Corsair H70: Next-Gen Self-Contained Liquid Cooling

Features
By Marcel Binder
published

Liquid cooling still has the image of being expensive and complicated. Corsair, in cooperation with the cooling specialists at Asetek, now offers the H70 that aims to simplify the step up from air cooling. Can it beat less expensive premium heatsinks?

Temperature, Noise Levels, And Fan Speed

The idle temperatures were measured about 30 minutes after booting up Windows Vista. In these 30 minutes the CPU was just idling, and all services that might put a load on the CPU were turned off. The load tests were conducted using Prime95, measuring the maximum temperature after that time frame.

Temperatures

Fan Speeds

Noise Levels

Not surprisingly, the temperature using two fans without any speed limits was the lowest one. The temperature reported was 21° C, the same as the room temperature. The drawback, of course, is that the fans spin at just under 2000 RPM, resulting in a loud background noise measured at 57.3 dB(A). The fan speeds and noise level are the same under full load as well, keeping the CPU at a relatively low 38° C.

The weakest cooling performance is realized (not surprisingly) when using only one fan with the help of the motherboard BIOS fan controller. Here a temperature of 25° C is reached in idle mode, which increased to 47° C under full load. The noise levels in this configuration are 41.2 dB(A) in idle mode and an audible 47.9 dB(A) under full load.

The most balanced mix between cooling performance and noise levels is achieved when using two fans that are regulated by the automatic fan controller on the motherboard. This results in a very low 22° C temperature in idle mode with a moderate noise level of 37.9 dB(A). We also find the temperature of 41° C at full load acceptable, as is the noise level of 45.6 dB(A).

Marcel Binder
Marcel Binder
83 Comments Comment from the forums
  • wribbs
    "street price of around $110, it is reasonably priced" -too high.
    "slightly elevated background noise" -understatement

    You will be better served by the h50, yes its weaker but its cheaper and quieter and performs close to the same. Do yourself a favor and avoid this product although it is quite good.
    Reply
  • chovav
    where's the H50 in the charts?
    Reply
  • Scanlia
    I think its stupid, just look @ the Prolimatech's...
    Reply
  • karma831
    Overpriced, equal to or gets beat by air cooling in temps, and is pretty loud...Doesn't sound like a very good product ?__?

    The prolimatech and noctua offerings are much better.
    Reply
  • maxal
    Would it be possible to post combined charts of idle temp/noise and full load temp/noise ? IMHO that would be more informative than plain bars, as many are interested in balance of those characteristics.
    Reply
  • gkay09
    I had expected to see even the CM Hyper 212+ results...
    IMO $110 for such a cooler not worth it,...Other good option if going for a closed loop cooler would be the CoolIT SYSTEMS ECO...
    Reply
  • cmcghee358
    I would have also liked to have seen comparison between a push/pull exhaust, and a push/pull intake.

    For my H50, it is quite explicit that the radiator should be pulling outside air through the fins. And yet, people keep it as an exhaust and then lament of their temps.

    One of the biggest perks of a closed loop water cooling system is you dictate what air is being used. Where-as big air is always restricted to case air(unless a side is removed and a box fan is added)

    I would have also liked to of seen it as a delta above ambient, rather than a flat CPU temperature comparison. I personally process the delta better, and lend more credence to it.
    Reply
  • uruquiora
    would have liked to see the temps in passive mode, with no fans, and on a more recent CPU...
    Reply
  • mjello
    I want one for my gfx card not the cpu. Its my gfx thats noisy. I don't care about cooling temps or overclocking as long as the cooling is adequate. I just want sweet silence :).
    Reply
  • cmcghee358
    9503478 said:
    I want one for my gfx card not the cpu. Its my gfx thats noisy. I don't care about cooling temps or overclocking as long as the cooling is adequate. I just want sweet silence :).

    I guess you missed the part where it was the noisiest thing on the list with a 57.3 dB at max?

    Also considering the TDP of some of these GPUs are between 190 and 300W, you can expect the H70 to work much harder thant he sample 130W CPU. So it will most likely be loud all the time because of the higher operating temps of the GPU.
    Reply