t recommend anymore, as it was pretty underperforming imo.
The thickness of the H80iGT
The thickness of the H80iGT with a push/ pull fan configuration is over 9cm or 4.5″. I am not sure there’s enough clearance on a X79 motherboard if this radiator is mounted on the rear end.
So are these graphs comparing
So are these graphs comparing results to ambient temperatures/sound?
Am I interpreting these correctly?
Yes, sorry if that wasn’t
Yes, sorry if that wasn't clearly indicated. The temperatures were recorded as degrees C above ambient (ambient temps were different for each cooler benchmark session so static temps were not used). The noise floor in the room held steady at 34 dB, and case noise levels were measured against this number.
I am able to control the noise better than temperature here, so I might stick to presenting noise as static dB (i.e. 35.2 dB vs. 1.2 dB above ambient with 34 dB noise floor). With temps it wouldn't be accurate unless I was able to hold the room temps steady throughout all testing.
Nice deal on this cooler at
Nice deal on this cooler at Newegg, $110 after rebate which is pretty good since this cooler just launched and the performance looks pretty good as well.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835181090&utm_medium=Email&utm_source=IGNEFL051415&nm_mc=EMC-IGNEFL051415&cm_mmc=EMC-IGNEFL051415-_-EMC-051415-Index-_-WaterLiquidCooling-_-35181090-S1A2A
So my less then 6 month old
So my less then 6 month old Nepton 240M just died. Should I replace it with the H100i ?
I liked the nepton until it died and wasn’t able to contact their customer support.
could someone help me to know
could someone help me to know the dimensions between holes of cold plate(copper plate)