Antec Kühler Vs. Corsair Hydro: Sealed Liquid CPU Coolers Compared

Features
By published

Offering a taste of liquid-cooled performance without the maintenance hassle, sealed-liquid systems are the logical choice for many high-end builds. We compare four options to an air-cooled standard to see if any of them stand out above the others.

Corsair Hydro H100

While the Hydro H80’s 1.5”-thick radiator was 50% wider than the 1” standard, the H100’s dual-fan radiator is nearly 100% longer. The top panels of many performance cases are designed specifically for this style of radiator, which is often called a two-by-120 mm design, abbreviated as 2 x 120 mm.

The H100 and H80 use the same pump style, though the H100 has four fan connectors as opposed to the H80’s two. Both have a finely-sanded copper cold plate with factory-applied thermal compound.

Both units also fit over the CPU in the same way, though the H100’s radiator is moved to the top panel.

The radiator’s top tank extends past the top of our rear fan, dictating its placement directly on the top panel.

Thomas Soderstrom
Thomas Soderstrom
Thomas Soderstrom is a Senior Staff Editor at Tom's Hardware US. He tests and reviews cases, cooling, memory and motherboards.