Today's Hard|Forum Post
Today's Hard|Forum Post
Date:
Tuesday , February 10, 2015
Author:
Marc Adams
Editor:
Kyle Bennett
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Corsair H105 240mm Extreme Perf. AIO CPU Cooler Review

For those of you wanting a double fan radiator for your CPU cooling needs, Corsair has its Hydro Series™ H105 240mm Extreme Performance Liquid CPU Cooler. This new H105 cooler does not sit at the top of the Corsair Hydro Series, and therefore might save you a couple dollars, but we really want to know, how well does it cool you CPU?

Introduction

Recently, we have been taking a bit of a stroll down memory lane with Corsair and its line of AIO, (All-In-One) hybrid water coolers. Today we have a special treat. Corsair is introducing a new cooler in its lineup and it's called the Hydro Series™ H105 240mm Extreme Performance Liquid CPU Cooler. If you've been following our coverage of these coolers then you already know that Corsair names its coolers based on the performance level. This places the H105 right between the H100i and the H110 as you might guess.

The Corsair Hydro Series™ H105 takes it spot as the biggest AIO for 120mm fans and does away with all the extra stuff the 'i' series brings like LEDs and software control. In its place Corsair gave it a thicker radiator and the "round" water block. It should be interesting to see what this new cooler brings to the table and if Corsair can continue to blanket the AIO market from top to bottom.

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System Setup

Today's review takes place on our fourth generation [H]ard platform. The test bed consists of the ASUS Z87-Deluxe motherboard, eight gigabytes of Corsair 1600 MHz DDR3 RAM and the Intel Core i7 4770K.

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Test Methods

CPU

The biggest change you will notice is the removal of hardware testing. In recent years, Intel has shifted their methods of testing to software based and so we find it acceptable to do the same.

GPU

Once again we have an integrated GPU in our processor which alleviates the need for a discrete one. With the removal of a discrete GPU comes the advantage of not having an additional variable to account for.

The iGPU will not create any anomalies in our testing as long as we practice consistent testing methods.

Case

Corsair was kind enough to provide us with their Carbide series chassis. It provides excellent airflow and interior space and is a good reflection on current case design.

Thermal Paste

Noctua's NT-H1 thermal paste was selected as the paste of choice for a few key reasons. The thermal paste has been shown to provide excellent thermal conductivity allowing the heat sinks to better do their job. There is no observed curing time. That is, performance does not get any better over time. Any curing time could have introduced variables into the equation causing at best dubious results and at worst unreliable ones.

Temperatures

Ambient temperature will be kept at 25C for the duration of the tests and measured with a MicroTemp EXP non-contact infrared thermometer and cross referenced with the Sperry Digital 4 Point thermometer. Any variance greater then 0.2C will halt the testing until temperatures return within spec for fifteen minutes.

Idle

Idle temperatures will be recorded after a twenty minute period of inactivity. Any fluctuation during the last sixty seconds will reset the timer for an additional five minutes.

Load

Load temperatures will be recorded after a twenty minute period for air cooled systems, and thirty minutes for liquid cooled systems, at 100% load. To obtain this load we will be using AIDA64 Extreme Edition v3.00.2500. This places an even greater load on the CPU than before and includes some benefits. Because the load is so extreme we see the temperature vary wildly from 72C to 86C in some instances. To get an accurate reading we will utilize AIDA64’s ability to average the temperature over time. Given twenty/thirty minutes at 100% load we arrive at a temperature that accurately represents our heatsink’s performance.

Sound

Sound levels will be measured with a Reliability Direct AR824 sound meter from a distance of four feet away. With everything turned off and the room completely silent the meter registered a sound level of 38dB(A). This is a very quiet room where a simple pin drop could be heard. All sound measurements are recorded in the very late evening to further reduce any ambient noise.