Final words and conclusion
Final words and conclusion
With the H115i and H150i PRO Corsair seems to be aiming at a more audiophile market. We still need to test that H115i PRO though, but it is clear that the new norm is silence. Basically, two things have changed over the predecessor sets, the styling and fans. For the fans, Corsair migrated to their new ML line. Magnetic Levitation equals to little to no friction, and at low RPM you gain pretty terrific airflow whilst hardly making noise. That certainly shows in the DBa measurements as this kit easily was one of the most silent ones we have ever tested. Now I do need to make a note here, all our samples made some noise at the pump, a bit of grinding and crackling noises. You will not likely hear that in a closed chassis, but on an open bench-table, it could be heard. By placing the pump into the silent mode you will forfeit ~2 Degrees C under processor load, however, only then I can label this unit as 100% quiet while you are still enjoying the cooling capacity from a liquid cooler. And if you configure the fans at 900 rpm, they are amazing ... whilst offering great airflow, yet being totally silent.
Aesthetics & Design
The overall looks are very nice if you ask me, that however is a subjective statement of course. You will get that all black design with the subtle shades of grey makes it an appealing product to the eyes. New is the chrome element and LED unit on the cooling block, totally programmable. It seems and looks subtle and can be configured to your preference. And if you aren't into the RGB hype, simply don't activate it and your problem is solved. While we're on that topic, the added benefit if you use LINK is that you not only change the color animation of the Corsair logo embedded into the cooling block, but you can match up any RGB color. We can imagine that with an ASUS ROG themed motherboard you'd change that to red, perhaps orange or orange with an accompanying Gigabyte Aorus motherboard and perhaps white with an MSI Titanium series motherboard. As subtle as that LED is, it really does bring a 'finished' feel to your final PC build and color theme.
Installation
The H115i Pro is very easy to install with its mounting system. The unit is factory filled with coolant in a closed loop. Just install the backplate, the standoff-screws, position the cooler and secure it. The black design will make this kit look great on any PC. It simply is a good alternative to heat-pipe coolers with the added benefits of being fairly quiet whilst offering very nice looks. No 'advanced' skills are required other than the need for ten minutes to install the kit.
Pricing
The Corsair H150i Pro will be introduced at 169 USD and the 280mm H115i Pro at 139 USD. We expect roughly similar prices in the EU, but that depends on the VAT in your country and the USD to EURO differential.
Conclusion
The new Hydro series H115i/150i is the new long awaited update towards Corsairs LCS kits. Both kits look just terrific, offers pleasant configuration for your cooling preferences and RGB lighting needs as well as it is offering good performance. Next, to performance, the cooling capacity felt great. As shown in the tweaking segment, we had no issues tweaking the processor while adding a nauseating 1.40/1.45 volts to the CPU. The most important factor of this release has to be the silent fan operation. If you group thermal performance towards coolant temperature then you're in for a surprise, the two 140mm ML fans are doing a great job at a near silent experience. The pump, however, can be heard slightly in a default setup, it makes a slight grinding noise. However with LINK placing the pump into quiet mode turns this LCS kit into something you cannot hear. Perhaps, in a closed system, you could never hear that default setting either. But we did notice it, and as such do report our findings. We also heard this on the H150i. But hey, load up LINK and set the pump in quiet mode and it's gone. If we solely zoom in at performance then for an AIO kit this definitely is offering nice performance in its default configuration, it remains to be a very silent product (depending on how you configure it) and offers proper cooling capacity. A small additional bonus is the LED lit Corsair logo and ring which you can color to an RGB preference of your linking with the help of LINK software. LINK itself is has had some pretty huge upgrades, and I do like it but do hope to see it merged with Corsair CUE application so that everything can be controlled by one application. One remark that I have made in the H150i review applies here as well, there is a fair amount of wires leading out and into the cooling block. So design wise there is more cable clutter to deal with, it's all fairly easy to tuck away though. Alright, concluding, cooling performance is pretty good, the low noise levels are great, combined with the aesthetics, ease of installation and the RGB coloring logo with LINK functionality we can certainly recommend the new Hydro series. With the help of LINK please do set your pump at silent mode and your fans at 700~800 RPM - when you do just that, equilibrium and enjoy that sheer silence ;-)
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