Installation
The Intel backplate doesn’t feature specific holes for each CPU socket, instead the screw connectors are placed on a slider which is very awkward to position correctly. The 4 screws which will attach to the cooling unit are screwed into the backplate.
The cooling unit attached to each of the 4 open-ended screws.
When installed on the motherboard, the cooling unit looks very sleek with it’s dark black finish and reflective surface.
There is such a small gap between our top 200mm fan and the top of the H80’s radiator, that our camera couldn’t even detect the gap.
When installation is complete, the H80 looks just like all of the other Hydro series coolers in a case; amazing! The cooler isn’t too overpowering and doesn’t attach a heavy weight to the motherboard.
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Corsair recommend the fans are used as intake, so that is what we mounted them as. RAM interference is a non-existent issue, although very tall VRM heatsinks could be problematic depending on the positioning of your case’s 120mm fan space.
Fantastic review mate, and i know you're really pleased with it over all :)Andy
thanks mate :).It is an absolutely awesome cooler! Too bad I have to remove it today and get on to the next review :p. Lol
Nice review :)I had a search for this after reading and was quite surprised with the price, I expected it to be much more considering the price of high end air coolers
ye, the price is competitive tbh 🙂
Platinum award, I was wondering what liquid cooling would be best, well I think I'd go for the H100, after all, I suppose it must be as good as the H80, if not better.Great review, I was waiting for this one 😀
Some people have asked if i would be so kind to carry out some extra tests, so here they are :)!I have repeated the tests to a good degree of accuracy, but obviously they aren't quite as accurate as the tests i produce in the review as that very accurate procedure is very time consuming.<p style="text-align:center;">H80 with AP-15 Fans 100% speed (mobo header) vs H80 with Corsair fans on "Balanced" speed profilefirstly, i have been asked to compare the Scythe AP-15 fans running at 100% speed via the motherboard header, against the Corsair fans set to the H80's "balanced" fan speed profile. <img src="/wp-content/uploads/vb/H80 Temps – Corsair fans balanced vs AP-15s 100% mobo header.jpg" class="gc-images" title="H80 Temps – Corsair fans balanced vs AP-15s 100% mobo header.jpg" style="max-width:400px" /> A very small difference is shown between the 2 different fan setups. <img src="/wp-content/uploads/vb/H80 Acoustics – Corsair fans balanced vs AP-15s 100% mobo header.jpg" class="gc-images" title="H80 Acoustics – Corsair fans balanced vs AP-15s 100% mobo header.jpg" style="max-width:400px" /> The Scythe AP-15s are slightly louder than the Corsair alternatives at idle, but they are over 5dbA quieter under heavy load.H80 with AP-15 Fans 100% speed (mobo header) vs H80 with AP-15 fans on "Performance" speed profileFinally, I was asked to compare the Scythe AP-15 fans running at full speed via the motherboard header, against the same AP-15 fans running on the "Performance" fan speed profile of the H80. <img src="/wp-content/uploads/vb/H80 Temps – AP-15 Performance mode vs AP-15 100% mobo header.jpg" class="gc-images" title="H80 Temps – AP-15 Performance mode vs AP-15 100% mobo header.jpg" style="max-width:400px" /> A very small difference of only 0.5C is shown. <img src="/wp-content/uploads/vb/H80 Acoustics – AP-15 Performance mode vs AP-15 Mobo Header 100%.jpg" class="gc-images" title="H80 Acoustics – AP-15 Performance mode vs AP-15 Mobo Header 100%.jpg" style="max-width:400px" /> The AP-15s are slightly quieter while controlled via the H80's "performance" fan speed profile. As I mentioned earlier though, these results are slightly less accurate than the rigorous procedures I carry out when writing the main review. Taking that into consideration, the difference in noise is probably small enough to be ignored.<p style="text-align:left;">From my point of view, the H80 coupled with 2 Scythe AP-15 fans set to the "performance" profile are a great setup. The supplied Corsair fans set to the "balanced" fan speed profile are also a very good choice.Remember guys, any question, feel free to ask and I will try my best to help out before I unfortunately have to remove this H80 :(!
Impressive review!
lol sir Lucas, I love your cooler reviews! Very deep, yet it happens not to drown readers. I love the additional tests too! :$
thanks mate :D!!i lol when you call me sir Lucas :p! my name is Luke btw :p!
sir lucas lol
by all means call me that :p! i wont complain 😎
lol You're welcome, sir Luke 😉
Nice man very nice If you wake up tomorrow and find it missing, it wasn't me :p
lol :p! i wont blame u… honest :p!its out of my computer now :(! from H80 to stock intel cooler :(!
Nice review that's very well done sure appreciate the extra test run and noting the info . by the way what type of material is the mainboard mounting plate made of ? is it plastic or metal ? sorry if you have already mentioned that and I happened to miss it . Thanks
thanks mate :)!The backplate is made out of metal and so are the motherboard hold-down accessories. The mount is very secure :).Hope this helps :)!
Hi Lucas,Firstly, thanks for the good review! I was wondering what your thoughts are on mounting the fans as intake in an Antec DF-85. As the fan that I would remove is actually an exhaust.. Will this not mess up the airflow as it was intended? Or is the benefit of having water cooling on the CPU enough to outweigh the reduced airflow because it simply cools much better with the H-80 installed?Otherwise, considering the huge amount of air already travelling through the DF-85, would it maybe be ok to mount the fans as exhaust?Hope you can shed some light on this for me, I have been pondering this question ever since I started to look into the H-70…Looking forward to your reply!
Hi mate.thanks for your feedback. i have replied to your PM regarding the above questions.Hope this helps :).thanks,Luke