The H50 isn’t Corsair’s first foray into liquid CPU cooling, but it is the company's first internal unit. While the H50 differs from the older Nautilus 500 in its sealed-system design, it's not all that much newer. Instead of trying to reinvent the wheel and court a new crop of design problems, Corsair relied on the experience of the product’s designer to deliver a time-proven combination of performance, longevity, and durability.
Coolers that support both LGA 1366 and Socket AM3 aren’t very common yet, but the H50’s retention mechanism assures that only a bracket change is required to swap between platforms. Sockets AM2, AM2+, and LGA 775 are also included in the compatibility list, and the bracket design even allows rotating water block orientation in 30° increments.
A copper base includes thermal interface material with the consistency of modeling clay, which is a slightly more viscous version of familiar thermal pastes. Heat softens the material to make it flow like traditional thermal paste, and mounting hardware pressure squeezes out any excess. The copper surface finish is smooth and polished.
Enough workspace remains around the integrated pump/water block that servicing remaining components shouldn’t be difficult when installed in a case large enough to support the cooler’s 120 mm radiator. We found the easiest installation method was to attach the mounting bracket loosely, insert the water block, rotate it into position, and then tighten the screws.



I have to wonder though if performance would be different on Phenom IIs, where the motherboard is configured such that large air coolers don't work well. (AMD boards have a smaller space around the CPU.)
Also, I didn't see the TIM listed. Always like to know what paste is used.
I also wanted to see what would happen with the H50 if it was retrofitted with the fan of the Fort120. If the H50 does outperform the Fort120, then I guess the H50 would really be a better overall solution.
Outside of that gripe, good review and in line with what I've seen elsewhere. Tough call on the Corsair since it's perhaps a wee bit pricey for what it does, but based on what I've read here and at anandtech etc, I'll likely buy it for the noise reduction and simple install.
"So on top of the radiator a fan needs to be mounted. Pretty much you use these four screws (supplied) and push them through the chassis, fan and radiator. This mounting system is unfortunately far from ideal. Chassis' tend to differ, should the chassis be thick or have another mounting system design for the 120mm fan, these screws will not fit as there isn't any clearance.
Using your own screws should be done carefully as you can easily screw them in too deep and damage the radiator. We like these rubber push-pin retention clips we see a lot lately, perhaps something Corsair should look into for their next revision of the H50."
I suppose one could modify the system by adding a gpu waterblock to the loop.
However it might damage the system, and there is the question of reduced performance from the pump because of increased resistance from the extra hose and gpu block. And no warranty then heeh.
I wouldn't try the H50 for a CPU and graphics card, it just doesn't have the cooling capacity to do both. Adapting it for a graphics board only might be an option, but you lose the pre-sealed system benefit, so not sure that's the way I'd go, even if it is cheaper.
Definitely a nice price on the H50!
I completely agree, I would consider buying that Corsair unit because of its obvious design advantages, and I have a 2600 rpm 120 mm fan I would like to hook up to it. I would really like to know how much of a performance advantage this would provide compared to the stock fan. If it outperforms the Rosewill with a faster fan, I would get the corsair in a heartbeat, I have been looking for a good cpu fan for a while now that would work well in my relitively small midsized lian li case, and water would work so much better than air at removing heat from the case.
I was happy to see this unit reviewed, I was sad to see it reviewed so poorly. This should be redone with both units using the same fan same TIM. That is called removing variables...... Given that this was what, 3 pages? Shouldn't take you too long. I am interested in trying one of these units but am still on the fence, this review did NOTHING to get me off said fence....Please re do
Also missing from this review a note to you AMD users In taking a tour of FrozenCPU.coms facility this big box from acetech arrives - 25 fresh H50s ever single one of them did not have AMD clips and good luck getting them from Corsair as they have what I would call a broken customer service regarding this part.
Others have noted about the fan speed, not sure whats up with that kind of comparo, but also to pass on FrznCPU also had these great new 55mm deep 120mm fans from some outfit in Germany, they are sweet, 60+ CFM and wisper quiet, just perfect for that special invironment situation.
With all the equipment inside a case the difference could be huge, but it may amount to only a small difference too. I feel that the chance of the results changing in these new circumstances is too high that I can not recommend these results as evidence for or against any of the watercooling setups.
Also adding in the Xigmatek HDT-s1283 Dark Knight would be nice because, from my experience, it is the best cooler for i7 and would be a great benchmark against the rest of these results.
Check out Frostytech, they do just cooling reviews and do them very well.
Good point, however consider how inefeciant that Roswell must be to have to use a 2500+RPM fan. Who wants that crap buzzing all day long? So in this case I would opt for leveling the field myself, use the same decent fan for both and include that result.
Best new active cooler?
Meet "Prolimatech Megahalems" former engineers from one of the most well known manufactures recently started out on their own so they could get things done right (corprate world sux) and this is their first product and needs just one 1200rpm fan to do better than most any and every other cooler.
Look it up, lots of new reviews out there.
Those guys know their craft and can't make them fast enough.
I have found the Domino ALC to be a better cooler (albeit louder) for my PII 940 build than the Thermalright Ultra 120 (non-extreme version)that I originally had. However I also have a Thermaltake chipset cooler which I believe helps my overclock in this area.
Anyway now I have more room to add 4 more gigs of OCZ reaper, my case looks "cleaner" inside and I no longer have the fear of all that hanging weight for my poor old motherboard. A year to you and me equals about 20 in motherboard years!