Welcome to the fourth kit in my value <$150 2x120mm radiator kit series, the Corsair Hydro Series H100i CPU cooler. Corsair has been in the sealed AIO cooler business for a while and although I personally have never had the opportunity to review any of the kits before, I’ve seen the forum following grow over the years so I expect good things. A good following and user base is no accident and usually means good things. I also very much enjoy my Corsair TX650 power supply and regularly run Corsair memory such as my current Vengence memory due to the quality of parts and consistent good result I’ve had with Corsair products. They also have a good reputation for customer service and honoring warranty issues and that means a lot to me as well. When I decided I wanted to do kit testing, the H100i was on my short must do list due to its popularity and amazing low price of just $119. While the H100i doesn’t come designed for expansion due to it’s sealed nature, it is the lowest priced kit with a 240 sized radiator and had the longest warranty so I was very interested in reviewing.
Here is a quick picture of the kit
Frozen CPU Product Information
Product Description
Have a PC case that supports a top-mounted 240mm radiator? Take your CPU cooling to a new level. H100i starts with the advanced design of the Hydro Series H80i, and adds a double-wide radiator for even better performance.
Monitor temperature and control lighting and fan speed on your screen. No additional hardware is necessary using the Corsair Link
Features
Self-contained Cooling System
- Hydro Series H100i comes pre-filled, and never needs refilling or priming.
Dual Radiator with Custom Fan Design
- The 240mm top-mounted radiator provides maximum surface area for maximum cooling power. The 120mm fans use wide, low-pitch blades for better static pressure to noise ratio, offering improved efficiency at lower noise levels.
Built-In Corsair Link
- No additional hardware is necessary – just connect the included Corsair Link cable to a USB header on your motherboard and download the free Corsair Link Dashboard software. You can monitor coolant temperature and adjust cooling performance directly from your desktop.
Tool-free multi platform magnetic mounting bracket kit
- The modular design makes installation simpler, and it’s compatible with Intel and AMD processors.
Large-diameter, low permeability tubing
- Minimal coolant evaporation helps ensure long life, and the resilient material offers both high flexibility and excellent leak protection.
Technical Specifications
Technical Specifications Radiator dimensions: 120mm x 275mm x 27mm Fan dimensions: 120mm x 120mm x 25mm Fan speed: 2700 RPM Fan airflow: 77 CFM Fan dBA: 37.68 dBA Fan static pressure: 4mm/H20 Compatibility: Intel™ LGA 1155, 1156, 1366, and 2011
AMD™ sockets FM1, FM2, AM2, and AM3
Hydro Series H100i requires a case with dual 120mm fan mounts with 15mm spacing for a 240mm radiatorPackage contents: Corsair Hydro Series H100i High Performance Liquid CPU Cooler
Magnetic Multi-platform mounting kit for all modern CPU sockets
Dual SP120L High Performance Fans
USB Cable for Corsair Link™ Compatibility
Fan and radiator mounting screws
Thermal compound (pre-applied)
Quick Start Guide
So as already noted, the 5 year warranty stands out for me as does the 2700RPM fans.
What it doesn’t specify and what I found out during the review is the lack of Window 8 support in using the Corsair Link software when I did my testing on this unit.
I did just double-check the corsair website and now that I have removed the H100i for other unit testing, it does appear that corsair link is now finally 5 months later, supporting windows 8. If you go to the downloads section, you will now see that the latest software is supposedly supporting Win 8. That has recently been updated.
Also worthy of note for those thinking of modding the kit, the radiator is “aluminum” so any sort of mods will require a corrosion inhibitor because of the mixed copper/aluminum metals.