Corsair Hydro Series H50 CPU Water Cooling Kit Review

[Major_A]

I'm sorry if I missed this in the article but is there a reason why Corsair is stating such stringent stipulations on how you install the unit? It goes against everything we know pulling air into the case from the rear case fans.

Corsair stated to us that is how they wanted it tested, it also says to reverse the flow in the directions. If a company wants their product tested a certain way that is fine by me. Doing the push/pull testing was something that Corsair did not ask for and that we did on our weeks ago. We've been working on this review for nearly two months, but it got held up to some product revisions.

I knew they wanted it tested a certain way but did they ever give you a specific reason why? Like I said before their "ideal" settings for testing are completely against the grain of what we have learned in computer airflow.

[Apoptosis]

I'm sorry if I missed this in the article but is there a reason why Corsair is stating such stringent stipulations on how you install the unit? It goes against everything we know pulling air into the case from the rear case fans.

Corsair stated to us that is how they wanted it tested, it also says to reverse the flow in the directions. If a company wants their product tested a certain way that is fine by me. Doing the push/pull testing was something that Corsair did not ask for and that we did on our weeks ago. We've been working on this review for nearly two months, but it got held up to some product revisions.

I knew they wanted it tested a certain way but did they ever give you a specific reason why? Like I said before their "ideal" settings for testing are completely against the grain of what we have learned in computer airflow.

Major_A, I'm not going to speculate why Corsair wanted it done that way. Here is a scan of the reviewers guide from Corsair explaining how to properly setup the Corsair H50. They talk about the balance of airflow, whatever that means. Corsair gave many tips for best performance to us int he reviewers guide and over the phone... Some of the things mentioned for better performance included not to test in a case with side fans, not to test in a case with top fans, not to test on the open bench.... They wanted it tested in a case with a limited number of fans with the airflow reversed. I personally tested one of these samples on the TRUE and found it to be 1-2C warmer than the TRUE 1366 on the open test bench.

corsair_flow.jpg (78.3 KiB) Viewed 9933 times

[Major_A]

The only way I see this working at all is if the case you install it in uses a bottom mounted PSU. At any type of stringent load my Corsair TX650 starts expelling some pretty warm air. If the H50 were sitting right below that then all the unit would be doing would be returning even hotter air to the system. Seems like something with this many stipulations wasn't really that well thought out and executed.

On top of that, not many people would be willing to change the air flow of all the case fans. My little 300 has 5 fans that I would have to change. If you have a higher end case, say a 1200, I don't see someone doing this. But then again I guess this product isn't really targeted at someone with a 1200 or equivalent case.

[Apoptosis]

My personal recommendations for this cooler are for someone with a small case that wants to overclock or run watercooling for fun. It will work better in cases without fans on the case door and if I personally used one of theses I would not reverse the airflow.

As you noted, the PSU placement and number of case fans will play a role in the purchasing decisions.

[rkaye]

Thanks for sacrificing the H50 to look at the internals. May I please have an opinion on the feasibility of modding the H50? Can the tubes be carefully removed and replaced without destroying the unit? Would very much like to mount the radiator externally (Antec 902 case with pre-cut tube holes).

...and possibly replace the liquid with non-conductive fluid.

[rkaye]

Answering my own question: Shane said that detaching the hoses would more than likely kill the unit. Detaching the hoses would likely introduce a air bubble and/or change the head pressure to the pump. There is no real way to remove the air bubble that would be introduced, or to top off the coolant, other than adding a reservoir into the loop and trying to get the reservoir fittings to fit the tube.

Bummer.

[davidm71]

Couple questions:
What fsb and vcore was used to test overclock temps?

Also Amd am3 compatible?

And I would assume that blowing air in from rear would suck in hot video card exhaust?


Thanks.

[bubba]

To get the 3.5Ghz I have the host clock set to 175, and the CPU votage at 1.25v.

As for it being AM3 compatible..there is a bracket for AM2/AM3 sockets.

[davidm71]

To get the 3.5Ghz I have the host clock set to 175, and the CPU votage at 1.25v.

As for it being AM3 compatible..there is a bracket for AM2/AM3 sockets.

So stock vcore? I assume its a D0?

Though I got to say nice review. I appreciate you mentioning the ambient temp. Not a lot of reviewers will do that. Writing such a review imo is like writing a scientific paper for nature magazine. Its all in the details.

I'm thinking of using the H50 in a HTPC due to its low profile. In my HTPC case my psu is suspended over the cpu stock amd heatsink with only like an inch to spare. Wonder if it will fit. Also wonder for a HTPC do I really want to overclock it. Guess only when I'm doing video h264 conversions maybe...

Also wonder what its baseplate looks like on the inside? Got to google that one...

Thanks.

[bubba]

No need to google, page 3 of the review http://www.legitreviews.com/article/1025/3/



As for it fitting in the HTPC case, I'll dig it out and measure the height of the block. If its as tight as it sounds I doubt it will fit.

[shamrok3]

Looks Great! Makes me consider swapping out my Air Cooling.

[Nick Burns]

In the Push/Pull (exhausting air out the back) which fan do you regulate to the CPU_FAN connector?

[bubba]

you can run both with a Y splitter like this http://www.performance-pcs.com/catalog/ ... cts_id=141

[Major_A]

It's my understanding that two fans on a splitter connected to a motherboard header doesn't work. Since neither fan will run at the same speed it just seems like it wouldn't work.

[bubba]

Never had one not work, and they run at full RPMs.

If you are thinking of the RPM read out one of the fans are missing that wire so only one is reporting the RPM.

There are several dual fan coolers that out that are hard wired this way and some that come with the Y splitter.

[Nick Burns]

Figures! Just when I order the H50, Corsair comes out with H70! I've now canceled my order and will wait for the H70 to become available next week. Luckily I was able to cancel my order in time! Still ordered some Noctua NF-P12 fans though.