Corsair Hydro Series: H60, H80 and H100 Reviewed
by Jared Bell on November 7, 2011 12:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
- Corsair
- Water Cooling
H60, H80, and H100 Overview
As always with Corsair products, packaging and box art are top notch. We’ll start with the lowest tier offering, the H60, and then move to the H80 and H100.
H60 High Performance Details
The H60's radiator is the same size of the previous generation H50. However, the H60 has a new, upgraded water block that allows for more efficient flow. It also has the adjustable 90 degree connectors we've seen on the H70 making installation easier. Corsair provides a single 120mm 1700RPM PWM fan. The inclusion of a PWM fan is a nice touch since most motherboards have the needed 4-pin connector and have BIOS settings for easy fan speed control. This means the cooler can be virtually silent when idle, but ramp up the RPMs (and therefore noise) as needed. As mentioned, the H60 only includes one fan, but you can add a second fan for a push/pull configuration. You'll just need to pick up an extra set of 6x32x1-1/4" screws.
H80 High Performance
The H80 takes over for the H70 with its thicker radiator design but shares the same new, upgraded water block as the H60. However, the H80 and the H100 have an all new push-button fan control that lets you select the fan speed and cooling performance setup that best suits your needs. The white LED display lets you know which profile is being used. The H80 can power and control up to two fans. Thankfully, like the H70 before it, the H80 already comes with two fans for a push/pull configuration. The included fans are 3-pin and spin at 2500RPM when the fan controller is set to its highest setting. We’ll provide more information on the fan speed profiles later.
H100 Extreme Performance
The H100 is an all new double-wide design sporting a 240mm [or 2x120mm] radiator that has the same thickness as the H60. The water block and fan controller are the same that we've seen on the H80; however, the H100's fan controller can power and control up to four fans even though the unit only comes with two. This gives you the option of adding two more fans for push/pull on this bad boy. The two included fans are the same high speed 2500RPM fans that come with the H80.
Fan Controller
The three speed push-button fan controller on the H80 and H100 is a great improvement over what Corsair offered previously with the H70. The H70 included two inline resistors for providing a second, lower fan speed. The new built-in fan control system on the H80 and H100 gives you three settings to choose from: low, medium, or high—or as Corsair calls it: low noise, balanced, and high performance. While some may complain you have to open your case to make changes, I think of it as more of a set it and forget it type thing. Corsair doesn't stop there though; each speed setting or profile actually has an RPM range for the fans to spin at. This means the fans will be quieter when idle and only reach their max rated RPM (and max noise) for that particular profile when the coolant inside reaches a certain temperature. Could this lead to the perfect balance of performance and noise? We'll hopefully find out with our tests in just a moment.
Corsair Link
The H80 and H100 both support Corsair's Link Digital, which is their suite of hardware and software for monitoring various system parameters. It also allows you to customize your own performance profiles. We don't have one of the Corsair Link's on hand, so we will not be testing this feature. It's unfortunate that Corsair doesn't include the Link with the H80 or H100, but I'm guessing they opted to make it optional so the price wouldn't go through the roof.
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prime2515103 - Monday, November 7, 2011 - link
"Each Corsair Hydro Series cooler is mounted to blow air from outside the case over the radiator."compudaze - Tuesday, November 8, 2011 - link
You can always mod your grill like this: http://i.imgur.com/FQiID.jpg -- but you're right, it sucks and you shouldn't have to do that.mschira - Monday, November 7, 2011 - link
Then this would solve the compatibility issues right from the start...M
Earthmonger - Monday, November 7, 2011 - link
Kind of disappointed you didn't open the coolers up. I'd like to know just what kind of build quality one can expect; whether it is deep-fried korean junk, or pristine japanese craftsmanship. It does a lot to ease the mind.Mjello - Monday, November 7, 2011 - link
Why isn't anyone making a "ready to use" closed circuit cooler for gpu's ?My gpu needs watercooling more than my cpu.
ggathagan - Monday, November 7, 2011 - link
It's a matter of market scale.You can accomodate any CPU from the last 5 years with a single design and two styles of mounting mechanism.
For GPU's, there are too many variations of design that would have to be considered to make it anywhere near as profitable.
cjs150 - Monday, November 7, 2011 - link
I rather like these kits. They are a lot worse than a custom loop but for someone just starting on water cooling they are a good introduction.Water cooling CPU only is not particularly sensible because air coolers are just as good (although big). A custom loop would cool both CPU and GPU at very least.
Nice review
Hauk - Monday, November 7, 2011 - link
I bought the H80 last month and was less than impressed with the quality of the mounting hardware. Perhaps I've been spoiled with the superb quality found with Thermalright mounting hardware. In any case, the hardware Corsair provides is cheap garbage in comparison. Yes it works, but it's poor quality, soft metal. Hold this mounting hardware in one hand, and typical Thermalright hard metal (and chromed) hardware in the other. It's easy to see which was designed for multiple mounting and unmountings.The installation instructions are poorly written as well. I learned more from this article about how the push button affects fan speed than I did from anything Corsair provided. And no words Corsair? Just pictures? You'd think there'd be something written, if anything, a paragraph explaining the push button, or how to properly torque the fittings.
Other than that, meh, so I got water in my case now.
Mjello - Monday, November 7, 2011 - link
I have had the h100 for a year or two now. Could have done with the H60. I don't care about 3-4 degrees difference or overclocks.I want absolute silence and water does that. Just need something for my gpu as well. It gets a bit noisy when gaming.
Big cpu coolers are also silent. However the heat tends to build up in the case and then you need extra fans to move the air out of the case. With water you can place the radiator outside the case with a 900 rpm fan on.
When my gpu isn't working hard, all i hear is my harddrive. So please, someone make a gpu version of this.
kg4icg - Monday, November 7, 2011 - link
I don't seehow you had the H100 for over a year, when it just came out this year. It's less than 6 month's old. Try that again?