Corsair H100i RGB Pro XT liquid cooler review

Posted on: 01/07/2020 07:23 AM

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for the same amount i can have the eisbaer 240, which has a copper rad, better (not great) pump,
and is expandable as well as all parts replaceable.

temps are 32 C low load, max 70 C with prime95 (smallest), and it dumps the heat outside the case (exhaust)
and lowers all other temps.
my gpu stays below 74 C (gtx1080), case/vrm/pwm temps never reach 40 C, all while inaudible until i hit 50C,
and then it wont matter since i will be gaming with speakers running,
but even then they only do 8 dba, so no, not noisy.


and another thing aio/water has the advantage, is heat transfer (ryzen likes it).

Posted on: 01/07/2020 07:46 AM

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- with powerful videocards like 1080 or 2080 the backplate is around 80°C and easily up to 100°C with demanding games like borderlands 3 in ultra and this is right under your cpu and memory.... when your gpu is exhausting around 300Watts in your case like my 1080Ti the videocard is cooking everything inside your case, it becomes an oven, an AIO won't fix that but it allows you to suck fresh air from outside of the case so that's a start
- AIOs have limits....my H150i pro and H115ipro rgb platinum where fine for a 5.1Ghz 9900k (to compare with guru3d at 5.0 all cores I had 75-80°C) but for a 3960x TR forget it, with a 9900k I never felt the heat exchanger frame get hot, with TR even at idle it is, my H115i pro is pumping out hot air almost immediately and the water temp is in the 32 at idle and 38°C under load (+5-10°C compared to my 9900k) the H150i pro fails I repasted and re-set it 3x same outcome I would have "okay-ish" water temps but big 100°C+ spikes (keep in mind it was never intended for TR the block is too small and the way to attach it probably isnt stiff enough also the pump is slower than the H115i with default settings), the H115i I can run 100% cpu for 6hrs (did that) and it stay around 90°C which is ok, except...to do that I have to run max fans which is noisy....so I'm going custom water cooling for a better noise/temp ratio which brings me to the next point
- most TR4 air coolers are rated 250W TDP well that's not enough....my 24 cores already outputs 268+Watts stock no overclock at max usage I can't imagine what a 48 or 64 will emit but it's probably the end of generic air-cooling and AIOs for them I tried a Noctua and Bequiet TR4 on my 3960x both worked "ok" but still not as good noise/temp wise as an AIO or custom WC also 100% more annoying to unmount/mount if you want to change TIM etc...I will probably never mount one ever again

p.s.
on the review pictures you can see why if you go for pure looks (which is the only way to go at rgb) I recommended you go with corsair LL fans, LL have a smoother light spread you still see the light sources but only if you really look for it, on QLs bright and dark spots is all you will see, they worked as good as the LL and you have the advantage or turning them in whatever side you need but still not looking as good
Btw what's with the ultra weird fan setup ? you have the front using case air to cool the cpu and exhausting at the front, top fans blowing air inside fighting hot air from the gpu and the rear fan basically sucking any cold air your top fan was bringing down directly out...strange
Like i said , "space is a problem" An air cooled cpu usually require more space and a good ventilated case. Also like i said the one i use is nh-d15s wich is asymmetrical with more room for gpu

Posted on: 01/07/2020 08:15 AM

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RGB has gone overboard. But, I set my front fan to temperature controlled lighting mode. Goes from blue-yellow-red depending on temperature. Very handy. Setup was easy it was either through asus motherboard or a corsair AIO watercooler.

Posted on: 01/07/2020 11:04 AM

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Great review as always, would have really liked to have the current H100i RGB Platinum to see what the difference is. Pump has the same amount of LEDs and it uses the same fans. The new PRO XT shows as slightly cheaper though.

The fans here don't have the RGB.



p.s.
on the review pictures you can see why if you go for pure looks (which is the only way to go at rgb) I recommended you go with corsair LL fans, LL have a smoother light spread you still see the light sources but only if you really look for it, on QLs bright and dark spots is all you will see, they worked as good as the LL and you have the advantage or turning them in whatever side you need but still not looking as good
Btw what's with the ultra weird fan setup ? you have the front using case air to cool the cpu and exhausting at the front, top fans blowing air inside fighting hot air from the gpu and the rear fan basically sucking any cold air your top fan was bringing down directly out...strange

Two last pics are from the Corsair's setup. In the test system the front ones were intake, top with the AIO - exhaust, so was the rear fan.

Posted on: 01/08/2020 03:18 AM

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Great review! Would really like to see if noise levels rose with the OC @ 5 Ghz 1.35v running full load