Final thoughts and rating

Seems like only yesterday that we commended Antec's KÜHLER H2O 920 for providing the best performance we've ever seen from a self-contained, liquid-cooled unit.

A response from Corsair was always on the cards, and in the Hydro Series H80 and Hydro Series H100, it has produced two of the very best closed-loop solutions on the market.

In terms of overall performance, both the KÜHLER 920 and Hydro H80 are difficult to separate. The thick-radiator, dual-fan configurations deliver similar results at a similar price, but Corsair's solution - with a thinner rad, three built-in fan profiles and Corsair Link expandability, is arguably more evolved.

However, at these prices, performance is what matters most, and - provided you have the room - the Hydro H100 is undoubtedly the best-performing cooler we've ever tested. Making use of a large 240mm radiator, the Hydro H100 is capable of shifting plenty of heat in either of its three cooling modes, and support for up to four fans and Corsair Link provides a useful upgrade path, too.

Bottom line: if your chassis adapts and your wallet permits, the Hydro Series H100 is an excellent choice for users wanting the performance of liquid cooling and the practically of a self-contained unit.

Corsair Hydro H80	Corsair Hydro H100
The Good Good cooling performance Applies minimal load to the motherboard Near-silent in quiet mode Push-button fan control The Bad Expensive for a CPU-only cooler Uncomfortably loud in performance mode	The Good Best-performing liquid cooler we've ever tested Applies minimal load to the motherboard Reduces clutter around CPU socket Can accommodate up to four fans Near-silent in quiet mode Push-button fan control The Bad Expensive for a CPU-only cooler Uncomfortably loud in performance mode
Corsair Hydro Series H80 Corsair Hydro Series H80	Corsair Hydro Series H100 Corsair Hydro Series H100

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The Corsair Hydro Series H80 and Hydro Series H100 coolers are available to purchase from SCAN.co.uk*.

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HEXUS Forums :: 22 Comments

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Posted by Lee H - Wed 31 Aug 2011 13:55

Nice to see your getting the same temperatures I'm getting :)

I have played with various speeds on my 2500K and the H100 in my 600T chassis and no matter what ratio or voltage is applied it's stable at around the 60 degrees level.

I'm going to replace the supplied corsair fans soon with some with a higher CFM to see if this helps keeps the temperatures even lower than normal :mrgreen:

Posted by Brewster0101 - Wed 31 Aug 2011 14:10

Too be honest I think the ratings you've given these are too high. Considering they have a serious flaw with trapped air, the fans are clearly not up to any good on a radiator and the temperatures and noise levels are pretty poor for a water loop…….

The two main reasons to get water cooling (temperatures and reduced noise level) are completely lacking for these.

Posted by jim - Wed 31 Aug 2011 14:25

System noise page, the x-axis is labelled as degrees celsius

Posted by cjs150 - Wed 31 Aug 2011 15:36

CPU only water cooling makes no sense whatsoever. CPU + GPU cooling on the other hand is very sensible.

Cooling is always a compromise between performance and noise. I run water cooling on CPU, GPU and RAM and I can dial down the fans to pretty close to silence, pumps if properly decoupled are effectively silent in any event.

The corsair is the equivalent of a starter pack only for someone who wants to try watercooling, far better (and cheaper) is to jump in and buy separate pumps, radiators etc