Corsair Hydro H50 CPU Water Cooler

[stiltman]

I'm thinking about getting a new CPU cooler. I read about the Corsair in a couple of other threads.
Since a couple of you are using it, I would like your feedback on quietness and efficiency.

Here's what SPCR says about it. http://www.silentpcreview.com/article1042-page7.html
Are they just overly critical?

For me it would most likely fit my purpose. I have a very tight case, and the Corsair would fit where my current 120mm fan is located. I would also redirect all my fans opposite of what they are now. The rear Corsair would now pull in air instead of pushing air out. That way it would be pulling cooler air across the radiator. My front and side fans would then be pushing air out instead of pulling it in.

feedback?

[Noahtuck]

Are they just overly critical?

From my experience, i'd say OH YEAH!!!

* Loud, buzzy pump

If you read through my thread when i built my new system i stated, it was running so quiet when i first turned it on i was not sure if the pump was even running!!
And i have it set up so the pump is running FULL POWER 100% of the time.

* Poor performance/noise ratio

Not from my experience so far....
Way quiet and dropped my quad 3.0ghz so good i'm surprised frost does not build up on my system!!
LOL!!

* No fan soft mounting option

Not sure how that's a negative

* Expensive

I was looking at some other CPU coolers that cost the same price and more.
Standard heatsink & fan that were way huge and heavy and would have put WAY more weight and stress hanging sideways off the mobo!!

Back to the * No fan soft mounting option, I did a push pull like redwudz did, except i put 1 fan on the outside of the case, put the radiator inside right against the case itself, i figure being against the metal case it would help with the dissipation of heat from the radiator & the second fan inside.

And the stock fan was quiet but because i wanted a matched set of fans for the push pull i used 2 Rosewill RFA-120-K 120mm Case Fan's that are rated at 74.48 CFM & 29.28 dBA, but they are damn quiet and i run them at full power 100% of the time also.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835200048
And they were cheap enough!!

redwudz set them up to push out of the case and i did them to pull into the case, the same as all my fans, but i have a 140mm top mounted exhaust fan.

I'm sure it would be okay to do it the way you want, what's the worst you would have to do ?
Turn a fan or 2 around ?

I might try it this way, h50 fan pulling into the case, side fans pulling into the case and the front fan exhausting.
That was at least you have a second intake pulling straight cooled air into the case.

Bottom line, i recommend these to everyone and i would not hesitate a second to buy one again!!
When i build my 6 core i will end up buying one of the H70's
http://www.corsair.com/products/h70/default.aspx

For the $$ & the performance, i doubt you will find anything better!!

As far as the "MP3's" go, i have not even listened to them yet as i think that is a total joke trying to hear how loud something runs without actually sitting there and hearing it with your own ears.

EDIT:

the noise of the pump would remain a problem. The pump generates a loud buzzing sound like that of a toy motor, so no matter how well the H50 performs, in a closed case or otherwise, it will always be louder than a traditional high performance air cooler unless you use a loud fan to drown it out.

Either they got a goofy pump, set it up badly or have BAT EARS!!!
LOL!!
I had to hold mine for a minute to feel it running, i sure as hell could not hear it!!

[Noahtuck]

LOL!!!

Okay, i just listened to the "MP3's" they have of the pump motor, i don't know about redwudz, but like i said,

1. Either they got a goofy pump by freak chance ?

2. Mounted it badly and it's vibrating because of it being loose or out of balance ?

3. Maybe they did not angle it before mounting it to maybe get any air out of the pump and up into the radiator ?

Not sure but mine is dead quiet!

I also think it is ridiculous for them to give a negative review, or point out a negative aspect when i am sure they only tested ONE unit.
When 1000's of something are produced, you always end up with a small percentage that end up being below par that slip out.

I put as much credence into their review as i would any critic about any product or movie.

[16mmJunkie]

I have no noise problems with my H50!! My CPU runs at between 27-30 C at most times! My System is OC as well! Well worth the money. I had to check to make sure the H50 was working correctly, it was so quiet to me. Like Noatuck, when I go to 8 cores (currently have a i7 930 OC), I'll look at the Corsair again. I have suggested the H50 to many already.





If the Light ain't Bright, It ain't Right!!

[redwudz]

I equate the 'noise' of the H50 to a quiet aquarium pump. Unless you put your ear to the the case, you aren't likely to hear it running. My low RPM case fans are louder. I've been using it for a month or so and I can't find any faults. It also reduced my case temps as the air cooled CPU coolers were apparently adding to the case temps.

As I mentioned before, I put both push-pull fans as exhaust as I didn't want to deal with air filtration. My case has good air filters. If you do plan to use the fans as intake only, consider a air filter because if the radiator fins plug, they may be very difficult to clean. I'm satisfied with my CPU temps that max out at 40C with all six cores at 100% and the CPU overclocked from 2.8Ghz to 3.5Ghz. Best cooling setup I have used so far.

With any case you have to be thinking about air through flow. I think you realize that if you have all fans as exhaust, or intake, it's not very efficient. I like the setup where the intake fans are a bit more powerful than the exhaust fans. That gives you a slight positive pressure in the case and increased air velocity on the exhaust.

My intake fans have easy to clean filters, so I don't have a internal dust problem. Some cases use side intakes without filters that can blow dust directly in. My particular case has two 120mm intakes and a single 120mm exhaust and that I replaced that with the H50 fans. It didn't make sense to me to use the H50 fans as intake as then I wouldn't have any exhaust except for the PS fan and the case vents.

I didn't use the fan provided with the H50 as I wanted to use PWM (Pulse Width Modulated) fans. The Gelid fans I use are very quiet. I've been happy with that choice as it does help to keep down fan noise. I haven't tried the H50 stock fan, so I have no idea how it sounds. Corsair recommends using matched fans if you decide to use the push-pull setup, so that was another reason to go with after market fans.

One note: With the H50 in place, you may not be getting sufficient cooling for your RAM or Northbridge chip. They rely on air blown off a standard air CPU cooler. I added a small fan to blow on both of them. Hard to tell how much difference this makes, but the Northbridge and RAM temps seem OK.

The H50 is still a good alternative to full blown water cooling. The price is reasonable and the performance, ease of setup vs cost is good.

EDIT: One other minor point. My exhaust case fan mount has a raised grille, so no way to mount the second case fan externally on that. And there was enough room to mount the second fan internally.

[Noahtuck]

My intake fans have easy to clean filters, so I don't have a internal dust problem. Some cases use side intakes without filters that can blow dust directly in.

Yep, i use foam filters on all my intake fans.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811995048
Pop them off a couple of times a week and blow them out.
And even side intakes you can mount filters, i even have one on my other PC that only has a single 80mm intake fan on the side.

It's pretty amazing, that PC is inside a desk, turned on only half the time that my main PC is on, and once a week when i pull it out to check the side filter that thing is dusty as heck!!

And all my PC's are in my basement where there really is no airflow from outside.

I would not think the radiator would get any more clogged than a CPU heatsink/fan but i could see it because it is sucking air more directly from outside the case, but it probably would not be any worse to blow it out as long as you did it regularly (once a week at least).

But the radiator on the H50 is the reason i decided to use filters for the first time ever.