CORSAIR went from $140 for the equivalent block and backplate with the debuting GTX 1080 cooling solution to $150 with the next version for the RTX 2080, and now $170 with the same for the RTX 3080 reference PCB. I don't really like where this trend is going, but this $30 increase over the past two years is unfortunately in line with or even less than many other companies. Prices have shot up drastically, with the most common reason being the increased raw material cost of copper. I do not expect pricing to go down in the future either, so DIY watercooling is increasingly becoming more expensive than I would like to see. CORSAIR started off with the goal to be a more budget-friendly, user-friendly alternative to the then more established brands, and I suppose their offerings are still user-friendly even if whether they are budget-friendly is now purely relative. For more context, the EK offerings tested thus far come in at more (considerably more with the active backplate), and the Alphacool versions are on par for the equivalent version.

The flow indicator wheel may be gone, which isn't a huge loss as there is a vast chasm between the CORSAIR Hydro XG7 and pretty much everything else when it comes to the ease of installation, especially for a newcomer. A detailed manual in multiple languages is quickly becoming a relic of the past with the competition, so having it here was nice. The pre-applied thermal pads and thermal paste is THE distinction here though, so much so that it alone makes this worth the price of admission after considering pricing. This certainly lowers the entry barrier for DIY watercooling, but also makes my life so much easier—no doubt everyone else will appreciate it, too.

Actual performance is generally on the better side, and the increased contact surface area coupled with the series coolant flow results in a higher coolant flow restriction than others, but also better GPU core performance. VRAM and VRM cooling is middling here, especially as the backplate with pre-applied thermal pads was made with the RTX 3090 in mind and doesn't do much with the RTX 3080. The modular nature of the GPU core section of the cold plate with the CNC-cut (skivved) fins results in a less elegant but more practical design, which is arguably also more engineering-friendly, and has CORSAIR provide support for other RTX 3080/3090 PCBs too.

The company also addressed one of my previous complaints in that we are no longer tied to iCUE alone for lighting control, meaning there is no need to buy an additional controller from CORSAIR if you have a remotely recent motherboard with an addressable RGB header. This means you can either use the motherboard utility for lighting control over the 16 integrated d-RGB LEDs or iCUE, which I still think does a better job than the software from any motherboard vendor I used so far. All considered, there's a lot to like here, enough to again warrant our Highly Recommended award.