Corsair H100i V2 240mm AIO CPU Cooler Review

Introduction Corsair is one of the most loved brands on the market today, with a huge range of award-winning products, such as their power supplies, peripherals, chassis and more. Of course, today it is their range of ever-popular CPU water coolers that we're interested in today, as we take a look at their newly refreshed H100i V2 240mm AIO cooler. "The Hydro Series H100i v2 is an extreme performance, all-in-one liquid CPU cooler for cases with 240mm radiator mounts. The 240mm radiator and dual SP120L PWM fans provide the excellent heat dissipation you need for highly overclocked CPUs. Corsair Link is built in, so you can monitor temperatures, adjust cooling performance and customize LED lighting directly from your desktop." - Corsair Equipped with a 240mm radiator, two powerful Corsair 120mm fans, and a pump that support almost every major socket from Intel and AMD of recent years, the H100i V2 is sounding like a good cooler on paper, so let's take a closer look at what is on offer. The box is very nicely designed, with a clear image of the cooler on the front, as well as detailing all the usual spec. Around the back, more detailed spec for the fans and pump, as well as some images of the various components. In the box, you'll find a universal backplate, AMD retention bracket (an Intel one is pre-installed on the pump), all the usual nuts and bolts, as well as the Corsair Link cable. The included fans are Corsair 120mm 12V Brushless models, we've used many of these over the years and they've always proven to be a nice balance of cooling and acoustic performance, and they're nice and durable too. A Closer Look The Corsair H100i V2 features a 30mm thick radiator, hooked up to two very thick looking tubes with strong braiding over them to keep them looking great and well protected. Down the sides of the radiator, a very nice Corsair logo on a stuck on plate. It doesn't improve the performance, but it does improve the aesthetics and it's a nice change from the often stock black radiators we see on so many AIOs. The extra-thick tubing is always a welcome sign for build quality and while it is pretty tough, it's still got a decent amount of flex to it. The wide and low-profile design of the pump is very nice, featuring a Corsair decal on the top that matches the side of the radiator, as well as top loading cut-outs for the tubes, rather than side mounted on a pivot; this should make it easier to fit the thumb screws for the retention bracket over your motherboard. The Intel bracket comes pre-installed, but if you need the AMD one, just give it a twist and it'll come off, clip the new one in place and you're good to go. To speed up the installation process, there's some thermal paste pre-applied, although that does mean you'll need to buy more if you want to do a re-installation at any point. Installation The first job we need to do is install those two fans, which is easily done with a screwdriver and the included fittings. You can mount them in push or pull configuration to suit the requirements of your build, and you could even add two more fans if you really wanted to. The universal backplate is nice and easy to use, just pop it on the back of the motherboard and you're good to go. Use the retention screws and thumbscrews to mount the pump and within minutes of taking the whole thing out of the box, it's in your system and ready to rock. Test System and Methodology We always use the same test system and tests with CPU coolers that we compare against each other. The full specifications of our test system are as follows: Test system: ASUS P8Z77-V, LGA 1155 socket, Z77 chipset Intel Core i5 3570K with Gelid GC Extreme under the IHS 16GB Kingston 1866Mhz DDR3 128GB Kingston HyperX SSD Antec High Current Gamer 620W Cooler Master Test Bench v1.0 We’d like to say a big thank you to ASUS, Antec, Kingston, Cooler Master and Intel for providing components that makes this testing possible. Testing Methodology: We always use Gelid GC Extreme thermal paste to make sure testing reveals the efficiency of the tested coolers not the efficiency of the bundled thermal paste. Prime 95 is run for 10 minutes and then the average maximum temperatures as recorded by CPUID HWMonitor are noted The average temperature across the four cores is taken on our quad-core processor Fans are mostly left to operate at default PWM profile speeds and with maximum fan speed for reference.If PWM functions are not supported then fixed fan speeds are used and sometimes a low noise adapter if appropriate/provided. If fixed fan speeds or low noise adapters are used it will be clearly pointed out either on the graphs or in the write-up. All default result entries on graphs are for PWM performance unless otherwise specified. A variety of fan speed results are done for a particular product review and then removed from the graphs in future reviews of other products to avoid clutter. If you would like to see more fan speed results for a particular product please check its individual review. For watercooling tests all pumps have been operated at 12 volts directly from the power supply Delta temperatures are always used (Observed temperature minus ambient temperature) and we keep the ambient at 22 (+/- 1) degrees for all testing . Delta temperatures should correct for any marginal ambient differences between 21-23 degrees. Acoustic measurements are taken 10cm horizontally away from the CPU cooler with the VGA fan disabled, hard drive in idle and power supply isolated. These are taken at desktop idle and Prime95 load. The cooling performance tests are run at stock 3.4GHz (with Intel Turbo up to 3.8GHz) and overclocked 4.5GHz (1.35v) settings. Voltages are fixed to prevent inaccuracy between comparisons. All other coolers in the graphs have been tested under identical settings so are fully comparable. Each test is repeated 3 times with 3 remounts for consistency of results There is approximately a 1 degree celsius margin of error in our temperature recording software CPUID HW Monitor There is approximately a 1.5dBA margin of error with our Benetech GM1351 decibel meter Software Used CPUID HWMonitor Prime 95 In all these graphs we may have a few "reference" results of particular products that do not fit within that category for comparative purposes. Performance At stock clocks, the H100i V2 is complete overkill for our CPU, clocking in at just +22c at full load. This is obviously impressive, but it also means the fans barely have to work to keep it cool, which means it was very quiet too. Pushing the clocks and volts up, we see that the H100i has a lot more work to do, but it hasn't really moved from the lower part of our chart, clocking a very impressive +35c over ambient at full load, which is a very impressive score for any cooler. At stock, the CPU was nice and cool, but the really great thing is just how low the fans were, with just 37dBa at full load, which is barely a whisper. While overclocking, the fans idle at a whisper quiet 37dBa, but even when at full load, they only crept up to 41dBa, which is still mighty impressive and easily on par with rival high-end air coolers. Final Thoughts Price The Corsair H100i V2 is a high-end AIO with high-end performance and build quality, so as you might expect it comes with a premium price. You can pick one up at virtually any major retailer, and they're certainly easy to find. We saw them at Scan.co.uk for around £110 including shipping, which isn't exactly loose change, but given the performance we saw, it's worth every penny. Overview If you take your systems cooling performance seriously, and you should, the H100i V2 from Corsair will more than get the job done. Not only does it decimate the heat at stock clocks, allowing you to run your system almost silently with low fan RPM and whisper quiet pump noise, it'll also deliver exceptional cooling performance while overclocking. If you're running a workstation or a gaming rig with an unlocked processor, you're going to want to squeeze every last MHZ out of your CPU, making sure your workflow or FPS is as smooth as possible, and with a high-end cooler fitted, you can do that all day long and not worry about your system overheating. What's great is that even when pushed for long periods, the H100i V2 still remains reasonably quiet. build quality is rock solid, with thick tubing and heavy-duty braiding to keep it protected, as well as looking stylish. The radiator is standard fare for an AIO, but feels well made and the little decal on the side really completes the design so it's sure to look great inside your rig. The pump design is great too, and by moving the tubes to the top, it's also easier to install and you can easily get those thumbscrews in place over your motherboard on both Intel and AMD socket types. The price isn't exactly wallet-friendly, but find me an AIO water cooler with this level of performance that is! If you want high-end performance for your cooling needs, and durable and quiet fans, as well as slick aesthetics, you're going to have to pay top prices for it. Pros Excellent build quality Stylish design Easy to install Zero maintenance Great cooling performance Quiet fans, even at higher RPM Trusted brand name Cons None Neutral Might be too expensive for many, but you do get what you pay for "Corsair continue to deliver rock-solid coolers with the H100i V2. As with the models that went before it, it's one of the best all-round AIOs on the market, delivering excellent cooling and acoustic performance for high-end systems."