Corsair H100

[Commy1]

Hey guys, so my desktop build has gone really well thus far. Last night I was streaming a match for the team VOD and I looked over at my second monitor with temps and was like 'holy shit!' I had gotten up to 98C. Really freaked me out. I'm only using the stock Intel cooler at the moment so I didn't expect my temps to be great, maybe 80's at worst but yeah.. too high.
So I ordered the Corsair H100 liquid cooler last night, I've heard good things about it. A team member of mine with this wicked rig says under full load he gets as high as 40, I don't know if I'll get that but I'm hopeful.
The only bad thing I've heard about it is that the stock fans that come with it sound like a airport under full load, easily fixed.

Anyone else have this cooler? Opinions?

 

[Commy1]

OOOOH boy this is pretty awesome. I'll write a short review about this cooler first off then give stats.

This is my first encounter with liquid cooling myself, and I am impressed. After removing my stock Intel cooler, Artic Silver 5 Thermal paste from the CPU and what not, I proceeded to open the box. Inside is a small bag, busting with screws and all sorts of fun stuff. The rad, attached by two hoses to the pump/cooler/block and the rear mounts for AMD and Intel sockets.
The instruction booklet is 1 fold out with simple picture instructions, very easy to follow. Attached the rad to your case (I screwed mine onto the top of my case with fans blowing hot air out the top). Then the backplate, thread the double sided screws into the holes, lead the screws through the holes, bolt into place and plug in the fans to the block (which serves as a fan speed controller), the 3 pin and molex into the back of your PSU and go.

Pros: My temps are... amazingly cool. Where I would boot my computer and open CPU Temp and see a low of 30, quickly ramp up to 50 and stay around there. I'm not getting under 40C while under gaming load. Idle, 25C.

Cons: THE STOCK FANS ARE LOUD!!! I MEAN REALLY LOUD! LIKE AN AIRPORT LOUD! CAN YOU HEAR ME!?!?!
When you first boot the computer it's like eye openning at how much sound these things make... but they quickly die down to a standard ambient on the medium setting, low I imagine they're silent. I would recommend switching them out with another set of 120mm fans if you have them on hand. I do not so I'm sticking with stock for now.

From: 45-50c idle with stock cooler after repaste
To: 25 idle with stock paste on the cooling block

From: 75-85c under 100% gaming load with stock cooler and repaste
To: 30-38c with stock paste on cooling block. (Yes it comes with thermal paste, good stuff to, not worth wiping off)

Total: 136$ after tax+shipping
Thank you newegg

Added: If you turn on your computer and it says something like this:
"OMG You have a problem with your fan speed!"
Don't panic. Just go into the BIOS and find Fan Controls and set the CPU Fan RPM Alert from whatever it is (600rpm) to Ignore and all will be will.

 

[SWAT_Glock]

Good info...

BTW, you did know that there is and Edit Post button right? lol

 

[Commy1]

Yes... Problem with an added post?

 

[yikes81]

bumping up post count?? lolz

 

[SWAT_Glock]

Yes... Problem with an added post?

If a user wanted to keep adding info to their recent post and they kept making consecutive posts, then sure, I would have a problem with that. Many do not realize that there are edit and multi-quote buttons. It helps to keep things tidy and organized.

That's why I mentioned consecutive posting in the Site Rules and Guidelines. #8. Not to pick on you or anyone else. I merge consecutive posts often, and I do not remember you ever doing it, so that is why I gave you the benefit of the doubt and asked if you knew there was an edit button.

bumping up post count?? lolz

Yes, he admits it! LOL

 

[SWAT_Glock]

Oh, I would also like to add that I am pretty flexible around here but some things I cannot help due to my OCD.





(I'll merge this later)

 

[Commy1]

Alright sooo another huge con to add to this.

I'm not/wasn't happy with the performance of the fans that came with the Corsair H100, they are loud as mentioned. I bought a pair of Antec fans from a local computer store, 2 identical fans and replaced them with the Corsair. I moved the Corsair fans somewhere else in my case, not realizing they would be I booted they would be at max RPM all the time... The Antecs ran awesome, very quiet while pushing a lot of air. I opened my case to press the cooling button to see how loud they got at max but the fans didn't change their speed at all. That being unacceptable both with the lack of adjustable RPM and the constant sound coming out of my case from the Corsairs I went to change them back.
After reinstalling the fans I booted and the cooling block/pump was dead. Entirely dead. I checked the molex and the 3 pin 23049203498 times and tried new slots, cleaning the plug ins, everything I could think so. Not sure if somehow these new Antec fans that burnt it out? I don't know...

Either way, I've contacted Corsair, hopefully they'll get back to me and I can set up an RMA or a fix or something. Really disappointing that it could be so fragile. So everyone just beware. Make sure you check the voltage on your fans compared to what the H100 can handle, I have no idea where you'd find that info but it must be somewhere.

 

[SWAT_Glock]

I always replaced the stock Corsair fans when using their H coolers. They are cheap and flimzy. The old Scythe S-Flex fans were my favorite. They have been discontinued for a year now and are very hard to find. The new ones aren't as good but no bad.

 

[Commy1]

Corsair has actually stepped up with the fans. They are very powerful and certainly not flimsy at all. Sound is my only issue. They kept my CPU at below room temp when they were at medium speed, which is tolerable sound levels. (room temp 22c, CPU at 20)

 

[SWAT_Glock]

Corsair has actually stepped up with the fans. They are very powerful and certainly not flimsy at all. Sound is my only issue. They kept my CPU at below room temp when they were at medium speed, which is tolerable sound levels. (room temp 22c, CPU at 20)

That's probably because I still only use their H50 coolers, which was their very first liquid cooled system. It has been discontinued for some time now, and very hard to find new. I read too many stories about how the new pumps on the current line of H coolers is hit or miss with getting a quiet one.

 

[Commy1]

I don't know. I have several friends who haven't had any pump noise issues and they are very happy with the set up. The electronics itself seems to be a little janky though. I mean the fans I plugged into it were less or equal wattage compared to the default fans. I don't know... I'm going to get it RMA'd asap and get my temps back down. Hate seeing my CPU get up to 90's T^T when I've seen it at 35 or less.

 

[Commy1]

Repackaged my H100 and sent it back for RMA. Hopefully I'll get a good replacement and I'll be able to see those temps down again. Loved playing at 100% load at 35c... I'm back up to my 90's XP