Corsair Hydro Series H80 Liquid CPU Cooler Review

Test Setup

We decided to compare the Corsair H80 liquid CPU cooler against two coolers that we have previously been very pleased with, the Cooler Master V6GT and the ThermoLab Trinity.

Testing method:

• Stable recorded CPU temperature from a 15 minute idle test
• Stable recorded CPU temperature from a 15 minute load test
• The cooler’s fans are set at 100% speed unless otherwise stated
• Both tests are repeated with an overclocked processor
• All tests are repeated to check the consistency and reliability of the results
• Delta temperatures are used in the charts to provide more accurate results
• Maximum recorded noise output at 100% fan speed
• The supplied thermal paste is always used to make the results a fair interpretation of the cooler’s stock performance.

Test system:

• MSI P67A-GD65
• Intel Core i7 2600K
• 4GB Corsair Dominator DDR3 1600MHz
• XFX Radeon HD 4870 1GB with Arctic Cooling Accelero Twin Turbo Pro VGA Cooler
• 128GB Kingston SSDnow V100 (OS)
• Corsair TX650
• NZXT Phantom Case
• Pre-applied Corsair thermal paste

Comparison used:

• Cooler Master V6GT with supplied Cooler Master thermal paste
• ThermoLab Trinity with supplied ThermoLab thermal paste
• Overclocked to 4.4GHz @ 1.288V (1.240V BIOS) maximum
• Using two 120mm Scythe Gentle Typhoon 1850RPM (AP-15) fans in push-pull configuration

Software used:

• Windows 7 Professional 64-bit
• HWMonitor
• Prime95