The Hydro Series™ H100i is a high performance all in one liquid CPU cooler from Corsair. The H100i is similar to other Hydro Series CPU coolers from with a few exceptions, the main one being that the H100i uses a longer 240mm radiator. Luckily most Corsair PC cases will support the H100i and this blog will serve to illustrate the installation process. In this artice I will be installing the cooler into a Vengeance Series C70 case.

Introduction

Corsair launched the Hydro Series H50 high-performance CPU cooler in June 2009, and since then it has taken the cooling market by storm. It has won worldwide critical acclaim for its superior cooling performance, quiet operation, and ease of use. Installing a Corsair H50 in place of your existing CPU cooler will significantly reduce CPU temperatures and allow for higher overclocking flexibility, and will provide better cooling at lower noise levels. But, as good as the H50 is out-of-the-box, it is possible to increase its performance even further with a simple fan upgrade known as ‘Push-Pull’, which uses two identical fans to increase airflow. We will compare the cooling performance of the H50 in single-fan and push-pull mode to that of a Noctua NH-U12P HSF, also in single- and dual-fan configurations. The test system will use an Intel Core i7-870 (Lynnfield) processor at stock settings, overclocked to 4133MHz with Hyper-Threading Off (max frequency) and overclocked to 4GHz with Hyper-Threading On (max multi-threaded performance). The results, summarized below, show that the Corsair Cooling Hydro Series H50 in a push-pull configuration outperforms the standard H50 by up to 4^oC in the overclocking tests. In addition, it significantly outperforms the Noctua NH-U12P, with temperature reductions of up to 12^oC. This is a significant reduction that will increase overclocking headroom, as well as allowing for minimal noise levels while maintaining low CPU temperatures.