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Corsair Hydro Series H100 CPU Cooler Tested


Nemo

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Ya I hear what you are saying, CPU cooling is one of the hardest things to do especially in the summer.

 

Like I said come the new CPU's you will see a higher overclock starting point then what we have now, we means retesting all over again :lol:

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Ya I hear what you are saying, CPU cooling is one of the hardest things to do especially in the summer.

And Global Warming isn't helping.

 

Like I said come the new CPU's you will see a higher overclock starting point then what we have now, we means retesting all over again :lol:

I can't wait :P ... though I'm sure Frank's wife is gonna be like :pfp:

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And Global Warming isn't helping.

 

 

I can't wait :P ... though I'm sure Frank's wife is gonna be like :pfp:

 

:lol: Ya but I think Global warming is not being helped by Frank eating Chili at the computer.

 

Ya some days its not a good idea for me to call, I know during CPU Cooler testing email is a safer bet. Oh ya the Christmas contest time of the year is real bad. Last year, Frank calls me during the day and I was like uh oh this can't be good. Frank is like what the hell did you send me, Teresa says the living room is full over boxes :lol:

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While I understand the reason for asking about the overclock I do not think it is needed really. First a max overclock is dependent on a number of variables beside just the efficiency of the cooler. I have seen reviews where a cooler is judged on how high the overclock can go and in my opinion because of all those variables this is a poor test.

 

I would go a step further however and say that testing a cooler at idle is a waste as well. Even the free stock cooler is sufficient to keep a chip cool enough to run well when at low usage levels. The real test of a cooler is how it handles the load when put under stress and even then posting temperatures, makes no sense. Those numbers will vary by a pretty good percentage from PC to PC and person to person, let’s not even get into the difference software makes in measuring it.

 

This is why the testing I do is based at stock speeds or with mild overclocks and on the same setup only during high stress testing. I measure the base temperature I want to work from, i.e. the base cooler for the test and then look at the stress load differences. Those differences SHOULD be pretty consistent between users and give a solid indicator of what you can expect from each cooler on any system.

 

As for why people buy third party coolers, overclocking might be the main consideration but it is hardly the only one. Self-contained liquid coolers, like the H100, offer the ability to lower the temperature of the entire PC by removing the heat completely from the case. They do this with less noise than stock coolers and provide a very open area within the case to work. I personally use these types of coolers in most of the PCs I build for personal use because of that reason, even if I plan no overclocking.

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So, I don't understand what you're saying. First, the most important, is what you're saying that they test with different chips? Second, are they testing with the same ambient temps for all the coolers?

 

I'm not a reviewer either, and yes, I know what they go through to get the numbers, not the numbers I want, but if they didn't like it, they don't have to be a reviewer.

 

Let me make this easy on how to test.

 

1. The ambient temperature must be a temperature of no greater than 72C or less than 67C.

2. The same motherboard and CPU and thermal compound must be applied.

3. CPU Cooler #1 gets tested at stock, moderate overclock, and a continued overclock until the highest core temp reaches 72C.

4. CPU Cooler #2... etc.

 

That simple, end of story.

 

 

1)THe ambient temperature in the room is kept between 22 to 23 Celsius for the duration of the testing

2)Same Motherboard and CPU. Thermal compound is what is supplied with the cooler. Thats how it is sold and how it is tested

3)Tested at stock speeds and a moderate OC since not everyone is going to push above 4.0 and to be honest most coolers wont handle big volts

4)Wash , rinse, repeat

 

 

 

Well, being the nerd that I am, I always look at all the different reviews for an item at all the different review sites. There are some reviews I don't put much stock into because of their test settings, and some reviews I definitely pay attention to because the test settings and results are closer to what my target configuration will want to resemble. Just about every review at OCC is top notch, but the only reviews I don't put much stock into are the CPU cooling reviews. I'm not intending to be harsh (though I'm sure I'm sounding that way), just wanting to provide constructive criticism on hoping that it will improve.

 

 

Constructive criticism is fine and its how we improve! Testing a cooling solutions or anything really is best kept as straight forward as possible to keep from introducing variables.

 

 

While I understand the reason for asking about the overclock I do not think it is needed really. First a max overclock is dependent on a number of variables beside just the efficiency of the cooler. I have seen reviews where a cooler is judged on how high the overclock can go and in my opinion because of all those variables this is a poor test.

 

I would go a step further however and say that testing a cooler at idle is a waste as well. Even the free stock cooler is sufficient to keep a chip cool enough to run well when at low usage levels. The real test of a cooler is how it handles the load when put under stress and even then posting temperatures, makes no sense. Those numbers will vary by a pretty good percentage from PC to PC and person to person, let’s not even get into the difference software makes in measuring it.

 

This is why the testing I do is based at stock speeds or with mild overclocks and on the same setup only during high stress testing. I measure the base temperature I want to work from, i.e. the base cooler for the test and then look at the stress load differences. Those differences SHOULD be pretty consistent between users and give a solid indicator of what you can expect from each cooler on any system.

 

As for why people buy third party coolers, overclocking might be the main consideration but it is hardly the only one. Self-contained liquid coolers, like the H100, offer the ability to lower the temperature of the entire PC by removing the heat completely from the case. They do this with less noise than stock coolers and provide a very open area within the case to work. I personally use these types of coolers in most of the PCs I build for personal use because of that reason, even if I plan no overclocking.

 

 

Ed, I think Idle testing is valid as it gives you the temperature rise above a baseline idle result showing efficiency or how well the cooler sheds the thermal load. I am by no means an engineer but is valid. Self contained liquid cooling solutions like the H100 and CooliT line do best overall when pulling air from inside the chassis. The overall increase of 1 to 2 degrees is worth it over pulling in outside air and dumping that thermal load into the chassis where it impacts the temperatures of the whole system including eventually the CPU depending on how much airflow you have running through the chassis. Higher GPU, Memory, HDD and VRM temperatures are not a win when the CPU runs cooler.

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Appreciate the review, this answers a few questions I've had for a very long time, esp. sustained OC load vs. top air. (Really sick of waiting on the Asetek 240mm.) Finally there's a closed loop system that (barely) measures up. Unfortunately, answering a few questions begets a bunch of others:

 

Is there any more potential here? Push-pull fans? Different fans? Different TIM?

 

What about the future? 360mm rads? More efficient pumps and blocks? Modular system allowing external or remote rads?

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Is there any more potential here? Push-pull fans? Different fans? Different TIM?

 

What about the future? 360mm rads? More efficient pumps and blocks? Modular system allowing external or remote rads?

The potential is the same for any cooler. Better TIM might lower temperatures as much as 1C - 3C on load, depends on how bad the TIM that comes with it is.

 

Different fans will either help make it quieter on load while also dissipating the heat better (depends on the fans you get), and push/pull usually makes a decent difference.

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Appreciate the review, this answers a few questions I've had for a very long time, esp. sustained OC load vs. top air. (Really sick of waiting on the Asetek 240mm.) Finally there's a closed loop system that (barely) measures up. Unfortunately, answering a few questions begets a bunch of others:

 

Is there any more potential here? Push-pull fans? Different fans? Different TIM?

 

What about the future? 360mm rads? More efficient pumps and blocks? Modular system allowing external or remote rads?

 

There is potential left on the table here. By adding two more fans you can do a little better. But like I said I test as it is sold. The Asetek is going to deliver similar performance once you come down to it. The big problem with a 240mm self contained system is finding a chassis to allow you to get the most from it.

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There is potential left on the table here. By adding two more fans you can do a little better. But like I said I test as it is sold. The Asetek is going to deliver similar performance once you come down to it. The big problem with a 240mm self contained system is finding a chassis to allow you to get the most from it.

 

With the rig in my sig I'd likely set it up as tested for the same reasons as in the review: even if I could set it up intake as I wouldn't. I'd rather take the CPU hit and cool the inside of the case (graphics). Part of the idea of moving from an air cooler is improving airflow inside the case. Dunno if the 2 top 200mm fans will play nice with the 120mm fans on the cooler but they shouldn't hurt.

 

Also: a problem with pre-applied TIM is that if you try something else (in my case NT-H1) you can't go back, but again, I doubt the pre-applied whatever would be far superior.

 

Again, thanks.

Edited by eunoia

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