This review is from: Corsair Cooling Hydro-Series All-in-One High-Performance Liquid CPU Cooler CWCH60 (Personal Computers)
NOTE: This review is for the H60. The Amazon product page lists all the Corsair water coolers together on one page. Therefore, regardless of which model you are looking at, you are going to see the reviews for all the different models listed together. If you are looking at the H100, you are still going to see my review for the H60. That’s just the way Amazon does things.
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Pros: Rivals the some of the best air coolers out there, no maintenance like traditional water coolers, SUPER easy installation, seems to be good quality.
Cons: Instructions are lacking (see my installation tips below), must buy additional fans to unlock its full potential (I didn’t ding it for this in my rating because I knew this when I decided to purchase it), no screws for a second fan, an intake setup will screw up the airflow in your case so expect to play with the case fans a little to get it right. Ideally, I would like to knock off half a star for the instructions.
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General comments: The build quality is excellent however I did notice that a couple of the fins were slightly bent right out of the box. The threads on female thumb screws and the male thumb screws did not match up very well, so I still had to use a screwdriver after tightening them as much as possible with my hands. No big deal. The included fan has an annoying whining noise at full speed but I had planned on replacing it anyways. As with any high speed fan, I think the noise level would be reduced significantly by an anti-vibration gasket which can be purchased for about $5. At the time of writing this review, they are not on Amazon but Frozencpu has them (Feser 120mm Xvibe Noise Absorber).
I didn’t keep the stock fan. I ended up doing a push/pull setup using two XIGMATEK 120MM XSF-F1252 Case Fans which are rated at 75 CFM and seem to have pretty decent static pressure. They also make a whining noise but its more tolerable than the stock fan. If you want to run a two fan setup, you will need to run to your local hardware store and pick up four 6-32×1-1/4″ screws and four #6 washers.
The performance seems very good. With my OVERCLOCKED setup below, I am getting about 26C idle and 65C load with an ambient temperature around 22C. With the stock fan setup, you can expect a 4-6 degree increase in temperature. Pretty sweet if you ask me.
CPU: 2600K OC to 4.7 GHZ at 1.365v Cooler: H60 with a push/pull intake Mobo: Asus P8P67 Delux RAM: Corsair Vengance 8gb 1866 Graphics: 2 x SLI MSI GTX 560Ti SSD: OCZ Vertex 3 120gb HDD: Samsung Spinpoint 72 1tb PSU: Cooler Master Silent Pro M 1000w Case: Cooler Master CM 690 Advance
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Installation tips: There are two sets of thumb screws required for the installation, one set with two male ends, one set with female threads. To get the perfect installation, all these screws need to be evenly tensioned so that the cooling block sits evenly over the CPU. To do that, attach the back plate to the mobo using the male thumb screws. Tighten them by hand, a quarter turn past snug should do the trick. The cooling block is secured by the female thumb screws. Put the cooling block on top of the cpu and barely thread the female thumb screws on, just enough so that they are on (one or two threads). Then, in the X pattern shown in the instructions you want to tighten each about 1.5 turns at a time until they are all tight. This should ensure even tension. Don’t over-tighten the thumb screws as this may mess up the contact between the CPU and the CPU pins on the mobo. A quarter turn to half turn past snug should do the trick. Remember, if you are unsure, its better to err on the side of caution.
Intake or exhaust? The instructions recommend intake for best results. I agree because cool air from outside your case is used to cool the radiator. If you run a exhaust setup, the hot air from inside your case is used to cool the radiator. Keep in mind that an intake setup will probably mess up the airflow in your case since most cases are set up so that the air flows from front to back. You will need to change the orientation of some of your case fans so that the air flows from back to front. Its important to have good exhaust fans to expel all that hot air being blown into your case by the H60. In addition to the two 120mm intake fans for the radiator, I have one 120mm side intake to keep my graphics cool, two 140mm exhausts in the top of my case, and one 140 exhaust in front.
The instructions tell you to plug the fan into the CPU fan header on your mobo, and the pump into any available 3 pin fan header. Since the power going to each of my 4 chassis fan headers cannot be adjusted independently, and because the pump needs a constant 12v supply of power I found it easier to plug it into my CPU fan header and change…
At first appearance, I was extremely excited about purchasing a Corsair H-70 Liquid CPU cooler. I totally liked the idea of how a massive CPU air cooler would no longer restrict the overall air flow in my new CM HAF 932. Also, just the thought of much less weight on my motherboard was very attractive to me. Finally, when I read the benchmarks on the Corsair H-70, and how it did a fairly good job of cooling, I was sold on it.
After reading many, many glowing reviews and absolutely stellar reports about Corsair’s Liquid cooled H-70, I eagerly purchased one and installed it in my computer.
It worked well for about 30 days. Suddenly, one day when I can home I smelled the very strong odor of something similar to anti-freeze. My computer would not boot, and at first, I could not figure out what was wrong. Then I opened my computer case…
What I discovered was shocking. The Corsair H70 had sprung a leak at the point where the hose attaches to the water pump. I still could not figure out how and why I kept smelling a strong automobile anti-freeze like odor…and then I realized the smell was from the liquid the Corsair H-70 was dumping on my motherboard. After doing a little more research, I discovered that Corsair does not use water but Propylene glycol, also called 1,2-propanediol or propane-1,2-diol, is an organic compound (a diol or double alcohol) with formula C3H8O2 or HO-CH2-CHOH-CH3 as the liquid inside their H-70 liquid CPU cooler. I am thankful that the leak only killed my motherboard. Propylene glycol is toxic to small animals. Veterinary data indicate that propylene glycol is toxic to dogs with a 50{b81fbfd19e1fca5890798868c0714c408bbd5ec471654b6f9630c0fffa6e7eb3} chance of being lethal at doses of 9mL/kg, although the figure is higher for most laboratory animals (LD50 at levels of 20mL/kg).
I emailed and called Corsair, explaining the problem and requested a full refund for my purchase of a defective item that killed my very, very expensive motherboard. They outright refused. Instead, they insisted I package up the leaking H-70 and mail it to their factory so they could “confirm” that what I said actually occurred. I spent another $15 to mail the defective H70 to Corsair.
Finally, after 4 weeks, Corsair sent me an email, confirming the H-70 was indeed defective. They insisted on mailing me a replacement…something I did not care for.
After this experience, I ripped out every Corsair Liquid CPU Cooler I have ever installed [over the last 2 years, I’ve installed other Corsair liquid CPU Coolers in other systems]. I replaced these liquid coolers with simple yet effective CPU air coolers. The stress of wondering if my next system build would develop a leak was just too much. There is enough stress in the world and I did not want to needlessly add to the stress already out there by installing a component that would place the entire system at risk.
I realize many people are happy with Corsair’s liquid CPU coolers. I am happy it is working out for them. For me personally, I will never trust a high end system to Corsair for a liquid cooled solution. I will continue to purchase their PSU’s and RAM, but I will never touch their liquid CPU coolers ever again. Way too much risk, way too much stress and way too much irreparable damage with an accompanying deep disappointment.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
So I bought this Cooler for the new LGA2011 3960x build I put together back in December. I was really excited. For 2 months the system was phenomenal. Then today, after 20+ hours of gaming, my computer shut off. I restarted it, and it bluescreened with all kinds of gibberish. I took the case door off to find that the pump had come apart and the fluid was leaking from the hose/pump connection.
Works great. Even better with a few additions.,
NOTE: This review is for the H60. The Amazon product page lists all the Corsair water coolers together on one page. Therefore, regardless of which model you are looking at, you are going to see the reviews for all the different models listed together. If you are looking at the H100, you are still going to see my review for the H60. That’s just the way Amazon does things.
**************************************
Pros: Rivals the some of the best air coolers out there, no maintenance like traditional water coolers, SUPER easy installation, seems to be good quality.
Cons: Instructions are lacking (see my installation tips below), must buy additional fans to unlock its full potential (I didn’t ding it for this in my rating because I knew this when I decided to purchase it), no screws for a second fan, an intake setup will screw up the airflow in your case so expect to play with the case fans a little to get it right. Ideally, I would like to knock off half a star for the instructions.
—
General comments: The build quality is excellent however I did notice that a couple of the fins were slightly bent right out of the box. The threads on female thumb screws and the male thumb screws did not match up very well, so I still had to use a screwdriver after tightening them as much as possible with my hands. No big deal. The included fan has an annoying whining noise at full speed but I had planned on replacing it anyways. As with any high speed fan, I think the noise level would be reduced significantly by an anti-vibration gasket which can be purchased for about $5. At the time of writing this review, they are not on Amazon but Frozencpu has them (Feser 120mm Xvibe Noise Absorber).
I didn’t keep the stock fan. I ended up doing a push/pull setup using two XIGMATEK 120MM XSF-F1252 Case Fans which are rated at 75 CFM and seem to have pretty decent static pressure. They also make a whining noise but its more tolerable than the stock fan. If you want to run a two fan setup, you will need to run to your local hardware store and pick up four 6-32×1-1/4″ screws and four #6 washers.
The performance seems very good. With my OVERCLOCKED setup below, I am getting about 26C idle and 65C load with an ambient temperature around 22C. With the stock fan setup, you can expect a 4-6 degree increase in temperature. Pretty sweet if you ask me.
CPU: 2600K OC to 4.7 GHZ at 1.365v
Cooler: H60 with a push/pull intake
Mobo: Asus P8P67 Delux
RAM: Corsair Vengance 8gb 1866
Graphics: 2 x SLI MSI GTX 560Ti
SSD: OCZ Vertex 3 120gb
HDD: Samsung Spinpoint 72 1tb
PSU: Cooler Master Silent Pro M 1000w
Case: Cooler Master CM 690 Advance
—
Installation tips: There are two sets of thumb screws required for the installation, one set with two male ends, one set with female threads. To get the perfect installation, all these screws need to be evenly tensioned so that the cooling block sits evenly over the CPU. To do that, attach the back plate to the mobo using the male thumb screws. Tighten them by hand, a quarter turn past snug should do the trick. The cooling block is secured by the female thumb screws. Put the cooling block on top of the cpu and barely thread the female thumb screws on, just enough so that they are on (one or two threads). Then, in the X pattern shown in the instructions you want to tighten each about 1.5 turns at a time until they are all tight. This should ensure even tension. Don’t over-tighten the thumb screws as this may mess up the contact between the CPU and the CPU pins on the mobo. A quarter turn to half turn past snug should do the trick. Remember, if you are unsure, its better to err on the side of caution.
Intake or exhaust? The instructions recommend intake for best results. I agree because cool air from outside your case is used to cool the radiator. If you run a exhaust setup, the hot air from inside your case is used to cool the radiator. Keep in mind that an intake setup will probably mess up the airflow in your case since most cases are set up so that the air flows from front to back. You will need to change the orientation of some of your case fans so that the air flows from back to front. Its important to have good exhaust fans to expel all that hot air being blown into your case by the H60. In addition to the two 120mm intake fans for the radiator, I have one 120mm side intake to keep my graphics cool, two 140mm exhausts in the top of my case, and one 140 exhaust in front.
The instructions tell you to plug the fan into the CPU fan header on your mobo, and the pump into any available 3 pin fan header. Since the power going to each of my 4 chassis fan headers cannot be adjusted independently, and because the pump needs a constant 12v supply of power I found it easier to plug it into my CPU fan header and change…
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My Corsair H-70 leaked and destroyed my high end motherboard.,
At first appearance, I was extremely excited about purchasing a Corsair H-70 Liquid CPU cooler. I totally liked the idea of how a massive CPU air cooler would no longer restrict the overall air flow in my new CM HAF 932. Also, just the thought of much less weight on my motherboard was very attractive to me. Finally, when I read the benchmarks on the Corsair H-70, and how it did a fairly good job of cooling, I was sold on it.
After reading many, many glowing reviews and absolutely stellar reports about Corsair’s Liquid cooled H-70, I eagerly purchased one and installed it in my computer.
It worked well for about 30 days. Suddenly, one day when I can home I smelled the very strong odor of something similar to anti-freeze. My computer would not boot, and at first, I could not figure out what was wrong. Then I opened my computer case…
What I discovered was shocking. The Corsair H70 had sprung a leak at the point where the hose attaches to the water pump. I still could not figure out how and why I kept smelling a strong automobile anti-freeze like odor…and then I realized the smell was from the liquid the Corsair H-70 was dumping on my motherboard. After doing a little more research, I discovered that Corsair does not use water but Propylene glycol, also called 1,2-propanediol or propane-1,2-diol, is an organic compound (a diol or double alcohol) with formula C3H8O2 or HO-CH2-CHOH-CH3 as the liquid inside their H-70 liquid CPU cooler. I am thankful that the leak only killed my motherboard. Propylene glycol is toxic to small animals. Veterinary data indicate that propylene glycol is toxic to dogs with a 50{b81fbfd19e1fca5890798868c0714c408bbd5ec471654b6f9630c0fffa6e7eb3} chance of being lethal at doses of 9mL/kg, although the figure is higher for most laboratory animals (LD50 at levels of 20mL/kg).
I emailed and called Corsair, explaining the problem and requested a full refund for my purchase of a defective item that killed my very, very expensive motherboard. They outright refused. Instead, they insisted I package up the leaking H-70 and mail it to their factory so they could “confirm” that what I said actually occurred. I spent another $15 to mail the defective H70 to Corsair.
Finally, after 4 weeks, Corsair sent me an email, confirming the H-70 was indeed defective. They insisted on mailing me a replacement…something I did not care for.
After this experience, I ripped out every Corsair Liquid CPU Cooler I have ever installed [over the last 2 years, I’ve installed other Corsair liquid CPU Coolers in other systems]. I replaced these liquid coolers with simple yet effective CPU air coolers. The stress of wondering if my next system build would develop a leak was just too much. There is enough stress in the world and I did not want to needlessly add to the stress already out there by installing a component that would place the entire system at risk.
I realize many people are happy with Corsair’s liquid CPU coolers. I am happy it is working out for them. For me personally, I will never trust a high end system to Corsair for a liquid cooled solution. I will continue to purchase their PSU’s and RAM, but I will never touch their liquid CPU coolers ever again. Way too much risk, way too much stress and way too much irreparable damage with an accompanying deep disappointment.
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Proceed with Caution,
So I bought this Cooler for the new LGA2011 3960x build I put together back in December. I was really excited. For 2 months the system was phenomenal. Then today, after 20+ hours of gaming, my computer shut off. I restarted it, and it bluescreened with all kinds of gibberish. I took the case door off to find that the pump had come apart and the fluid was leaking from the hose/pump connection.
I hear 50/50 that you’ll get a good cooler. I would advise you to stay away. I hope to god that my 3 GTX580s, my Asus Rampage IV Extreme, and CPU aren’t ruined.
Corsair Hydro Series H100 Extreme Performance Liquid CPU Cooler (CWCH100)
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