Corsair Hydro Series H110

[crazyeyesreaper]

Corsair's new Hydro Series H110 is a monster of a cooler with its 280 mm radiator, but is bigger always better? It is time to put the H110 to the test and see what all the hype is about.

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[Major_A]

If Asetek/CoolIT would use a copper radiator with the copper base how much better or worse would the temperatures be (ballpark guess is fine with me)?

Regarding: "Lacks screws for push/pull setups"
You will have to do what I did with my AiO setup and use two screws to hold on each fan.

 

[xtremesv]

My local DIY retailer got the H110 last week, I was tempted cause I would like to push my 3570K a little further but that radiator simply don't fit into my case and I've never considered a naked rig

The guy from the store told me they'll be getting H100 in one week, maybe I'd go with that option, it's still a good performer.

 

[fullinfusion]

Great review Crazy! I loved the corsair cooler I had in the past, it does do a fine job cooling for sure.

 

[Hood]

H100i

The guy from the store told me they'll be getting H100 in one week, maybe I'd go with that option, it's still a good performer.

If you can find one, the new H100i is the way to go. Currently selling for $8 less than the H100 on NewEgg, it includes the Corsair Link cable so you can precisely control and monitor fan & pump speeds and temps. It also beats the performance of the H100 by 2 or 3 degrees c (probably due to better fans & water block). The H110 & H90 don't have the cable or even fan ports on the pump unit (must be plugged into motherboard fan headers).

 

[EarthDog]

oops!

 

[digibucc]

If you can find one, the new H100i is the way to go. Currently selling for $8 less than the H100 on NewEgg, it includes the Corsair Link cable so you can precisely control and monitor fan & pump speeds and temps. It also beats the performance of the H100 by 2 or 3 degrees c (probably due to better fans & water block). The H110 & H90 don't have the cable or even fan ports on the pump unit (must be plugged into motherboard fan headers).

i'm extremely happy with my 100i. keeps my 3820(3.6-3.8ghz quad) at below 25-29c in a 22c room. the highest i've seen it is at 36c after hours of gaming. for a 130w chip that is crazily efficient cooling imo. also the rad is smaller than the 110 which makes it fit into more cases. I was able to hide it in the top of my case with plenty of upward ventilation. recommended

 

[ogharaei]

If you can find one, the new H100i is the way to go. Currently selling for $8 less than the H100 on NewEgg, it includes the Corsair Link cable so you can precisely control and monitor fan & pump speeds and temps. It also beats the performance of the H100 by 2 or 3 degrees c (probably due to better fans & water block).

Yep.

I exchanged my H100i and €3 for the H110 after the LED stopped working (I was about to RMA the unit and was flabbergasted by my local store giving me a full refund three months after the purchase instead of insisting on an RMA).

Having used both AIO loops with Prolimatech PK-3 and Arctic MX-4 (Prolimatech PK-3 seems to give me slightly better results under load), I found the H100i's cooling capacity to be a little better than that of the H110, but the H110 is whisper quiet.

 

[Hood]

Didn't I read that the H110 has smaller I.D. hoses than the H100i? That seems like a step in the wrong direction. I was gonna trade up from H100 to H110 until I saw that the H100i cools better than both of them. Actually, they all have limited cooling ability compared to a decent custom loop, which is my next upgrade when I can afford it.

 

[crazyeyesreaper]

H100i will cool better

but whats more important to you

2-3'C or 47dBA vs 62+ dBA sound levels

$120-130 you wont get a custom loop for that

at $140 you can get the H220 from Swiftech which is about 3-4'C behind a custom loop for CPU temps only or so i would be willing to guess

H110 just offers good cooling with low noise. Its size can be problematic for sure but then again sometimes its the price that needs to be paid for quiet computing.

 

[digibucc]

the 100i is plenty quiet for me, but i'm coming from an h50 and was actually able to drop a fan despite moving to double rads. noise for the most part isn't a concern for me, but i wouldn't have been able to fit anything larger than the 100i comfortably.

 

[Hood]

Good Point

H100i will cool better

but whats more important to you

2-3'C or 47dBA vs 62+ dBA sound levels

$120-130 you wont get a custom loop for that

at $140 you can get the H220 from Swiftech which is about 3-4'C behind a custom loop for CPU temps only or so i would be willing to guess

H110 just offers good cooling with low noise. Its size can be problematic for sure but then again sometimes its the price that needs to be paid for quiet computing.

I thought that larger radiator area = lower temps at the die, but I guess there are many other factors involved, such as coolant flow volume/speed, design of the block, fin density, air flow/pressure, etc., which make a custom loop perform better. So the Swiftech H220, by using a high-end pump and water block, should easily outperform the sealed AIO kits while retaining the ability to expand without voiding the warranty. But how would it perform if you added a full GPU block and another rad? They claim the pump is up to it, but is it really as good as it's stand-alone counterpart? I guess only time and a lot of testing will tell.

 

[crazyeyesreaper]

it SHOULD handle a GPU + CPU any more than that tho would become problematic or so I would be willing to guess.

They like to show off in the NCIX video 2x GPUs + CPU sadly they ran 7970 cards but did so in window mode so only 1 GPU was being used

That said The H220 tends from other reviews to out perform all the other AIO kits or rival them, but at lower noise levels. For the most part most of the cooling seems to be about the same, but as you noticed with the H220 you can add to it.

Examples

Spoiler

Xbit Labs http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/coolers/display/swiftech-h220_5.html#sect0

Tweaktown http://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/51...-drive-ii-cpu-water-cooler-review/index8.html

As can be seen the cooler does well out of box it equals or rivals the other AIO kits but is quieter,

Add better fans its cooling performance improves of course.

From what most reviews show the H220 is the best choice overall of any of the kits. adding more fans drops temps further.

Still the H220 does perform better than the H100i

but what most people forget is the H100i's fans spin at 2600+ RPMs at max speed vs 1600-1700 in the H220, yet the H220 cools better and at about 10-12 dBA quieter. I reserve my full judgement untill I get one for testing.

Right now noise to cooling performance the H110 is hard to beat, sure an H100i might do it but 47 dBA vs 62 dBA in my own testing the H100 i expect to be fairly close noise wise to the H100i has the H110 being 15 dBA quieter. with fans that spin at 1500 rpm vs 2600 rpm. With dense radiators static pressure can improve performance 140mm fans tend to have less static pressure but more air flow. on a Dense aka 20 fpi rad the 140mm fans having less static pressure does come into play how much? not a whole lot. if you could crank the 140mm fans to higher speeds with the same sound level the H110 would outperform it. There are pros and cons to all these kits.

Hopefully I will get an H220 in for testing and I can give you a better answer currently I can only look and see what others have found performance wise but in general it seems the H220 is the better quieter kit but my testing methods may differ slightly so I can't even really compare noise levels across reviews either as my data is obtained with different tools or from different distances than other reviewers. So again I wont know unless I get one for testing.

 

[Hood]

Thanks for the reply, I'm always looking for ways to improve cooling (my CPU runs over 70c in Prime95 if I try 4.4 GHz at stable voltages, so I'm kind of stuck at 4.3). I didn't get one of the better ones, or maybe it's a limitation of my motherboard (Asus P8Z77-V). Either way, many others are running stable at 4.5 @< 70c with the same hardware. I'm seriously thinking of de-lidding my 3570k, especially since the razorless method came to light. The new EK Naked Ivy mount kit looks promising, it and an EK Supremacy water block could be a great & cost-effective way to make the H220 perform like the best (expensive) custom loops.

 

[crazyeyesreaper]

forget the ek block, just get an Apogee Drive II, its Swiftechs best block paired with a better pump, all you need to add would be a res for extra fluid splace, and i wouldnt worry about the 3570k,

just keep temps under there Tj Max which is 105'C

so if your only at 70'c you can go further than that as is. if Prime 95 temps / IBT temps are in the 90'c range your still okay as no apps you use will ever load the CPU at the same level of intensity. got a 3770k and it hits 95'c under IBT load at 4.6 more typical temps are 70'c load when doing 3D rendering etc. Your mileage will vary but from what your saying you have about 15-20'C cushion left at the moment.

 

[griebler]

hydro 105 or 110 fits in case aerocool xpredator ? http://www.aerocool.com.tw/index.php/pgs/pgs-b/36-case/pgs-b/153-xpredatorevil-black-information

 

[Jetster]

I changed my H100 for a H105. Thicker 38mm and not suppose to fit in a Corsair 550D but I made it . The H100 had that molex power plug that this does not have. Also I don't think the H100i has a bigger id hose than the H100. Its thicker to help reduce evaporation.