28575-H80
This is probably one of the component that I’ve chosen to build with, besides the Revo PCIe SSD, that has most impressed me. This is my first foray into liquid cooling and a closed system design is a great way to “get your feet wet” in liquid cooling solutions.
Pricing: Approx 109.00 per newegg :o:
My System Specs:
Intel DX58SO2 X58 motherboard
i7 990X six core, rated as a 130W CPU
CORSAIR CWCH80 liquid CPU cooler
CORSAIR Vengeance 12GB (3x4GB)@1600
EVGA GeForce GTX 580
Antec Lanboy air Blue/Black case
Windows 7 Professional 64 bit
LOAD PROGRAMS:
Prime95 and Terragen 2, for approx 1 hrs.
INFORMATION
The H80 High Performance Liquid CPU Cooler is a self contained, closed loop CPU cooling solution that requires little maintenance beyond that of dust control of the radiator. The system utilizes two fans for a “push-pull” configuration.
The current product was manufactured by CoolIT Systemsin a partnership for Corsair’s latest H80 & H100 CPU liquid cooling solutions. CoolIt also made their H60 product.
Corsair has 4 versions of these closed system CPU coolers; H50, H60, H70, & H80/H100. The H80 & H100 are identicle with the exception of the radiator.
The previous versions, H50 & H70 products, were manufactured by Asetek.
These are the specifications taken from Corsair’s website:
Warranty: Five years.
Cold Plate Material: Copper.
Fan Specification: 120mm (x2).
Socket Support: AMD AM2, AMD AM3, Intel LGA 1155, Intel LGA 1156, Intel LGA 1366, Intel LGA 2011, Intel LGA 775.
Radiator Material: Aluminum.
Tubing: Low-permeability for near-zero evaporation
Specifications
Radiator Dimensions: 120mm x 152mm x 38mm
Fan Dimensions: 120mm x 120mm x 25mm
Fan Speed: (+/- 10%): up to 1300 RPM (Low Noise), 2000 RPM (Balanced), and 2500 RPM (High Performance)
Fan Airflow: 46 – 92 CFM
Fan dBA: 22 – 39
Fan Static Pressure: 1.6 – 7.7mm/H20Package Contents
•Corsair Cooling H80 CPU Cooler
•Two 120mm fans
•Multi-platform mounting kit (Intel ® LGA 1366, 1155, 1156, and 775, AMD® AM2/AM3)
•Thermal compound (pre-applied)
•Quick Start Guide
The Intel socket 2011 will be the new up-and-coming socket design for the new Sandybridge CPU’s expected later this year.
Swivel tubing at the pump/block allows for better configuration and manipulation of the tubing, this is a realy nice feature.
The radiator is designed to have two 120mm fans installed on each side for a push-pull air movement configuration. This configuration goes some way in making airflow across the radiator more efficient. This type of setup will also move the bulk of the weight, traditionally placed on the CPU socket area, off the motherboard and onto the case. In my instance I have the H80 mouted in the back of my case where a normal case fan would vent the CPU area. Due to the design and specifications of my case, (Antech Lanboy Air) I have configured the fans air movement to blow inward, in conjunction with other fans, to create a posative pressure .
MOUNTING
Mounting the block/pump to the CPU area was straight forward and the directions were adequate for someone who has done computer builing in the past. However, more inexperienced users will need to do their homework and thoroughly research the procedure and go over the instructions carefully.
As shown in the specs, there are several CPU sockets that are compatible, but not all motherboards will except the hardware.
This is where your carefull time and effort in research comes in handy. The last thing you want to do is spend over a hundred dollars to find out you can’t mount this thing to your board. Search the forums for board compatibility issues.
The thermal paste that is pre-applied to the block is of decent quality and does not require any form of “set” time, like Arctic Silver
thermal paste does. So I recommend using it instead of removing the paste and applying another brand.
Fan mounting was a different story, you only have two hands, so I recommend using a little high quality electrical tape to
fix the distal fan (the fan that mounts to the inside of the case, furthest from the CPU) to the radiator to line up the screw-mount holes prior to actually mounting to the case. This proved to be efficient and the electrical tape can stay in place with no ill effect.
A magnetized screw-driver is also a must have. You can create a magnetized screw-driver by manipulating it close to a powerfull magnet.
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
(as you can see from one of my photos I have done just that)
The fit is pretty good and the whole radiator and fan setup is mounted to the case, rather than the weight being on the CPU socket area of the motherboard. This is a big plus for me as I move quite frequently, driving up to hundreds of miles approx every 13 to 26 weeks.
FAN CONTROL & PUMP POWER
Fan control with the H80 can be achieved by two methods;
1. Via the motherboard and BIOS with fans connected to the CPU’s fan header. For a two fan mount, a Y type connector can be used.
2. Via the controler that is built onto the H80″S CPU pump/block. The block is also a pump with a button that has 3 speed settings for the fans. (this is Corsair’s recommended setup)
For this system’s setup I have chosen to use Corsair’s fan control setup recommendation. I have set my CPU fan control to medium
as default for all workloads at this time. System fan noise is minimal under normal CPU usage while providing the kind of tempuratures shown while at idle. (see photo of temps)
Powering the block/pump should go through the PSU and not any motherboard header. You will want, and Corsair recommends, that the pump be run at full power, always.
TEMPURATURES
My fan settings are at medium, I use medium as a default via the fans connected to the pump/block’s fan headers, not the motherboards.
There are 3 settings that are built into the H80 located as a button on the pump/block.
28574-Temps-Idle
Tempuratures at idle with the computer up and running for a few hours with mainly low level application usage
(ABOVE)
With some load:
28576-Temps-Load
As you can see there is a bit more load on the system with Prime95 running for an hour in conjunction with Terragen 2.
CPU utilization is at 100% according to taskmanager. I’m also typing up this review on a notepad simultaneously .
28577-Terragen
The Terragen 2render job is about halfway through in this image.
BOTTOM LINE
This is a very decent cooler I would recommend, if your hardware is compatible, if you are having issues with CPU tempuratures in your current setup, if you are able to lay over a hundred bucks down, and, if you have the room in your case for this.
