Performance
Cooling
Efficiency
First, we want to check the liquid- cooling
system in the standard configuration with 4.375 GHz CPU. You can see the
results in the table below as well as the following chart:
Chart
of result
In contrast to the low-level liquid-
cooling systems, these products may challenge the best air-cooling equipment.
The Corsair Hydro H100i Extreme Performance with its large radiator is always
the top in standard configuration. It works more efficiently than the
air-cooler not only at the highest or average of two SP120L Corsair fan speed
but also the speed at 1,000 and even at 800 RPM. On the other hand, it is not
extraordinary for a liquid- cooling system when it is better than air- cooler
from 1 to 20C (even though the best one). What we want to referred here are the
Corsair H100i at 2x1,200 RPM mode with the Phanteks PH-TC14PЕ at 2x1,300 RPM
mode. However, today, we have many other tests, so the view can be changed.
Three products with 120mm thick radiators
are almost equal in performance. At the maximum speed of the fans, Thermaltake
Water 2.0 Pro, Corsair Hydro H80i LQ320 High Performance and Zalman ensure the
same temperature levels for the CPU. Corsair seems to win here because of its
higher-speed fans, so Zalman LQ320 looks like more popular than its rivals.
Thermaltake Water 2.0 Pro is little better than the Corsair H80i, Zalman LQ320
and even the Phanteks PH-TC14PЕ at 1,600 and 1,200 RPM but the Corsair H80i
catches up with it at 1,000 RPM, the Zalman LQ320 is behind with only 1°C.
The Thermaltake Water 2.0 Performer, the
most effective product in the first part of our test, is 2 to 3°C worse than
its cousin, depending on the speed of fans.
Now, we will check the cooling equipment
with the replacement fans from the Corsair (Corsair Hydro H80i High Performance
shows the constant results). Below are tables and charts:
The
result chart
The Corsair Hydro Extreme Performance H10
has many advantages compared to its rivals if they have 4 fans. It's 60C
cooler than the air-cooler when the fans run at maximum speed and 20C at 1,000 RPM. The Zalman LQ320 is also in
the group that has results under 700C club, two additional fans
increase its performance significantly. We can see that the Zalman leads from 2
to 40C compared to 2 competitors from Corsair and Thermaltake in 1,600,
1,200 and 1,000 RPM, although the Thermaltake Water 2.0 Pro seems to have the
same design. And finally, we found the Water 2.0 Pro works worse with two
Corsair SP120 fans than in its default configuration.
Now, we overclock the CPU to 4.5 GHz and
1.435 volts and check the performance of all cooling equipment in their
standard configuration as well as with alternative fans. Below are result table
and chart:
The
result table
The
result chart
The Corsair Hydro H100i Extreme Performance
has no rivals in this test, but the Phanteks PH-TC14PЕ is only 10C
behind it at 1,000 RPM. A similar distance was found when the Phanteks and the
Corsair have fan speeds of 1,300 and 1,200 RPM, respectively. However, we don’t
take the noise factor into accounting. Other products are the same; the Corsair
has more fast fans than the Phanteks. We will discuss this immediately below.
The Zalman LQ320 and Corsair Hydro H80i High
Performance is also recognized as being able to cope with overclocked CPU. They
are followed very closely by Thermaltake Water 2.0 Pro. There is no liquid-
cooling system here can cool the six-core CPU which it is overclocked to 4.5
GHz at 1,435-1,445 volts when their fans speed is 1,200 RPM and the CPU runs
Linx.
The
noise level
We describe the noise parameters of the
pumps in the first part of this review and today’s products are no different in
this respect. So, we will start measuring the noise level of the fans of each
cooling equipment throughout its entire speed range. The results are shown
below:
The
result of measuring the noise level
We don’t find much difference from the
previous tests. Liquid- cooling systems are all comparable at the noise level.
The Zalman LQ320 Fan is the fastest of all, but two fans of Thermaltake Water
2.0 Performer are very close to it in the noise level. Interestingly, the later
models run quieter than their
cousin as Thermaltake Water 2.0 Pro although they have the same fans. Two the
Corsair coolers are also similar in noise levels, however H100i is faster H80i.
The later fans rattle at speeds below 1,100 RPM, causing some inconvenience.
The H100i has the same fan but no rattle at all speed.
With the noise level results on hands, we
can compare the efficiency of the Phanteks PH-TC14PЕ and the Corsair Hydro
H100i Extreme Performance correctly. At a maximum speed of two fans (1280 RPM)
air-cooling equipment has noise level at 47.7 dBA according to our
measurements. Liquid cooling system is reached at this level with 1,630 RPM.
Going back to the first performance chart, we can see that the Corsair Hydro
H100i Extreme Performance is 20C better than the Phanteks PH-TC14PЕ
if they have the same noise level. And the distance increases to 40C
when the CPU is overclocked to 4.5 GHz. You can compare other cooling equipment
in a similar way using their noise data.
Conclusion
Exception of one of 9 liquid-cooling system
we said in this two part review, we cannot suggest any representative or
substitute for the best air-cooled equipment like the Noctua NH-D14,
Thermalright Archon, Silver Arrow, PH-TC14PЕ and Phanteks. The low-level
products (discussed in the first part of the review) can even compete with them
in terms of price but not just in performance or noise level. The product lines
discussed today - Zalman LQ320, Thermaltake Water 2.0 Pro and Corsair Hydro
H80i High Performance - look better but having difficulties in their prices. It
is not enough for a cooling system to become more expensive and only a bit more
performance than the air-cooling equipments. Anyway, we want to note that the
Thermaltake Water 2.0 Pro and the Zalman LQ320 create a higher level of
performance with their standard configurations, while the Corsair H80i features
high quality fans and full functional software.
As you can guess, the Corsair Hydro H100i
Extreme Performance has creates an exception. Pricing $10-20 higher than its
rivals (except for the Phanteks), it ensures better cooling with a lower noise
level. The Corsair H100i is superior with the frequencies of the CPU. Moreover,
it is the only product that fights well with the overclocked CPU at 4.625 GHz
and 1:49 volts. It is the perfect product for overclocking people, who do not
care about noise level, especially if you install four 120mm fans supported by
H100i. So, the Corsair Hydro H100i Extreme Performance will be a good choice if
you do not want to make the components of the liquid-cooling system separated
or pay double for the available product similar Swiftech H2O-320 Edge HD or EK-
Supermacy KIT H3O 360 HFX.
We are honor to award the Corsair Hydro
H100i Extreme Performance the Recommended Buy Title.
