Corsair H100 Self-Contained Liquid CPU Cooler Review

[PAGETITLE=Introduction][Top Ad] So, who wants to have more all-in-one liquid cooling fun? I know I do! On the review table today is Corsair's brand-new addition to the Hydro line up, the beefy H100. This marks the third product released in conjunction with Canada-based CoolIT Systems, which has also produced the very popular H60 and H80 coolers. It's hard to believe that the Hydro series kicked off in 2009 with the Asetek-inspired H50. Since then, we've been lucky enough to review all of the Hydro models and have been left more impressed each time. The H80 currently holds the cooling crown in our temperature database so it'll be interesting to see how this newest offering scales in comparison. The H100 is the stretch limo, double-wide trailer, Super Big Gulp of the Hydro series. It features all of what made the H80 a winner but with a larger radiator and the potential for a more robust cooling setup. It's also ready to go starting with AM2 and LGA775 systems, all the way up to what is on the market today as well as the upcoming LGA2011 socket. Enough talk. It's time to find out if bigger really is better. The block and pump are contained in a low-profile housing that sits over top of the CPU. On the top of the housing is the push button control with a light up indicator that allows users to set one of three different cooling modes depending on the performance required. One change that has been made since the H80 is the addition of two more fan headers on the block and pump housing. The H80 only had two headers since it was a 120mm radiator but the H100 can handle up to four fans in a push/pull configuration. Power for the pump is drawn by 2-pins in a 4-pin connector block while fans are powered by 2-pins in a Molex connector. On the left side is the header where the upcoming Link kit connects. It will allow users to control the cooler performance and any added LED light strips from within the operating system instead of having to open the case. The business end of the copper block that contacts the CPU is also the same as the H80. There are machine marks visible but they are very light and the surface is perfectly flat on both axes when checked with a straight edge. On the inside are the split-flow manifold and the micro-channels that help pull extra heat away from the CPU and transfer it to the fluid. Over on the right side of the block and pump housing are the ribbed inlet and outlet hoses with fittings that swivel to allow a good degree of movement so the hoses can be positioned. The hoses run about 11.5" to the 240mm aluminum radiator. As mentioned before, two fans can be installed on each side in a push/pull configuration for extra cooling power. Speaking of fans, the two that are included with the H100 are the same as the ones found on the H80 and carry the same part number, CF12S25SH12A. Corsair has them rated between 1300 and 2500 revolutions per minute (RPM) and are able to push between 46 and 92 cubic feet (of air) per minute (CFM) combined, while generating between 22 and 39 A-weighted decibels (dBA) of noise. Most of the bits and pieces used in the installation are stuffed into a baggie and are the same as those included with the H80 with the exception of four short screws. Normally I would show all of the included hardware but it's pretty much been done before... twice. With that said it's time to move onto what most folks want to see - installation and testing. [PAGEBREAK][PAGETITLE=Installation & Testing][Top Ad] Since the H100 uses the same mounting method as the H60 and H80 I'll dispense with the installation instructions and refer those who are interested to the previous reviews for more information on that side of things. Since 240mm radiator support is out of the question on our usual CPU cooler test system the duty has fallen on the shoulders of my personal rig. The case being used is a Corsair Special Edition White Graphite 600T that allows for the radiator to be installed in the top - but there was one snag. During installation it was discovered that the 12V power connector and top clip on the DIMM slots that both run close to the edge of the motherboard would interfere with the fans installed on the bottom of the radiator to push air through the fins as the installation guide shows. To work around this the fans were installed on the top but outside of the case to pull the air through instead. This pull configuration is the same that will be used during testing when the H100 goes up against a CoolIT Vantage C240 prototype, so even though the installation is not ideal, our testing will still show which of the two big boys is superior. To show just where the performance of the H100 falls within the Hydro series, the H80 will also be tested using the standard two fan configuration. But before we get to that, have a look at the finished installation. All of our testing is performed under controlled conditions to ensure accurate and repeatable results. The test system is kept in a near steady 20°C ambient environment with readings taken before and after testing with a standard room thermometer. AIDA64 Extreme Engineer is used for monitoring and recording temperatures throughout the test process. Windows is allowed to sit idle for 10 minutes after startup to ensure all services are loaded before recording idle CPU temperatures. CPU load temperatures are generated by performing a 20 minute run of OCCT LINPACK using 90% of the available memory to generate as much heat as possible. All coolers will be set to the maximum performance mode allowable to ensure a level playing field. Stock CPU settings were obtained by using the "Load Optimum Default" option in the motherboard BIOS and the maximum overclocked frequency of 4.2GHz was reached by setting the base clock to 191 and the multiplier to 22, while the Vcore was raised to 1.328V. Since this is my personal system that remains overclocked, I can personally vouch for stability. The components used for testing are: Component Techgage Test System Processor Intel Core i3-530 - Dual-Core (2.93GHz) Motherboard GIGABYTE GA-H55M-USB3 - H55-based Memory G. Skill ECO 2x2GB DDR3-1600 Graphics Sapphire Radeon HD 6850 Toxic Edition Audio On-Board Audio Storage Mushkin Callisto Deluxe 60GBWestern Digital Caviar Black 640GB Power Supply SilverStone Strider Gold 750W Chassis Corsair SE White Graphite 600T CPU Cooling CoolIT Vantage A.L.C. C240 Corsair H80Corsair H100 Et cetera Bigfoot Killer NICWindows 7 Ultimate 64-bit And the results! Initially I'm impressed with how the H80 was able to best the C240 by 3 degrees while overclocked and under full load. It goes to show just how efficient the new cold plate and double thick radiator are at pulling heat away from the CPU. But moving on to the reason for the review, the H100 is able to knock another 2 degrees off of the H80 proving that it is an extremely powerful cooling solution if case compatibility is there. Sadly, I had intended to test the C240 and H100 with two fans on each side in a push/pull configuration but there simply is not enough clearance in the case. For those who are lucky enough to be running a case with lots of room such as a Cooler Master HAF 932, you should be able to shave even more off of the load temperatures. To find out just how well the H100 cools while keeping sound to a minimum, another 20 minute load test was run with the system overclocked and the cooler set to the lowest performance level. In the end the cooler turned in a maximum temperature of 58 degrees, 1 degree better than the C240 in Extreme mode and still well within the thermal limit. Sound is another matter. Users will need to decide what is more important - sound or cooling. The second performance setting gives a balance of the two but with maximum performance enabled the fans add a lot of additional noise to the system. With the lowest performance level selected the fans did not spin up during testing making for one quite system with only the rush of air to be heard. Our testing has shown is that the H100 is very capable of handling some fairly mean overclocks, however an i7 will certainly generate more heat than a little i3 so performance can vary quite a bit although that should go without saying. What should be noted is that the fans did not reach their full speed during any of our testing so there is still plenty of cooling life left in the H100. [PAGEBREAK][PAGETITLE=Final Thoughts][Top Ad] Since our normal CPU cooler test system was not used, the results from the H100 testing will not be added to our temperature database, but that shouldn't really matter since it's in a class of its own. There are no other 240mm all-in-one liquid coolers on the market that are as readily available as this one. Asetek was supposed to have its Waterchill 2011C ready to roll around July or August but news about it has been pretty scarce since. Ideally I would have liked to test the H100 with four fans in a push/pull configuration but also put it up against a full blown water-cooling kit like the XSPC Rasa 750 RS240 and one of the best air coolers on the market today such as the Noctua NH-D14 or the Thermalright Silver Arrow. That simply wasn't in the cards but comparing it to the Vantage C240 however does show just how powerful the new design is and how far all-in-one liquid coolers have progressed when compared to previous technology. Even though the installation was skipped over this time around, novices will find it easy to slap the H100 into their case assuming there are no clearance issues. In a way it's a good thing that there was a problem during installation because it reinforces the fact that proper research should be done before buying any components to ensure compatibility. The H100 retails for ~$119, which is about $25 more expensive than the H80 - so it isn't for the faint of wallet. This price puts the H100 well above the aforementioned Noctua and Thermalright air coolers, which might be a hard pill for some to...

Corsair H100 Self-Contained Liquid CPU Cooler Review

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