Review on Corsair Hydro H150i PRO RGB Liquid CPU Cooler, 360mm Radiator, Triple 120mm ML Series PWM Fans, Advanced RGB Lighting and Fan Software Control, Intel 115x/2066 and AMD AM4 Compatible by Auden Paz

Featuring H115i PRO RGB AIO with Intel Core i9-7920X processor on Gigabyte X299 Gaming 7 PRO in Phanteks Enthoo Luxe tempered glass case. The water cooler is a bit more difficult to install than the air cooler, but this unit wasn't bad at all, especially if you're building a PC from scratch. I originally installed this unit the usual way from the top, INSIDE the case's steel frame, with the fans blowing. There was plenty of motherboard space, but once the fans were connected, access to the top headers was somewhat limited. Later, when I replaced the fans (more on that later), I found that there was enough room to mount the heatsink on the OUTSIDE of the steel frame, but under the plastic panel and mesh air filter (so it was still protected and covered ). ) and the fans could still be built in from the top to push air out through the cooler. All I had to do was thread the screws through the fans, case frame, and heatsink so the fan screws would effectively hold the fans and heatsink to the case. Thankfully, the included fan screws were long enough. It also eliminated what I thought was a hot air pocket between the steel frame and the plate/filter. Performance FANS. Note that after a long comparison between the 280mm H115i and the 370mm H150i I settled on the 280mm H115i as 2 x 140mm fans offer about the same cooling as 3 x 120mm fans and are much quieter. Ex works, they cooled the processor running at series speeds in "Balanced" mode quite adequately, even in the stress test with OCCT and P95. (never went past the low 70's, even on the smallest sizes). In extreme mode and overclocked to 4.5 or 4.6, it performed well enough for most things (like video games), staying at 60 most of the time, but didn't survive stress tests and endured throttling (95 degrees) on a couple of cores. in the toughest tests. It's clear that Corsair has opted for tranquility over extreme performance. One thing that really annoyed me was that while the included fans were a basic 1200RPM ML140 design, it seemed they could deliver 2000RPM PRO fans. Yes, I know that 2000 rpm at full speed is going to be loud as hell, but the whole point of the PMW is control. A wider RPM range allows the user to balance airflow and noise, and running at 1200 rpm produces the same noise level whether it's maxed out at 1200 rpm or reduced from 2000 rpm to 1200 rpm . In fact, as expected, the stock fans idled at just under 1100 RPM in balanced mode, and only up to 1150 RPM at peak temperatures. Why even bother with the temperature curve of a fan with a range less than 100 RPM? I did a little research and while the ML140 PRO fans were running I decided to replace them with two Noctua NF A14 IndustrialPPC-2000 PWM fans. These fans have always performed very well in tests, particularly in terms of airflow through the heatsinks and noise to airflow ratio, and come with one of the best guarantees (German design and all). I tried creating a fan curve using the Corsair iCUE software, but was disappointed to find that the fan control was extremely non-linear above 1200 RPM. I finally decided to connect the fans to the mobo controller on the CPU and the CPU OPT header. I use Mobo BIOS and fan control software to set up fan control curves. The only downside is that reading the temperature of the mobo's CPU (not the CPU itself) is the only real temperature setting to control the fans. Not a big deal as the response time is pretty quick and probably faster than the colder liquid temp the iCUE uses. Below about 1300 RPM the fans are inaudible to me due to my physical configuration. At 1600 rpm, the fans are clearly audible but not annoying (especially when gaming). Performance PUMP. It looks like the PUMP is not running on the time curve. When you set the balance mode, it basically runs at 2100rpm and in extreme mode it runs at 2800rpm. I think it would be better to work based on the temperature curve so I don't have to switch modes when overclocking. CPU (mobile)=28C; Ambient chassis temperature = 27°C [differential = 1°C] Noctua Static 1500 RPM: Fan = 1530/1510 RPM; CPU (mobile) = 25C; Case Ambient = 24°C [Diff = 1°C] - Note that this seems to lower the overall temperature inside the case by sucking in so much air. Noctua My temperature curve: fan = 1002/994 rpm; CPU=30; Amb=25 [Diff=5C]Performance-TEMPS-Heat Torture (Prime95-96K on site after 15 minutes): Headroom: Fan= 1121/1152 rpm; CPU = 66C; Amb = 27 °C [Diff = 39 °C] Noctua 1500 rpm: fan = 1530/1510 rpm; CPU = 55C; Ambient temperature = 23°C [difference = 32°C] Noctua temperature curve: fan = 1308/1285 rpm; CPU = 58C; Amb=25C[Diff=33C] So it looks like increasing the fan speed will not only reduce the difference between CPU and ambient temp, but also lower the internal temp [although I have to reiterate that the heatsink placement does changed when I installed Noctuas. so that can have an effect]. Appearance Control - looks great. Makes the system more accurate than using an air cooler. iCUE is very flexible and easy to use. Lots of flexibility in color programming. I set the color depending on the CPU temperature.