Corsair Hydro Series H55 Liquid CPU Cooler Review

As you can see by the graph labels we did two forms of testing. The first was everything at stock, denoted by the Corsair H55 label. Secondly we did testing with a low noise adapter for the fan which greatly reduced fan noise, this configuration is denoted by Corsair H55 + Low Noise Adapter. As you might expect the Low Noise Adapter configuration had slightly lower performance but drastically better acoustic performance. I used a standard 12 volt to 7 volt low noise adapter which is NOT included with the Corsair H55 as standard – disappointing, but they are cheap to acquire separately.

The performance with a stock CPU was brilliant. It was within touching distance of the H100i when using the normal fan speed and better than all the air coolers when using a low noise adapter.

Overclocked speeds also produced excellent results. The Corsair H55 is right where it should be (if not a little bit better) in terms of price to performance. Although the Low Noise Adapter reduces performance it still equals our best ever air cooler the Scythe Mugen 3. It is again a question of whether you want the most performance or the “most quiet/silence”.