Water Cooling by stefan @ 2017-04-10
Even when dealing with an overclocked octa-core Ryzen 7 1700 CPU at 3.9GHz, the Corsair Hydro Series H110i could handle its task with ease, so we have got a maximum of 50 degrees Celsius while running an instance of Prime95 in the Quiet Profile. The noise levels are also very acceptable in this state, since we have measured a maximum of 39.7 dBA, 30 cm away from the test system.
At first we would like to thank Corsair for offering us the Hydro Series H110i 280mm Liquid Cooler for testing and reviewing.
"Founded in 1994, Corsair has grown from pioneering the high-performance DRAM market to one of the world’s leading providers of enthusiast-grade PC components and peripherals. Our groundbreaking technology and innovation can be found in our high-performance memory, ultra-efficient power supplies, PC cases, PC and CPU cooling solutions, and solid-state storage devices. Under the Corsair Gaming brand, launched in 2014, we provide gaming keyboards, mice, headsets and mouse mats to eSports professionals and anybody who is passionate about competitive PC gaming.
Corsair hardware is regularly featured in showcase “dream systems,” and we have earned the adulation and respect of the press, professional gamers and overclockers, high-end system integrators, and PC enthusiasts worldwide by delivering leading-edge technology backed by renowned service and support.
Corsair has developed a global operations infrastructure with extensive marketing and distribution channel relationships, and our products are available through leading distributors and retailers in over sixty countries worldwide."
280mm radiator
The secret to fast, efficient cooling is maximizing cooling surface area. If your PC case has dual 140mm fan mounts spaced for a 280mm radiator, the H110i lets you take advantage of your case’s full cooling potential.
Advanced SP140L PWM fans
The included 140mm fans are custom-designed for high static pressure air delivery with minimum turbulence and noise. They’re PWM controlled, so you can customize the fan speed to find the optimal balance of cooling and noise.
Built-in Corsair Link
Attach the included Corsair Link cable to a USB header on your motherboard and download the free Corsair Link software to unlock even more power. You can customize cooling performance, monitor coolant and CPU temperatures, and change the color of the RGB LED lighting from the default white to match your system, or to change color based on temperature readings and other inputs.
High-performance CPU cooling made simple
The H110i is a closed loop design that comes pre-filled. It includes a modular, tool-free mounting bracket for faster installation, and it features improved coldplate and pump designs for highly tuned efficiency.
The 280mm H110i liquid CPU cooler from Corsair is shipped in a medium-sized cardboard enclosure, which comes fully-sealed:
On the top cover of the packaging, we will get to see a photo of the actual product, along with a list of the highlights:
On one of the box sides, the manufacturer is listing the compatible sockets, CPUs, but also mentions Corsair Link that can be used to control the unit via USB connection. While the AM4 socket is not mentioned on the box, this particular CPU cooler is fully compatible with it:
Next, we will get to see the list of box contents:
Some more product features can be spotted on the other sides:
If we are searching for more technical information regarding the unit, we should look on the bottom of the cardboard enclosure, which does also include measurements:
After lifting the top cover of the box, we will be able to see the documentation, along with the Warranty Guide but also a leaflet with “Warranty against defects” information:
Inside the Quick Start Guide, Corsair does explain the installation steps on each platform with drawings, which is easy to understand:
The cooling system along with its bundle are kept secure inside a custom cardboard mold:
The Intel systems do get a backplate along with a top mounting mechanism, while the AMD systems do only receive the top component since the installation is more straight-forward with these (H110i does use the stock AMD mounts); we do also receive screws for installation and one USB cable for Corsair Link operation:
The cooling system is bundled with two SP140L PWM fans that are regulated by the Corsair software; these are designed for high static air pressure delivery with minimum turbulence and noise:
The fans are equipped with nine blades and employ a black/grey color scheme; a central circular Corsair logo can be also spotted here:
On the back side of the fan, we will get to see the product power rating (12V DC at 0.55A); the fans are designed to spin at a maximum speed of 2100RPM +/- 10%:
Obviously, the power cables end up with 4-pin PWM connectors:
Next, we are going to look upon the pump and radiator components of the system:
The radiator was designed with 280mm mounts, so we need to check if our computer case is equipped with those; the radiator comes with a length of 322mm and a width of 140mm:
On the side of the radiator, we will be able to spot a nice grey frame; its height is 27mm, but when we do add the fans the total height will be 52mm:
The pump does come with a similar color scheme: a central Corsair logo can be spotted in the middle and is also equipped with RGB LEDs. Two small magnets can be spotted on the diagonal that do help with the top mounting bracket installation:
On the bottom pump area, we can see the copper plate, the eight mounting screws along with the pre-applied paste for ease of installation:
On the side of the pump, we will get to see the adjustable plastic fittings:
The pump is equipped with a SATA power connector for supplying power to the pump assembly, but also one 3-pin connector (basically has only one wire connected) for RPM monitoring:
The two 140mm fans are also powered from the pump assembly:
On the other side of the pump, we will spot the USB connector along with a small plastic port for refill purposes:
In order to mount the provided fans onto the radiator, we will use the provided long screws:
Thanks to the magnetic force, the top mounting mechanism installation is straightforward:
Two small accessories will be used along with the respective thumbscrews will be used for securing the pump onto the AMD retention mechanism:
We will conduct the testing on the MSI X370 Xpower Gaming Titanium motherboard:
After reinstalling the AMD stock mounting mechanism, we are ready to proceed with the pump:
By using the supplied accessories, we have successfully secured the pump in its place; additionally, we have plugged in the supplied USB cable and connected it to a free USB 2.0 header on the motherboard. Thanks to the non-proprietary USB connector model, we can always go use another cable and connect the pump to one of the I/O shield USB ports in case we do not have any other spare USB 2.0 header on our motherboard:
After powering on the platform, the RGB LED lighting show will also start:
Corsair Link utility must be downloaded and installed from the manufacturer’s website in order to properly operate the Hydro Series H110i CPU Cooler. The software does come with a friendly interface and displays on the main screen readings of all detected sensors:
The temperature sensor names and notifications can be also configured:
Inside the Configure tab, we can place a sensor reading in the desired position of the case sample photo:
The Profile menu allows selection of one of the preset profiles, or we can customize one of our own:
The application does also have some separate options we can work with:
For each sensor, Corsair Link can draw graphs for an easier monitoring:
The pump LEDs can be configured with different LED lighting and effects:
For testing out the Corsair Hydro Series H110i CPU cooler, we have installed it on our MSI X370 Xpower Gaming Titanium motherboard, which did have the AMD Ryzen 7 1700 CPU mounted along with a Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB DDR4 3000MHz dual-channel memory kit. For storage we have mounted an OCZ Vector 150 240GB SSD, the video interface was assured by a KFA2 GTX 1060 OC 6GB video card and all was installed inside a Cooler Master ATCS 840 Tower Case.
We did configure an all-core overclock to 3.9GHz via Ryzen Master, at a voltage of 1.3V. Why choose the Ryzen 7 1700 you may ask? Well…the answer is pretty simple: this CPU is the only one from the Ryzen 7 series which does not feature a +20 degrees Celsius offset for the tCTL reading so we are getting more accurate temperatures from the monitoring programs.
In order to heat up the cooling system and stabilize at the maximum temperature, we have ran Prime95 (Blend) and afterwards we have logged the highest temperature. This process was done for each preset (Quiet, Balanced, Performance) in Corsair Link.
Even when dealing with an overclocked octa-core Ryzen 7 1700 CPU at 3.9GHz, the Corsair Hydro Series H110i could handle its task with ease, so we have got a maximum of 50 degrees Celsius while running an instance of Prime95 in the Quiet Profile. The noise levels are also very acceptable in this state, since we have measured a maximum of 39.7 dBA, 30 cm away from the test system.
The Balanced profile did shave off one more degree, but the noise level has increased considerably at about 48.6 dBA. In Performance profile, we had the fans rotating at about 2550RPM so the noise produced in this state was about 53.2dBA, with a maximum CPU temperature of 48 degrees Celsius while overclocked. We would recommend this type of operation only when overvolting the CPU even higher, which will result in a higher heat output, otherwise the Quiet profile is ideal for most of the tasks.
The AM4-compatible Hydro Series H110i liquid CPU cooler from Corsair is available online for about 139.90 Euros including VAT.
We would like to thank again to Corsair for making this review possible!