Corsair Hydro Series H110 Liquid CPU Cooler Review

Now for the all important pricing. Corsair’s H110 will be retailing in the UK at approximately £95. It’s closest competitor, the NZXT Kraken X60, costs £115 – that is 20% more. It is also worth giving an honourable mention to the Corsair H100i which showed itself as a potent competitor against the might of the 280mm radiator units, the Corsair H100i costs £91. Straight away you can see that Corsair have got the pricing on-the-money (excuse the pun) because at £95 the Corsair H110 represents excellent value for money compared to the NZXT Kraken X60. Although, it does drop some features with the lower price point as I will now go on to explain.

The relationship between the Corsair H110 and the NZXT Kraken X60 is similar to that of the Corsair H90 to the NZXT Kraken X40. Firstly, the Corsair H110 doesn’t have LEDs or an LED lighting system, for me this is fine because it is a superficial part of the system that most people won’t use because very few people have side panel windows to even observe these LEDs. Secondly, the Corsair H110 uses shorter tubing in relation to the NZXT Kraken X60 which is again not really a problem for most people because the tubing is long enough to reach from the CPU socket to the top 140mm fan mounts. Thirdly, the Corsair H110 doesn’t provide a second set of fan mounting screws which is an omission that I find disappointing. It is a low cost inclusion that could be useful to many people. Although, I suspect the majority of people that use the H110 will not have enough space for push-pull so it isn’t the end of the world. Fourthly, the Corsair H110 comes with no software or USB connector – so you can’t use the pump as a fan controller. Given the omission of LEDs the software would be almost redundant, acting as purely fan controlling software, which most of us already have as it is bundled with nearly all decent modern motherboards.  Finally,  the pump has no integrated fan ports, an omission that is more noticeable on the Corsair H110 than on the H90. This is because you are likely to have either two fans or four fans, meaning you could easily run out of motherboard headers especially seeing as the pump needs a 3 pin connection too. A “Y-Splitter” cable from Corsair would of been a quick and easy fix for this problem and given this is a premium product I don’t think that is too much to ask.

In a similar vein to what we said about the Corsair H90, the lack of the above-mentioned features could be a strategic decision by Corsair to allow them to release a “H110i” in the future. The H110i model would probably come with a more extensive feature set and as a result of this, a higher price point.

Considering all the positives we can see that the Corsair H110 delivers very competitive performance in relation to the competition. The inclusion of flexible wide rubber tubing is excellent because it allows for better flow and easier installation. Radiator and fan vibration is non-existent and the included fans are actually pretty darn good for such a cost effective unit (in relation to the competition anyway). Corsair have also ensured a quality-aesthetic by making sure all cables are fully sleeved and that everything is black while the white Corsair logo on the pump is the only subtle addition. The Asetek mounting kit Corsair use is tried, trusted and effective so we have no complaints there. It is also worth noting that Corsair offer a huge five year warranty with the H110, this is compared to the relatively stingy 2 year warranty offered by NZXT on the Kraken X60. It is unlikely anything will ever go wrong, but if it does it is fantastic to see Corsair providing such an extensive warranty combined with their widely renowned customer services.

Corsair’s H110 is definitely an enthusiast CPU cooler done extremely well. Relating to its nearest rival the Kraken X60 it offers better acoustic performance, almost identical cooling performance and a significantly cheaper price point. It does lose a few things over the Kraken X60 but as we have already mentioned these are “extra-but-not-necessary” features such as LED lighting, extra fan screws, longer tubing, custom software and fan ports on the pump. If the NZXT Kraken X60 strikes you as too expensive at £115, then Corsair’s H110 is a much cheaper alternative at £95 that sacrifices very little. The Corsair H100i which costs £91, is also another alternative to be considered as it offers all the same features as the NZXT Kraken X60 except in a 240mm form factor. It all comes down to a delicate balance of price, performance and features and I think the Corsair H110 falls down somewhere in the middle-ground and is an incredibly good buy for £95. 

With all that said, the Corsair H110 is probably the best AIO liquid CPU cooler released in terms of striking that balance between price, performance and features. Consequently, I am happy to award the Corsair H110 the eTeknix Editor’s Choice award and give it my own strong personal recommendation. If you can take advantage of a 280mm radiator and the Corsair H110 is compatible with your system, then I would strongly encourage you to consider getting one.