Hardware Corsair H100 Review

Just a comment about the manual and installation on an LG2011.

The manual looks like its supposed to be the longer screws for an LG2011 board, but using them made my system shutdown after a few seconds. They did feel as if they were not pulling down on the cpu and just sitting there. Checking online I found video reviews stating that it should be the smaller of the two sets. D6ing this my system became stable and is still running.

A note on temperatures.

Currently running folding @ home SMP with all 12 threads of 3930K running at 100% the temps are:
(Using coretemp 0.99.7)

Core0: 54°C
Core1: 56°C
Core2: 51°C
Core3: 53°C
Core4: 51°C
Core5: 51°C

Sabretooth thermal reader v1.01.04 reads 43°C for cpu.


Running now for 8 hours.

Also EVGA 580GTX running at 99% use and 75°C with folding @ home gpu.


Time to turn of the heating with all the heat coming from the computer.

 

I have owned one for quite some time. I haven't used the stock fans, as I had some GT AP15s not being used.

I ran it initially in a 4 fan push/pull setup mounted in the base of my CM690-II however, when I switched off the power, an air bubble formed in the pump.

I therefore mounted it in the roof, but only had room for a 2 fan setup. The temps didn't change drastically.

I now run it with 2 Slipstream PWMs and the temps are still roughly the same. At usual Office based stuff it is near-on silent (I am using the Thermal Radar software that came with the Sabertooth P67), when gaming the noise goes up a bit - but nothing too bad. In fact, I think my Phantom 570 is slightly louder when gaming.

I currently use it on a 2600k @ 4.9GHz and haven't seen temps over 70c with this setup unless doing a Prime run.

 

Hmm... I may have missed something but your i7 2600k sounds like its dodgey... 1.325v for 4.1ghz? I'm not saying mine is a gold sample, but I run 4.5ghz all day at 1.29 or 1.26 with HT turned off. Unless you set it high intentionally for more heat, that OC is not a good one.

H80 and H100 are similar as the H80 is effectively the H100 folded in half. Same radiator fin area.
Between the two the choice is basically space, and if you want 4 fans on the 100.

 

The H80 is 38mm deep whereas the H100 is 27mm deep, so the difference isn't even close to double - the H100 still has a far greater surface area and theoretically better cooling capacity. What the H100 needs is a better flow rate and more fluid, but at that stage you're approaching a proper WC loop anyway.

I'd love to see somebody compare (or compare myself) the H100 with my TRUE Cu.

I find it amusing that people consider the Corsair stock fans "loud" - try using a Delta, then you'll see what loud really is lol.

 

That argument is similar to saying 'I find it amusing that people consider the Ferrari F430 "fast" - try using an F1 car and you'll see what fast really is lol'.

 

Argument? LOL

 

the corsair stock fans are very loud to the average user, people that use delta fans will obviously think its not so bad, but they are alot louder than most of the 'performance' fans out there ( obviously not including 38mm deep fans )

 

Aahh

Well every degree counts too I suppose, when you are on the cutting edge of this kind of stuff. But still, it made me feel pretty happy with myself and my purchase of a be quiet dark rock pro.

:>

 

I was being partly facetious, you know. But you are right - people have a really low tolerance for fan noise (myself included) and there is something nice about not being able to hear your system. The loudest part of my system, by far, is my Samsung 2TB. I change my fans round all the time, and when I have Deltas installed they're usually at about 1000rpm so very quiet indeed.

 

Interesting review,

I have just built two identical systems with an Intel i2600k (1155) with an Asus P8Z68V Gen3/Pro and opted to try the Corsair H100 cooler on both of them. I replaced the stock fans with 4 x Scythe Gentle Typhoons 120mm 1150rpm (16dBA) in a push-pull configuration.

Due to the thickness of this setup I had to opt for the Coolermaster HAF932 case as the Corsair cases were too big for my implementation (800D/700D/600T fit in push/pull H100 config).

The temperatures are very interesting, the system in idle reads the CPU at 26 Celsius in idle and up to 38 Celsius under load. These temperatures seemed too good to be true, but the second system I built which is identical in every respect is reading out the exact same temperatures.

Thanks to the Scythe fans however the system is nearly dead silent and it is hard to hear whether it's turned on at all until you put your head next to the case. The HDD's have been set to idle after ~30 mins on inactivity and the boot drive is an SSD (no noise). A great configuration I think for a high-performance, low-noise setup. Because the nVidia 460GTX exhausts into the case (MSI TwinFrozer) the cases ambient temperature is 28 Celsius in idle and 40 Celsius under load.

The delta is impressive, but what really got me was the extremely low idle temperatures. My current primary desktop which uses an H70 with a pair of Silverstone Penetrator fans in push/pull is 6-7 degrees hotter under idle and load than this setup (but my processor has a higher TDP).

ADDON:
I fiddled with overclocking on the i2600k's and managed to settle both of them at 4.4Ghz without any issues. They run a few degrees hotter, but no problems so far with crashes or lockups. Very happy with these CPUs.

 

you should try the sythe GTs on your h70...
the air pens are not all that good for rads as they dont have much static pressure

 

To go along the lines of what LennyRhys, I fully agree. I say this because I'm using 8 (YES I SAID EIGHT!!!) Delta PFC1212DE-PWM 120x38mm fans in my Dual Processor (SR-2 Mobo) System set up with a custom made PWM fan controller that brings those DELTA BAD-BOYS down to a low (tolerable & audible level) of 1500 RPM. And they STILL pull the best CFM of any 120 mm fan on the market because of their custom dual finned design.

Now onto the MAIN reason why I'm here...

I LOVE MY H100 !!! I'm cranking my Xeon W3680 (same as i7 980X) at 4.2 GHz (and in a room that is 74˚F) it's temps are only 25˚C. Mind you I have a Dual Bay/Dual Pump with two full size rads (a 4 Rad and a 3 Rad) in my system on a SR-2 Mobo with 2 - X5650's at 24˚C. So the H100 works the same as a top of the line Koolance water cooled custom built system.

To try to give you an analogy of what I'm saying, to me the Corsair Hydro (Water Cooled) Series reminds me a Porsche (performance) engine, whereas a Custom Koolance (Water Cooled) setup reminds me of a Suped-Up Camaro engine (with all the chrome Edelbrock parts). Both cars are are just as fast and are top performers, it's just how they're displayed.

For me, I like my "Hot Rod"... Koolance all the way baby !!!

PS - I see that the reviewer mentioned other companies being better in their pricing. What I didn't see him mention, is that Asetek is one of the main suppliers of these pre-made water cooled units for companies like: Corsair (and their Hydro Series), as well as Antec, Intel, etc. (Yeah, Intel's in on this water cooling unit thing as people are now waking up to something that has been around for many years).

 

First I agree with I agree with LennyRhyms...

BTW, I LOVE MY H100 !!! I'm cranking my Xeon W3680 (same as i7 980X) at 4.2 GHz (and in a room that is 74˚F) it temps are only 25˚C. Mind you I have a Dual Bay/Dual Pump with two full size rads (a 4 Rad and a 3 Rad) in my system on a SR-2 Mobo with 2 - X5650's at 24˚C. So the H100 works the same as the top of the line water cooled custom built systems.

To try to give you an analogy of what I'm saying, to me the Corsair Hydro (Water Cooled) Series reminds me a Porsche (performance) engine, whereas a Custom Koolance (Water Cooled) setup reminds me of a Suped-Up Camaro engine (with all the chrome Edelbrock parts). Both cars are are just as fast and are top performers, it's just how they're displayed.

For me, I like my "Hot Rod"... Koolance all the way baby !!!