Corsair Hydro H100 Cooler

[D0M1N13]

Hi there everybody,

I want to get the Corsair H100... but I am not sure if I have to do maintenance on it ? What I mean is if I have to exchange the fluid ? Or do I have to do something else every x months to it ? Or just let it be as in the normal air cooler ? Any ideas ?

 

[Jad Chaar]

It is meant to be zero hassle/no maintenance. It is not like an open loop system in which you have to change the liquid every 6 months. If temperatures begin to get a bit toasty over the years, replace the thermal paste. It has a 5 year warranty so they will replace it if it begins to leak. Always watch for leaks since they can damage the CPU if they get out of control.

 

[slh28]

What CPU are you planning to run with it? Unless you're really heavily overclocking a much cheaper air cooler will be fine.

If you do decide to go the closed loop water cooling route I'd opt for the H80i or H100i instead, the tubes are thicker and much better quality. With the H80/H100 (non-I) versions there's many complaints of clicky noises.

Also bear in mind that the H100/H100i are very large so make sure you have space in your case.

 

[D0M1N13]

slh28, thanks for the reply The CPU that I am going with is the i7-3930K as I plan to overclock it to about 5 GHz. I don't know if it's possible... but I'll see what I can do with this baby. As for the CPU Cooler... I chose the H100i I heard it has better build quality and better tubing... so yea your right. As you mentioned the space in my rig... my case that I chose is the CoolerMaster Cosmos II The things huge, heavy and damn is it elegant I couldn't resist.. so I chose it

JC713, as with all radiators... I will have to check to see if there is leakage Thanks for the info

 

[Jad Chaar]

The Noctua NH-D14 is better for the long term. It is probably the best option for <5GHz. The H100i is a good choice, the noctua I mentioned is a very good air equivalent.

 

[hood6558]

At 5 GHz, the H100i may be struggling to keep temps low enough. A custom loop using both your 240mm radiator mounts may be in your future! I know I could use one; my H100 is running temps in the 90's at 4.7 GHz (i5-3570K) when stability testing with IBT. My next case will be a Corsair 900D with at least a 420 and a 240 rad, gotta go for the totally overblown system before I die (or before the death of desktop PCs).

 

[Jad Chaar]

Anything beyond 4.5GHz is a waste in my opinion. A lot of older games dont take advantage of overclocks.

 

[hood6558]

Anything beyond 4.5GHz is a waste in my opinion. A lot of older games dont take advantage of overclocks.

Yeah, I agree, the returns after 4.5 are limited, and not worth the trouble & heat involved. I was just trying to see how far my CPU & motherboard could go because I was bored, and had no new hardware, software, or games to play with. I now have it at 4.5 GHz/.025 positive offset, and it runs like a Swiss watch.

 

[Jad Chaar]

Nice! What voltage?

 

[hellokitty[hk]]

Take a look at the latest Anandtech article about coolers.
It looks like the CM Seidon is superior to the corsair lineup, and that the Noctua U12s and U14s is a better and cheaper choice than the D14.

 

[Jad Chaar]

Take a look at the latest Anandtech article about coolers.
It looks like the CM Seidon is superior to the corsair lineup, and that the Noctua U12s and U14s is a better and cheaper choice than the D14.

I saw that, didnt interest me as much as the air cooling one did so I didnt read it. What are the warranties on the Noctua and CM ones? Corsair has a 5 year warranty. That is a crucial part of the purchase, not just performance.

 

[hellokitty[hk]]

Pretty sure Noctua's warranty is 6 years.

 

[St1ckM4n]

Confirming Noctua's 'up to 6 yrs' warranty.

By the way, you really need to be purchasing open-loop water coolers to beat the performance and quietness of Noctua coolers.

http://www.noctua.at/main.php?show=support&lng=en

 

[Jad Chaar]

Wow! 6 years! That is phenomenal. I gotta start recommending those now lol.

 

[hellokitty[hk]]

AFAIK CM seidon is only 2 years though, so fair advantage for the corsair coolers.
I prefer air though. I wish they had also reviewed the Thermalright Truespirit 120/140, according to the HardOCP review it's supposed to be quite good, possibly superior to the popular Hyper 212 evo.

 

[hood6558]

Nice! What voltage?

vcore is 1.216-1.226 under load, VID is the same. I originally had the vcore set manually to 1.250, wasn't happy with temps, so I played with the offset, trying to make vcore & VID agree, ended up at .025 positive offset with a max vcore 1.226 running IBT or Prime95, max core temp 80c@27c ambient.

 

[Jad Chaar]

What about when gaming? Because some of my friends with Noctua NH-D14s run at like 40-50C when gaming. Their clocks at stock though I think.

 

[GhostRyder]

I dont know if its possible to do 5.0ghz on the 3930k with that and keep it in a safe range of temps. I would guess that based on what ive read you could get easily 4.5 or higher depending on the chip. That H100 is a great cooler and defintly worth a look at in terms of its performance in the closed loop LC cooling solutions out there.
I would recommend making sure after trying your temps on that chip stay below 60 since that 3930k is such a nice chip and you want to maximize its life and performance.