Introduction

We began our extensive coverage of CORSAIR's foray into custom PC watercooling with their Hydro X Series XC9 CPU block a few months ago, and I had alluded to how that block had come along with the XC7 version intended for mainstream CPU sockets. It took longer than I expected to set up my new test setup for CPU blocks, which has already been used for a few Bitspower CPU block reviews so far, and the time between has seen reviews of CORSAIR's Hydro X GPU block, reservoir/pump combo, and radiators, too. Coming back full circle, here we are again with a look at the awaited Hydro X Series XC7 CPU block, and thanks to CORSAIR for sending a sample along.


The CORSAIR Hydro X Series XC7, or simply CORSAIR Hydro XC7 henceforth in this review for my own ease, is a companion CPU water block to the (slightly) higher-end Hydro XC9 in that the latter targets Intel and AMD HEDT platforms and uses a metal trim cover and this one is marketed for Intel and AMD mainstream CPU sockets and uses a plastic trim cover as seen above. The cooling engine here is presumably slightly simpler, but should still be plenty enough to cool the lower heat output from these relatively low-core count processors. Owing purely to the cost of system builds, the Hydro XC7 should be more popular than the Hydro XC9, so with eyes on this review, we begin with a look at the specifications in the table below.

Specifications