Corsair H100i Pro RGB CPU Cooler Review

A Closer Look

Upon opening the packaging, everything is exceptionally well presented. The cooler and radiator are both wrapped in a protective cover and even the fans are both in card sleeves. This is a major plus for the product as it will ensure that no scratching can occur in transit. In addition, with the excellent design there is very little wiggle room which means your cooler is practically guaranteed to arrive in prestine condition.

Given that the cooler is the main factor of this product, we shall start by taking a closer look at the radiator and pump block. As you would expect, both carry the designs we have come to know very well from Corsair. Everything feels very solid and well made and the pipe length between the block and cooler is perfect. In addition, the cooling pipes are in a protective sleeve, but unlike some brands, the pipe is reasonably malleable. Therefore, you shouldn’t have any problems with the installation or have to worry about damaging the pipe.

In addition, we love the Corsair branding to the side of the radiator.

Manuals And Accessories

The manuals provided with the cooler are reasonably easy to understand. I would note, however, that due to the attempt to include as many languages as possible, the directions are quite curt and to the point. In addition, the quality of the diagrams could be better. It’s not beyond the realms of an absolutely beginner to make out, but it could have been presented a little clearer.

In terms of accessories, Corsair gives you everything you could need. You are given the backing plate as well as an adaptor for the Ryzen AM4. In addition, you are also given loads of cooling screws so that you can literally install the radiator wherever you like in your system. We really must credit Corsair for considering a wide variety of builds and mounts that people go for in their systems.

Pump Block and Radiator

The pump block is presented exceptionally well. Even without the RGB effects, it looks really impressive. That being said, it does have a number of connectors which may detract from the overall aesthetics. This includes a SATA connector, USB connector and adaptor for the fans. The only real plus in this design is that the fans can fit directly to this adaptor which allows it to be controlled by the Corsair software. So while there are in effect 5 cables, the 2 for the fans at least go into 1 singular adaptor provided.

The underside of the block does come with a pre-applied thermal paste. The design itself is circular which is unusual, but not unheard of. The copper contact plate looks reassuring well designed though and this should provide some excellent heat transfer from your processor. That is, after all, what you would buy this for.

Just to be clear regarding this product, the RGB lighting effects are to the pump block only. As such, you will not find any RGB lighting effects to the fans or to the radiator. When fitted the radiator looks nice and solid and rest assured Corsair provide you with a bag full of connectors to ensure you can fit this where ever you want, however you want. At this point, we should highlight the Magnetic Levitation which is one of the key designs of these new fans. These fans are promised to give not only incredible airflow but also exceptionally quiet running.

When they do have to work though, being capable of 2400RPM is a fantastically fast speed.

RGB Lighting And Software

Corsair is a brand well-known for their RGB lighting effects. These days, however, they want to take things to a whole new level. With many of their new products coming with software control the Corsair H100i Pro RGB is no exception. Although we never consider RGB lighting or software a major factor of a review, we did check it out to see how it worked.

Overall, we were impressed with the software that offered a good choice of colour patterns as well as the fan speed control. For those looking to keep on top of their CPU temperatures or to have a coordinated system, the software is more than easy enough to use and provides some excellent results. Obviously, though, the more compatible Corsair products you have, the better.

Video

Explaining the quality of RGB lighting is hard to do in writing. We, therefore, took a brief video showing this cooler mounted to our test bench. As you can clearly see in the video, the colours are both bright and vivid and also give a nice range. Even the staunchest anti-RGB owner couldn’t help but be a little impressed with this.