Closing the Loop: Contained Liquid-Coolers from Corsair and NZXT Compared
by Dustin Sklavos on December 26, 2012 12:01 AM ESTConclusion, Part 1: Corsair
With the results at our disposal, we can now evaluate each cooler on its own merits. The charts can tell us how good the coolers are at their jobs and how quiet they are, but it's also about price and value included in the package. This year's H80 boasts a major improvement over last year's in terms of both the fans used, but also the fan control, which is now a much more convenient software solution.
Corsair H55
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Corsair's budget offering actually turns out to be one of its strongest. The H55 is as no-frills as it gets, but boasts a solidly performing fixed-speed fan and a respectably low price tag. You can have it for just $59, which is extremely competitive for a closed-loop liquid cooler. While no one would really argue that $59 is "cheaping out" on a processor cooler, this is nonetheless a good choice if you're on a tighter budget.
Corsair H60 (2013 Edition)
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Unfortunately, part of the reason the H55 looks so good is because the H60 performs so poorly. The H60 runs $10 more than the H55 for an arguably better PWM-controlled fan and a somewhat lesser quality waterblock. In this corner of the market, there's really no legitimate reason to spend up on the H60 when the H55 performs as well or better for less.
Corsair H80i
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The H80i is the other big winner in Corsair's lineup. While it's not an absolute killer in performance or in price, it does beat NZXT's Kraken X40 while being more compatible with different cases due to use of a thicker 120mm radiator and dual fans as opposed to the thinner 140mm radiator and single fan. You also benefit from the Corsair Link interface and software, which allows you to connect either a fan controller or an "i" series Corsair power supply to the waterblock and control them through the software. Corsair Link is much, much more robust than NZXT's solution, and Corsair has been steadily updating it since it appeared at the beginning of the year.
Corsair H100i
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Inexplicably, Corsair's flagship dual-length solution is only able to at most achieve parity with the H80i. You can theoretically produce superior cooling performance by adding yet two more fans to the H100i, but you become increasingly at the mercy of your case's clearance, already an issue just by virtue of going with a dual-length radiator like this one. At the time of this writing, NewEgg is selling the H100i for cheaper than the H80i, so they may know something there as well. Either way, the H100i is a very hard sell when the H80i provides both better value and better compatibility.
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AdamK47 - Wednesday, December 26, 2012 - link
The Water 2.0 Extreme is also made by Asetek. How does this stack up agaist the NZXT Kraken X60?DrPi - Wednesday, December 26, 2012 - link
Yes, I'd like to see that too.Havor - Friday, December 28, 2012 - link
As it's radiator is about double the thickness of the X60, the X60 has about 35% more surface area, and better preforming 140mm fans.Overall i think it will be a toss up, ware i personally place my bet on the Water 2.0 Extreme.
tsponholz - Wednesday, December 26, 2012 - link
I have the Water 2.0 Performance and I'm thoroughly pleased with it. I'd love to see this series put up against this group.jonjonjonj - Sunday, December 30, 2012 - link
I agree. I just got a water2.0 today but haven't installed it yet. It was on sale for $45. How can you beat that.EzioAs - Wednesday, December 26, 2012 - link
This thing performs extremely good. Silence and cool. Maybe it's one of the benefits of 2x140mm. Corsair should've move to 140mm for the H100i/H80i when they updated it. On the other hand, choices for aftermarket 140mm fans are much lower than 120mm even though that's where the market should be heading to as you said.You said in the opening that not a lot of cases have a 140mm fan mount and dual 140mm are even less but for people who are buying these should have decent case already and most newer cases in the mid to high end segment can at least support a single 140mm.
I didn't see you mention about the fins on any of the rads. Any chance you could clarify that?
phamhlam - Wednesday, December 26, 2012 - link
Most new case come with 140mm standard for top and rear exhaust. This allows for both installation of 140mm and 120mm fans/radiator. I would be surprise to see a quality case manufacture not include one. Even mini-ITX and mini-ATX case use 140mm fan mounts.EzioAs - Wednesday, December 26, 2012 - link
Yes I did mention that chassis these days have a 140mm fan mounts but what I was trying to point out is that most people who wants to spend $80+ for a cpu cooler should at least have a decent quality case already and quality case should have 140mm fan mounts.What I really want to know is about the fins on the rads. It's almost impossible for the performance gap for the X60 and the H100i to be that wide seeing as it's just a slight increase in surface area and both coolers seem to have quality fans already. I'm guessing the X60 has a higher fins per inch rad than the H100i.
CaptainDoug - Wednesday, December 26, 2012 - link
This is exactly the review I've been looking for. This site puts out the best reviews.phamhlam - Wednesday, December 26, 2012 - link
They also have the best benchmark list and very technical articles.