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
Cooler Installation
Mounting the H60 and H80 radiators is similar except the H80 provides a minor challenge due to its thicker size and having a second fan to install. After all is said and done, it doesn’t pose any real problems. Just make sure to take your time and don't over tighten the screws or you may end up bending the fins on the radiator. Most cases should support either the H60 or the H80 without too much trouble, assuming the case has a mounting point for a 120mm fan. I didn't have any filament problems, and thanks to the low profile of the CPU block, I don't see any issues with the second fan hanging slightly over the CPU block if needed.
The H100's 2x120mm radiator design and 275mm overall length may pose problems depending on your choice of case. You're going to need ~52mm of clearance to install the H100 in its default configuration and a whopping ~77mm if you opt for a push/pull setup. This is of course assuming you have a case that supports 2x120mm fans with the correct 15mm spacing for the radiator/fans.
I even had trouble installing it in Corsair's own Graphite 600T case. Everything fit properly, but I had to install the radiator inside the case and then install the 2x120mm fans inside the lid where the removable panel is. This may not seem like a problem because the 600T was essentially designed this way; however, the top cover is so restrictive it caused temperatures and noise levels to rise. For testing purposes, I had to leave the top cover off in order not to skew the results. Corsair's new Carbide Series 400R/500R looks to be H100-ready, allowing you to install the radiator on top with the fans inside the case. I can't speak from experience with any other cases for the H100, but if your case meets the clearance and spacing requirements, you shouldn't have any issues.
The installation procedure for the water block is the same for each unit we tested. I think it's a welcomed design improvement over the H50 and H70. Since the water block comes preinstalled with the Intel mounting brackets, AMD users will have to remove them and install the included mounting brackets for AMD CPUs. Also, AMD users do not have to worry about installing a backplate because these kits make use of the backplate already installed on your motherboard. The backplate for Intel CPUs has adjustable mounting holes that slide to easily fit any of the supported CPU sockets.
After securing the backplate with the double sided screw mounting posts, securing the water block is as easy as tightening four thumb screws. Previously with the H70, I had issues lining up the water block properly which led to multiple mounting attempts before good contact was made. With the H60, H80, or H100 blocks, I was able to make good contact on the first try. This was later verified with multiple mounts as described in the testing procedures. Just make sure to take your time and tighten the thumb screws in order as recommended in the manual.
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Mjello - Monday, November 7, 2011 - link
Mine is the old version with the bulky cooler/pump unit. May even be other make. I dont remember and don't care to open the computer to check. However its a dual 120mm fan radiator in a closed loop ready to use. Just as this one. And I don't think there is much diff. if any at all ;). I actually thought mine was the h100.Gonemad - Monday, November 7, 2011 - link
I am a bit concerned about systems that consider the placement of the Fan on top of the CPU to cool everything else around it, like the ram, and so forth. This radiator installation inside the case seems to help this unease feeling.Mjello - Monday, November 7, 2011 - link
I found that the power supply fan alone is creating sufficient airflow in the kabinet for cooling the motherboard components when there is no cpu fan. But I dont overclock in the extreme. And motherboards are not all the same.Oberst - Monday, November 7, 2011 - link
Hello,could you please also post the dimensions of the cooling unit (cooler, pump unit, fan controller)?
That would be quite interesting for people mounting the radiator externally and putting the cooling unit through a fan hole ore something similar into the case onto the mainboard.
As the price difference in Europe between the H80 and H100 is quite low (only about 9 Euros), i'm interested in upgrading my quite old case with a external mounted H100.
k.r. Oberst.
haplo602 - Monday, November 7, 2011 - link
I have a dual CPU system with 92mm coolers (no space for larger ones). However the case has holes on top for 2x140mm fans. Would to H60 radiators fit there next to each other ?I know I can do a better and cheaper open loop with one radiator and the CPU waterblocks in series, but I like the idea of cooling both CPUs as they needed and not as the more loaded one needs.
geniekid - Monday, November 7, 2011 - link
This is definitely a niche product, even for enthusiasts. One of the biggest selling points of water cooling is to reduce fan noise, but it looks like the fans on these things aren't much quieter than the stock fan for low load usage (i.e. normal HTPC use). For gaming machines, the biggest noise offenders (in my anecdotal, personal experience) are usually the GPU and the power supply fans.Maybe if your goal is to overclock as much as possible with a cooling solution around $100, then this is for you, but I would have to see many more comparisons to air coolers and alternative water coolers before I'd be convinced of that.
kg4icg - Monday, November 7, 2011 - link
Have no problems what so ever mounting the H100 inside a Corsair Carbide 400R case. 500 and 600 Carbides are the same way.[IMG]http://i445.photobucket.com/albums/qq175/kg4icg/te...[/IMG]
WT - Monday, November 7, 2011 - link
I bought an H80 for my new build to cut down on the noise that my current air cooler (Nirvana NV120) created, and to that end it is an amazing difference, so I consider it a worthwhile purchase for what I wanted.As far as the directions, I agree that they are pitiful, and I even had to do a google search (Corsair tech support hours = Mon-Fri) to find out where the 4 included washers were to be mounted.
I did end up replacing the 2 stock Corsair fans with Gentle Typhoon AP-15's, and I mounted them so that they blow out of the case rather than pulling air from outside as Corsair recommends.
Beenthere - Monday, November 7, 2011 - link
There are plenty of quiet HSFs that perform as well or better than the Corsair CLCs and cost less. Having to spend more moeny for quiet fans makes a Corsair CLC an even worse value. The biggest liability with H2O cooling however is the damaged from leaks that can destroy hundreds of dollars in PC hardware and for what when there is no advantage to a Corsair CLC.Buy what makes you happy but don't buy the Corsair or other brands of CLCs for thermal efficiency, quietness, value or reliability because they suffer in these areas compared to a decent HSF.
pcfxer - Monday, November 7, 2011 - link
And yet liquid cooling is still FAR too loud for any SPCR reader, that's for sure!