Introduction
Corsair Hydro Series H115i PRO
We review the new Corsair Hydro Series H115i PRO - the dual-fan 280mm model of the AIO Liquid cooler series that Corsair releases. With a tiny bit of RGB, bling Corsair promises to deliver ultra-silent performance with more than adequate cooling capacity.
The H115i PRO LCS cooler has a 280mm radiator with corresponding dual 140mm fans. The 'I' in the naming refers towards LINK software. This allows you to program, customize and monitor this all-in-one liquid cooling solution for your processor. Armed with two ML (Magnetic Levitation) PWM based fans and that radiator the cooling capacity should be good. The Corsair's LINK applications will also allow you to customize LED lighting directly from the software. These days you can pick a hundred different heatpipe based coolers, where many are shaped, formed and priced the same. The better heatpipe based coolers are good though. Next in line are LCS systems (liquid cooling), the entry-level products are affordable, easy to install pre-fab liquid cooling kits. We've seen and tested many of them as Corsair, Asetek, CoolIT, NZXT, Cooler Master and so on, all have interesting kits. The bigger problem is cooling performance. The gear behind these kits are good yet the performance is often battling a small included 120mm radiator with thin tubing and lacking coolant levels due to missing reservoirs. To compensate FAN RPM goes up making a good looking product noisy again. With that in mind, Corsair started to develop a new H series (for Hydro) coolers. The product we test in specific is the Corsair H150 PRO. It is an updated design based on the previous models, yet with a new cooling block and regulated control for pump and fans. Next to that what's interesting is that this product (for this review) is based on a 280mm radiator which gives it quite a bit of cooling surface area. It is a cooler series that is easy on the eyes, has very subtle RGB lighting with control and comes with a relatively tool free installation. The unit will offer good performance, not exceptional as key for this release are low noise levels. In fact, especially for this new product, you can select an optional 0-DBA mode. As long as the coolant stays under 40 Degrees C the fans do not spin, which is something we have seen for the past two years on most graphics cards we well.
The H115i PRO is compatible with Corsair's LINK software. You hook up the LCS unit towards a USB port and then the software allows you to program, customize and monitor this easy to install liquid cooling solution. So without further ado, let's have a peek at the new 280mm PRO model with new looks and configurability, head onwards into the review.
