Corsair H100i Review
Conclusion & Video
Published: 24th November 2012 | Source: Corsair | Price: £89.99 |
Testing Continued
So the testing on the 1366 system didnt look right so we put the orignal H100 back in and got the same results as we did when we tested a few months back. After seeing these results we decided just to double check on the 2011 rig we had built on the test bench with the new 3970X in it, both coolers were run again with their fans run from molex at 12v. The results however were very different, better than expected if anything. We can not answer why considering we did so much testing and retesting with the other system including making sure everything was fitted correctly, checking back plates were aligned correctly etc. We could also remove those result and re-run everything on 2011 but we wont until we work out exactly why the results are so different. Lets look at the new results then move on to the rather lengthy video and conclusion.
H100i & H100
3970X @ 4.6GHz 1.425v
Asus Rampage IV Extreme
Club3D 7950
Corsair Dominator GT
AX1200i & Neutron GTX
Video Review
Conclusion
Cor blimey oh Riley! If you watched the video you'll see a lot of time was spent testing and head scratching and plenty of hardware swapping going on! We cant put our fingers on why the H100i didn't perform well on the 1366 i7-950 rig but as you have seen its great on the 2011 system. We have since (just quickly) tested a 3570K, 3770K and a Trinity A10, all these systems the H100i beat the H100 with 12v fans by several degrees.
People straight away will want to know about fan noise and at max the fans are not quiet they are as loud or louder than the original H100. The ace card in with the H100i though is the Corsair Link software, no longer do you have to open your case up and press the button to turn the fans down, use a fan controller or maybe even just have them manually set via molex and put up with warmer temps in the search for quietness. Now, thanks to the Link software you can adjust it on the fly to suit your mood or needs. The only annoying thing is you have to change the fans individually. You can set it to quiet and having it running very quietly and this will be fine unless you are running massive overclocks or plan on having OCCT or Prime95 running in the background on a daily basis!
The RGB is a great touch, finally Vendors are starting to realise giving us choice over things like coloured LED's is a god send and a great selling point. You can even set it up so it changes colour depending on your CPU temp. I think you all as I would will just set it to match the colours of the system you put it into.
The tune-ability of the system via the link software is brilliant and is probably the single biggest improvement in our eyes, sure you can get better temps too but that is the feature that will make the biggest difference to most users in the real world. Its come in right on the money of the old H100 though but packs more features and better temperatures (on most things at least) so how could we not award this the OC3D Gold award!
If you are a silence freak Specialtech have a deal on atm called the H100i TTL Bundle - H100i plus a dual pack of SP120 Quiet Editions fans for just £100!
Thanks to Corsair for the H100i, you can discuss your thoughts on this rather complicated review in the OC3D Forums.
Most Recent Comments
I don't understand why it worked that way on the 1366 system. Maybe that proc is just so wore out that doesn't spread the best out evenly or something.
better looks , wider tubing , controlled by software, better performance and no rattling => much of improvement.
gj corsair
The H100/H100i are literally the only AIO coolers I would consider recommending or using myself.
I now wish to skip the H100 and go straight to the H100i. I might have to order it from Corsair and pay the extra $40 for shipping. Oh well, Ive got about a month to decide.|
Originally Posted by Bang
Most excellent review Guv. The longer they are the better they are. This reduces the chance you might leave out a minor, but potentially important, detail. I just wish I could find a shop in Australia that has these babies in stock
I now wish to skip the H100 and go straight to the H100i. I might have to order it from Corsair and pay the extra $40 for shipping. Oh well, Ive got about a month to decide. |
Epic screen cap:
http://i.imgur.com/z0abD.png
very informative... i´m gonna get one for my new build
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Originally Posted by SPS
Great review Tom. The effort gone into all that testing was exceptional.
Epic screen cap: http://i.imgur.com/z0abD.png |
Feel lucky that I have not bought my H100 that I was playing to buy next month, but will be getting the H100i. Cheers|
Originally Posted by Rolokid
Can you talk a little about the usability without the software? For example, if I was using this in a hackintosh rig, is there any way to control fan speed? What is the default speed if not?
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I'm a little concerned though, I have a H100 and had to use the diode fix to rid myself of the rattling pump. Does this mean that my Corsair AX850 is pumping our more than 12.3 Volts for sure?
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Originally Posted by Ulijin
Hi TTL, another great review.
I'm a little concerned though, I have a H100 and had to use the diode fix to rid myself of the rattling pump. Does this mean that my Corsair AX850 is pumping our more than 12.3 Volts for sure? |
Had my H100i for a week now, running it pushpull with 2 of the Corsair Performance fans. Set the stock fans to 0 RPM in Corsair Link but they run at a quiet 500RPM, can't hear any audible difference between 4 fans & 2 like this.
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Originally Posted by evilmunky
are the fans in the specialtech link able to be controlled by the h100i controller?
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keep up the great vids tooThis is what it came up with. http://www.google.com.au/imgres?star...,r:42,s:0,i:93
sorry about the incredibly long link... but that shot is too bloody lol
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Originally Posted by Bang
I just did a search for H100i images on Google because I wanted to see if anyone had one in the Dokker case.
This is what it came up with. http://www.google.com.au/imgres?star...,r:42,s:0,i:93 sorry about the incredibly long link... but that shot is too bloody lol |
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Originally Posted by Anthrax27
Is it worth buying this over a Noctua NH-U12P SE2 ?
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Originally Posted by tinytomlogan
Its much better than that but also twice the price....
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But I just realised it wont fit in my Nzxt tempest evo grr.
After watching a number of them over the last month or so, I must say you guys are the best.
Informative, accurate, detailed and honest.
ONE PROBLEM: i cannot for the life of me seem to find any reviews of the cougar evolution case that verifies it will fit a top-mounted 240mm radiator, so my question is simple....
Will it??
thanks
issue with most motherboards MOSFET/RAM heatsinks. also, couldn't tell it the
bolt-centers of the fans are 15mm apart.
measure from the roof, to the first top motherboard standoff. if it 55mm+ your
half-way there. if you have tall RAM heatsinks or a top mounted MOSFET heatsink
would be the only other issue to look into.
http://img802.imageshack.us/img802/6...diwasusmax.jpg
this works out because the radiator/fan mounts closer to the right panel than the
motherboard side. and this is also using push/pull SP120PE fans which shows
monster room.
if you dont have 55mm measure or better from the top of motherboard stand off
and the roof.. it wont fit with rad and two fans..
hope this helps.
I wouldn't quite give it the same award as Tom for the following reasons.
Firstly the Radiator arrived unscathed in the packing with bent cooling fins. Ah well I thought speak to corsair RMA and get it sorted out.
Thought I would assemble it anyway just to get a feel for the unit and.............the fan screws are too long, it's not a gnats chuff too long it's like 2 or 3mm too long, the only saving grace is that it only crushes the fins it appears rather than cutting into the core, but come on...................how hard is it to get stuff like this correct?
http://i1092.photobucket.com/albums/...ps4cf06104.jpg
http://i1092.photobucket.com/albums/...ps753d2962.jpg
http://i1092.photobucket.com/albums/...ps9cc57668.jpg
I've not over torqued the screws, I've not even nipped them up against the fan body and as you can see the screw is already cutting into the fins of the rad. This is following the published instructions as well.
Is this acceptable?
I like my H100, but performance could be better.
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Originally Posted by leejc73
I've just got my H100i.
I wouldn't quite give it the same award as Tom for the following reasons. Firstly the Radiator arrived unscathed in the packing with bent cooling fins. Ah well I thought speak to corsair RMA and get it sorted out. Thought I would assemble it anyway just to get a feel for the unit and.............the fan screws are too long, it's not a gnats chuff too long it's like 2 or 3mm too long, the only saving grace is that it only crushes the fins it appears rather than cutting into the core, but come on...................how hard is it to get stuff like this correct? I've not over torqued the screws, I've not even nipped them up against the fan body and as you can see the screw is already cutting into the fins of the rad. This is following the published instructions as well. Is this acceptable? |
You could always stick a couple of washers on the screws.
The bent rad fins are pretty common really. You see a lot of new rads like that.
They're made to account for having a case in-between the fans and the rad I think, hence why they're a little longer.
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Originally Posted by jamesriley94
Not really...
You could always stick a couple of washers on the screws. The bent rad fins are pretty common really. You see a lot of new rads like that. They're made to account for having a case in-between the fans and the rad I think, hence why they're a little longer. |
Why would I be required to purchase additional washers to mount an AIO system?? It doesn't say AIO (providing you buy your own spacing washers, or accept drilling the screws into the rad) Extreme Performance Liquid CPU Cooler.
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Originally Posted by leejc73
Think you've missed the point. The instructions are really clear on the suggested system of mounting, using the 8 washers provided with the short screws through the chassis and into the rad, while directly mounting the fans with these screws.
Why would I be required to purchase additional washers to mount an AIO system?? It doesn't say AIO (providing you buy your own spacing washers, or accept drilling the screws into the rad) Extreme Performance Liquid CPU Cooler. |
But, I do also think it's a little bit of a trivial issue to be angry at.
You could get the exact screws at any hardware store for like 50p...and even less for washers.
Corsair are at fault in not giving you the exact stuff for fitting to start with, but I can think of many worse thinks to be complaining about than a few screws that are a couple of millimetres too long.
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Everyone has been shouting about the new Corsair H100i review for a little while, so finally we give it a full OC3D style going over.
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