Corsair H115i PRO review

Hilbert Hagedoorn

Administrator

2018-01-19 15:01

ubercake:

The problem I've had with any self-contained liquid cooling solutions for CPUs that I've tried from NZXT Krakens through Corsair solutions (tried just about every one up to the 110i) is the fans get so darned loud I can't stand it. All the reviews said these things were quieter than anything else and it never turned out that way for me no matter the case ambient temperature. I used these things for 5 years, exclusively, swapping them out one for another and couldn't find one of which I could stand the sound. Then I turned to the NH-D15 and couldn't believe the difference. It controlled temps better. Max temps were 10C lower at load than the 110i and the fans multitudes quieter than any of the self-contained liquid cooling solutions I have used. I hate the big chunk of metal blocking everything in my case and I've sliced a finger a few times on the fins while working around the NH-D15, but hands down it's done a better job than any of the pre-built liquid solutions I've tried. If this Corsair is really that quiet, it would be worth a try.

Uber, You mention 5 years old, and that = ancient in hardware land. I run the Kraken X62 on my primary graphics card test rig as setup in silent mode (5960X 8c/16t @ 4.2 GHz), it CANNOT be hard whatsoever. Same with this Corsair kit, tweak fan RPM with the fantastic ML fans (like I advise) and you cannot hear this kit.

#5512318

Gromuhl'Djun

2018-01-19 15:18

Seems pretty ok, but look at that NH-D15 go! No regrets getting that one quite a while ago. Very nice to see so many coolers compared in these tests Hilbert!

#5512363

Solfaur

2018-01-19 18:21

If I turn the fans to max on my 115i it's like my PC is about to take off (2400 RPM on 140mm fans!!!). They do cool excellently (and my 5820K at 4.4GHz requires a LOT of cooling), but if my case wouldn't be so sturdy I would be afraid it would collapse, that's how strong an airflow they create. 😱 Now that it's winter I can have a more relaxed profile in Corsair Link, however in summer when it's getting to 30-40 degrees celsius ambient temp I increase RPM a lot and I'll just use my headphones more often, so I can cancel out the noise from the fans. That or I revert to stock clocks. #1 reason why I hate summer. 😛

#5512392

Robbo9999

2018-01-19 20:05

Solfaur:

If I turn the fans to max on my 115i it's like my PC is about to take off (2400 RPM on 140mm fans!!!). They do cool excellently (and my 5820K at 4.4GHz requires a LOT of cooling), but if my case wouldn't be so sturdy I would be afraid it would collapse, that's how strong an airflow they create. 😱 Now that it's winter I can have a more relaxed profile in Corsair Link, however in summer when it's getting to 30-40 degrees celsius ambient temp I increase RPM a lot and I'll just use my headphones more often, so I can cancel out the noise from the fans. That or I revert to stock clocks. #1 reason why I hate summer. 😛

Delidding your CPU with liquid metal is the thing to do if you really hate the noise during the Summer, I got a 13 degC drop in temperature by doing so - it's a real boon to realise that you don't have to run your fans anywhere near max - since doing so all the fans in my case (CPU/GPU/case fans) never spin more than 75% (I've configured it that way). I know delidding invalidates your warranty, but if you value silence it's a no brainer. Combine a good air cooler or liquid cooler with a delid, and you're set! EDIT: although if your room temperatures is 40 degC then you probably need to spin the fans faster regardless, but in the region of 15 degC drop in CPU temperature is not to be sniffed at. Max room temperature I've had is 27 degC.

#5512411

Solfaur

2018-01-19 21:03

Robbo9999:

Delidding your CPU with liquid metal is the thing to do if you really hate the noise during the Summer, I got a 13 degC drop in temperature by doing so - it's a real boon to realise that you don't have to run your fans anywhere near max - since doing so all the fans in my case (CPU/GPU/case fans) never spin more than 75% (I've configured it that way). I know delidding invalidates your warranty, but if you value silence it's a no brainer. Combine a good air cooler or liquid cooler with a delid, and you're set! EDIT: although if your room temperatures is 40 degC then you probably need to spin the fans faster regardless, but in the region of 15 degC drop in CPU temperature is not to be sniffed at. Max room temperature I've had is 27 degC.

Yeah it sucks, it's a combination of hot summers, small gaming room and sun shines in all afternoon (and the at night it's actually still hot because of the asphalt cooling). I have the AC on most of the time, and that one alone is noisy too so yeah... I'm too afraid of deliding, and I'm still pissed that people have to do this, especially for high end CPUs which cost a ton and should have this done by default. 😡

#5512437

Tone

2018-01-19 22:42

I wanted a new cooler and my sister and wife bought me The Hydro H150i PRO RGB for xmas, this cooler is great, very quite and the zero rpm works great, the cooler block is quite big thought, I'm running on a ROG RAMPAGE VI APEX with 32gb ram and i9-7900X, delidded and overclocked to 4.7, the temp are not bad at full throttle gets to around 70 + never gone above 75, and most part to 55 to 65, Origins gets the most heat when playing, I must admit though since the microcode bios update for the intel problem it seemed to have pushed up a bit as before never went above 68

#5512448

tunejunky

2018-01-19 23:18

interesting. in the US, you can get an Asetek (Enermax) 240mm aio from about $70. couple that with the two pack of the Corsair ML 120 ($40) to get the same thing as the 240mm version of Corsair's for $50 less, with "rgb" and w/o corsairlink

#5512498

Corbus

2018-01-20 03:48

ubercake:

The problem I've had with any self-contained liquid cooling solutions for CPUs that I've tried from NZXT Krakens through Corsair solutions (tried just about every one up to the 110i) is the fans get so darned loud I can't stand it. All the reviews said these things were quieter than anything else and it never turned out that way for me no matter the case ambient temperature. I used these things for 5 years, exclusively, swapping them out one for another and couldn't find one of which I could stand the sound. Then I turned to the NH-D15 and couldn't believe the difference. It controlled temps better. Max temps were 10C lower at load than the 110i and the fans multitudes quieter than any of the self-contained liquid cooling solutions I have used. I hate the big chunk of metal blocking everything in my case and I've sliced a finger a few times on the fins while working around the NH-D15, but hands down it's done a better job than any of the pre-built liquid solutions I've tried. If this Corsair is really that quiet, it would be worth a try.

I only had a h115 from corsair but my experience is the same, even with maglev fans from corsair, it gets loud, dunno if its too warm in my apartment but i moved to the nh-d15 and temp wise not a whole lot of difference ,but noise related its night and day, noctua is really quiet. But i like overclocking high, and decided 4.6-4.7 ghz isnt enough but i dont want to delid, so i bought a custom loop from EK, can't wait to get home and assemble it, it's my first ever.

#5512585

H83

2018-01-20 12:36

I´m not a big fan of liquid cooling but i really like cooler, specially the fact that it´s silent. If the cooler was 80€ max i would give it a try just for fun but at 140€ is too much. And they really should come with a more elegant solution for all those wires, they ruin the look and seem like Corsair forgot they needed them and then added them in the last minute...

#5512602

Robbo9999

2018-01-20 13:57

Solfaur:

Yeah it sucks, it's a combination of hot summers, small gaming room and sun shines in all afternoon (and the at night it's actually still hot because of the asphalt cooling). I have the AC on most of the time, and that one alone is noisy too so yeah... I'm too afraid of deliding, and I'm still pissed that people have to do this, especially for high end CPUs which cost a ton and should have this done by default. 😡

Definitely, Intel should have optimised the thermal interface between the silicon and the IHS - delidding brings so much improvement in temps that Intel's current solution is far far away from being optimised, and it almost makes a mockery of people buying high end coolers in a bid to get reasonable temperatures!

#5512612

blackdog62

2018-01-20 15:50

Gromuhl'Djun:

Seems pretty ok, but look at that NH-D15 go! No regrets getting that one quite a while ago. Very nice to see so many coolers compared in these tests Hilbert!

Ya I look at how all the AIO's do against that Noctua cooler. They do know how to build an air cooler and now there's options to fan colours finally.

#5512630

Order_66

2018-01-20 19:37

ubercake:

I'm going to have to try this one.

I just installed this a few hours ago and it's dead quiet, my old cooler was H100i v2 and, like so many others, the pump died after 1 year. My cpu is hard to cool because I've got it OC'd so high but I'm using the noctua NT-H1 instead of arctic silver and I haven't seen temps go past 45c while using prime 95, my old cooler I would hit 60-63c. That's with "balanced" on everything, I tried the zero rpm mode and the fans stopped as expected but temps went way up so I'm sticking with balanced for now. Quite an upgrade from the H100i v2 in all areas.

#5512634

Order_66

2018-01-20 19:51

My only gripe about this cooler, and yeah it's my fault because my case is so old, the radiator mounts would not line up with my cooler master HAF case, my case is an old one but my previous H100i V2 fit perfectly. I think I bought this case in 2011 and have never had a legitimate reason to buy a new one until now 😀

#5512743

ChisChas

2018-01-21 16:44

Solfaur:

Yeah it sucks, it's a combination of hot summers, small gaming room and sun shines in all afternoon

My study/gaming room suffers from being too bright & hot on warm summer mornings, I got reflection on my Dell U2711 even with the blind closed. Solution? Window film = much less solar gain and no reflections on my monitor.

#5512745

ChisChas

2018-01-21 16:47

Koniakki:

Its been at the top for like, forever.. To the point that each time HH reviews a new Air/AiO cooler, I can't wait to reach the test

+1 I have the H110 in my Scan system, it came with the last gen Corsair fans which were too noisy. Had the H110 and rear case fans replaced with Noctua fans, much quieter now.

#5646225

-Tj-

2019-03-04 21:49

So I have this cooler now, it's ultra quiet, I've manually plugged fans in both cpu headers and then control them via AI suite3, but I was wondering what is the default out of the box pump speed? I googled a bit and someone at corsair forums said it's set to 1100rpm until 40C, is that correct? seems a bit low for my liking though, do I really need to connect it to usb and then install that link/icue to set it to higher speed? http://forum.corsair.com/forums/showthread.php?p=986076 Well I already use both USB 2.0 headers on mobo, so my only option is to route that cable on the back of the case, so its not really optimal, but I would do it just to set it in and forget it and disconnect later.

#5646239

Solfaur

2019-03-04 22:31

-Tj-:

Well I already use both USB 2.0 headers on mobo, so my only option is to route that cable on the back of the case, so its not really optimal, but I would do it just to set it in and forget it and disconnect later.

I had the same problem when I had to install my H115i & RM1000i and connect both to C-link, fixed it with one of these: https://sta3-nzxtcorporation.netdna-ssl.com/uploads/product_image/image/277/large_b636ffe946020abe.png I never bothered with updating C-link to the new unified CUE or whatever it's called, as I can control everything just fine from the old C-link version I'm using, and don't want to deal with the potential headaches. No idea what the default fan speeds on H115i Pro are, but you are right assume they are quite low, and since the fans are so silent, especially compared to original H115i, I'd go for a more aggressive fan curve anyway.

#5646242

-Tj-

2019-03-04 22:36

Solfaur:

I had the same problem when I had to install my H115i & RM1000i and connect both to C-link, fixed it with one of these: https://sta3-nzxtcorporation.netdna-ssl.com/uploads/product_image/image/277/large_b636ffe946020abe.png I never bothered with updating C-link to the new unified CUE or whatever it's called, as I can control everything just fine from the old C-link version I'm using, and don't want to deal with the potential headaches. No idea what the default fan speeds on H115i Pro are, but you are right assume they are quite low, and since the fans are so silent, especially compared to original H115i, I'd go for a more aggressive fan curve anyway.

Thanks. Actually fan goes max up to 1130rpm, but I was wondering about pump speed, someone said it's at quiet mode by default out of the box so apparently 1100rpm, and I can't control that unless I connect it to USB, otherwise that SATA plug can't be monitored

#5646548

Solfaur

2019-03-05 16:55

-Tj-:

Thanks. Actually fan goes max up to 1130rpm, but I was wondering about pump speed, someone said it's at quiet mode by default out of the box so apparently 1100rpm, and I can't control that unless I connect it to USB, otherwise that SATA plug can't be monitored

O yeah, for that one it's worth a shot. There is virtually no audible difference between the pump's default "Quiet" and "Performance" mode. Now I don't know if there's a significant difference cooling performance wise either, but I always ran mine on "Performance" from day 1.

#5647320

nick0323

2019-03-07 12:56

I like this cooler, my 9700k on stock runs at 52 degrees max in Apex Legends. Haven't had much time for other testing yet.