Acoustic, Power, Battery & Thermal Performance
Acoustic Performance
Unfortunately, the Corsair H80i can become extremely loud when the pump is set to Performance Mode. This causes an excruciating high-pitched whine. Furthermore, the default fan profile contains a large RPM value and manages to exceed 56.7 db(A) under stress. Thankfully, once the pump speed and fan curve has been set to Quiet Mode, the system is much quieter, and a complete joy to use. Additionally, the Corsair Link software allows you to set a custom fan-curve to suit your own requirements.
Honestly, this isn’t a major issue and easily fixed within 2 clicks. Sadly, Corsair Link isn’t the most user-friendly of software and still requires polish. It’s unfair to criticize FreshTech Solutions on the noise output because software is the root cause.
Power Consumption
Unsurprisingly, the system’s high-end configuration results in load power consumption above 400 watts. However, it is well within the 600W power supply’s maximum output. Please remember that the results are conducted during the most extreme of circumstances and gaming wattage demands will be lower. Also, the incredible efficiency of Skylake and Maxwell results in fantastic idle running costs.
Thermal Performance
While the Stealth’s noise was initially a concern, the GPU and CPU temperatures are fantastic. Despite absolutely hammering the CPU, the system remained under 65 degrees and reported an average of 63. This was attained with a 4.4GHz frequency and I would expect there to be enough room for a 4.6-4.8GHz overclock. On the other hand, this massive amount of headroom means you can effectively turn down the fans, and pump without causing any stability problems.
The GTX 980 Ti and Titan X run relatively warm for the Maxwell architecture but don’t come close to the maximum thermal threshold.
