Everyone tells me that these things are awesome, and even the install-videos say the same thing. Hassle-free water cooling with great performance and no issues, at all. It sounded too good to be true, and in a way it was.
First of all, I'd like to say that I've been owning and building PC's since the days of the 8086, I am by no meaning of the word a "newbie" in adding/removing/upgrading components, I always build my own rigs to my own preferences and never care about those Alienware-things. I do my own cable-mods, shrink-socks, and I've installed hundreds and hundreds of heatsinks and fans, both properly and guerrilla style with "what's available".
So I figured installing the h80i would be a complete walk in the park, and boy oh boy it wasn't.
First thing first, if you ever get one of these things, DO NOT follow the step-by-step instructions, they are the biggest lie you'll ever be told and doing so will completely hamper your progress. For whatever reason, I did follow it this time. It's my first water cooled system, so I figured there'd be stuff I'd be new at, so at page 1 it said to mount my radiator + 2 fans at the back of the case. Said and done, right? No, because the radiator screw mounts are flimsy as fuck on this thing, the screw threads on one of them actually broke when I was hand-screwing the thing to the side, I wasn't being violent, I was just following the instructions... (famous last words). Also, they forgot to ship the 8 screw spacers, so I had to improvise my own.
Since I'm able to improvise solutions I finally got the radiator and fans in place, and turned to page 2 to get to step two, which was to mount the back plate to the motherboard. Sweet! Now I just have to remove the motherboa... wait, to do that, I have to remove the radiator. OK, this is where I realized I should've read the whole step by step progress before actually starting it (and at this time I was really frustrated, because I thought my chassis had a removable back plate for the mobo, but that was a previous computer).
So I remove the radiator, attach the flimsy ass plastic back plate Corsair sent and screwed in the distances. Reattached the radiator and fans, and then everything should be fine.
So I progress to the part where I'm supposed to attach the unit to the back plate, via a clamp (using four screws). But at this point I look at the copper bottom and see one of these standard grey heatpads that I've ALWAYS removed, so I take some proper solvent and remove that thing, clean my CPU, and apply a thin layer of AS5. At this point I figure this attachment should be no more or less difficult than screwing on a regular CPU heatsink with a fan, so I do my old "cross trick", and attach the thing screwing on the thumb screws with opposing corners to get the thing balanced properly on the core.
Done and done? Right.
Wrong.
I attach the cables to the fans, and the power supply to the pump and the USB connector, and boot the thing up. Everything starts up just fine. Except the CPU temperature at idle is at 80 degrees Celsius. Radiator temp is at 19C, so it can't be that so I conclude that the "heatsink" itself must be poorly attached. It has happened once or twice before that I forgot to attach the screws properly, so I quickly shut the thing down and start screwing it together, using a screwdriver this time to make sure.
So I boot the thing up again, and the temperature is about the same, 80C in idle, "WTF?". So dismount the heatsink, look at the copper edge and I see about three small dabs of AS5 on the copper plate, which means little or no contact at all between the "heatsink" and the CPU, the only and obvious explanation of course. I start by checking the distances, and these things are so flimsy (attached to a plastic back plate, come on) it's not even funny. In spite of being screwed down tight, you can push them and they'll wiggle a little. I screw them down a bit more, clean the copper and cpu surfaces, reapply AS5, press the "heatsink" down make sure the "heatsink" is centered dead on the CPU and screws, attach the thing again. And go for attempt #3 at booting the damn thing up.
Idle temp: 60 degrees C.
(At this point I'm getting pissed off)
I take the thing apart and look at the copper plate, about 1/3:rd of it has AS5 on it, so I quickly start using a trial-and-error method of wiping it, screwing it down, removing it and checking the backplate for AS5 "goo". After about 4 attempts and pushing the "heatsink" so it is misaligned horizontally, I get about 80% contact surface, between the CPU and the copper plate, and decide to go with that (this is literaly hours from starting to attach this thing, and by this time I'm sweating, annoyed and frustrated). So once again I boot up the computer.
OK, that's a whole lot better. But I am still annoyed about the fact that I didn't get full coverage, but I just CBA to wiggle that fucking thing anymore, so I start doing a load test. Full CPU load for 30 minutes, CPU temperature rises to about 70 degrees Celsius. And the radiator never gets above 24 degrees.
My impression thus far of the h80i is "Meh". I don't know if it's an issue with the one I got, or just the fact that no one tells you how fucking poorly the attachment is designed. Heatsink manufacturers have done this right for years, but apparently if you're Corsair a plastic back plate and some flimsy distances that wiggle and are completely unreliable is "the next gen of cooling attachment". Hell my stock cooler had a better system, Basically all I had to do was to push four different buttons that pressed and attached the thing to the motherboard, 100% connection between the core and the "heatsink", never an issue.
So now I'm debating whether to keep this thing or just buy a new and proper heatsink and fans and never look Corsairs way again.
So I progress to the part where I'm supposed to attach the unit to the back plate, via a clamp (using four screws). But at this point I look at the copper bottom and see one of these standard grey heatpads that I've ALWAYS removed, so I take some proper solvent and remove that thing, clean my CPU, and apply a thin layer of AS5.
Before, I had AS5 + a Mugen 3 on it; by no means the top air cooler, but a good one nonetheless. That had it idling at about 37-38 in a pretty open case (mesh at the front, 120x120 hole in the side panel, same for the back). Now it's in a Silencio 550, which has nowhere near that kind of possible airflow.
You wouldn't have had to reattach. I had absolutely no issues with the H80 (or is the H80i really that radically different all of a sudden?) other than the CPU being a little too close to the back end of the case on the mATX board I have it on, so I had to put it on rotated 90 degrees from what the guide says. Not that that should matter.
You wouldn't have had to reattach. I had absolutely no issues with the H80 (or is the H80i really that radically different all of a sudden?) other than the CPU being a little too close to the back end of the case on the mATX board I have it on, so I had to put it on rotated 90 degrees from what the guide says. Not that that should matter.
Yes I would have. The copper surface was too far from the CPU (in fact it, or the thermal paste or pad did not touch at all to begin with). Repositioning the "heatsink" so it was misaligned was the only solution. The fact that I had to do it 5 times to get a good result tells you how poorly this system is designed. The way it is now, the cpu touches about 80% of the copper surface, and it's not dead center on the "heatsink" it's a bit to the side.
The back plate thing needs to be remade, plastic? And wiggly screw sockets, srsly?
The screw distances need to be made more solidly and with a solid base.
Didnt have any problems installing my H100i, also the stock thermal paste is very good (shin-etsu). Are you sure you used right mounting screws? There is LGA2011 which are little different from 1155 and AMD ones. I even swapped my thermal paste to Phobya heGrease Extreme, and no problems. The wiggly screws are like that because it compensates how tight you mount the block.
Didnt have any problems installing my H100i, also the stock thermal paste is very good (shin-etsu). Are you sure you used right mounting screws? There is LGA2011 which are little different from 1155 and AMD ones. I even swapped my thermal paste to Phobya heGrease Extreme, and no problems. The wiggly screws are like that because it compensates how tight you mount the block.
Ahh, I always take for granted that the shit companies put on their sinks are crap. So I always buy my own thermal paste, been using Arctic Silver since forever so I stick to it out of habit. It works very well.
And yeah, I used the right ones, socket 1155 needed the thin ones on both edges while LGA2011 does not need a backplate like s1155 does.
My first attachment of the heatsink was exactly as in the video, unfortunately I had to remove it and reattach it, but not center it for it to actually have some proper contact.
Huh, strange.. I've installed two Corsair watercooling models on my rig - on my previous rig, I had the H50, now I have the H100.. Both mounted without any issues and give great, low temps.
Dunno about the i-models though, but can the difference really be that big?
But yeah, that's my personal experience with them.
Watercooled 5950X | AORUS Master X570 | Asus RTX 3090 TUF Gaming OC | 64Gb RAM | 1Tb 970 Evo Plus + 2Tb 660p | etc etc
Sell it and get the new swiftech all in one. Should be out soon. Swiftech are the kings of water cooling
Yeah, I'm not going to spend hours on casemods, cooling and shit anymore. That's why I got the h80i, because it supposedly was, and I quote the Corsair-guy from their support I just spoke to: "So easy to mount, a child could do it.". The funny thing is that he managed to troll me with that sentence so I got completely off-balance.
fisk, self-titled master of the arguments bested with the old kindergarten age-troll. Consider my ego deflated.
I didn't get much help from him, so I posted this post on sweclockers corsair support thread, maybe if they have to respond officially they'll be more well-mannered.
Sell it and get the new swiftech all in one. Should be out soon. Swiftech are the kings of water cooling
Hmm, isn't it Swiftech that manufactures Corsairs watercooler systems? I know Corsair doesn't actually make them, they just get them stamped and packaged with Corsair logos.
EDIT: Manufactured again by CoolIT, the H80i comprises a single pump attached to the copper baseplate...
EDIT2: From what I've seen it makes no difference if the fans are set to exhaust or intake, temps will stay the same, something to think about when it comes to dust. If I get a H80i/H100i I'll set them to exhaust since my intake fans all have dust filters.
Thanks fisk. I wanted to buy one of those things for my 2500k. Now I will reconsider.
Should I look at other watercooling or just get hyper 212 or i13 or macho ?
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Sell it and get the new swiftech all in one. Should be out soon. Swiftech are the kings of water cooling
Yeah, I'm not going to spend hours on casemods, cooling and shit anymore. That's why I got the h80i, because it supposedly was, and I quote the Corsair-guy from their support I just spoke to: "So easy to mount, a child could do it.". The funny thing is that he managed to troll me with that sentence so I got completely off-balance.
fisk, self-titled master of the arguments bested with the old kindergarten age-troll. Consider my ego deflated.
I didn't get much help from him, so I posted this post on sweclockers corsair support thread, maybe if they have to respond officially they'll be more well-mannered.
Difference between the two is cosair doesn't make them, they just slap a logo on them. Swiftech actually makes their stuff.
Sell it and get the new swiftech all in one. Should be out soon. Swiftech are the kings of water cooling
Hmm, isn't it Swiftech that manufactures Corsairs watercooler systems? I know Corsair doesn't actually make them, they just get them stamped and packaged with Corsair logos.
EDIT: Manufactured again by CoolIT, the H80i comprises a single pump attached to the copper baseplate...
EDIT2: From what I've seen it makes no difference if the fans are set to exhaust or intake, temps will stay the same, something to think about when it comes to dust. If I get a H80i/H100i I'll set them to exhaust since my intake fans all have dust filters.
Where you really messed up was buying an all-in-one kit from anyone but Swiftech. I've been water-cooling pc's for quite some time now and buying an all-in-one kit used to be like buying a pre-built computer...total shit.
The first computer that I ever water cooled, I had to cut holes in the back of the case to accommodate the tubes and I had to have an external rad. I still use an external radiator, but I've upgraded my water cooling setup three times (once because I changed GPU's and wanted a larger rad to cool them)
I'm running a 975ee@4.0GHz and, after 30min of Prime95, my temps are ~70°C (and this is with 3 GTX580s, and the northbridge in the same loop). My idle temps are usually ~22°C on that particular machine. Of course, it's a loop that I built from scratch (Swiftech MCP655 pump, Apogee GT CPU block, GPU's are factory water cooled EVGA, Motherboard is factory water cooled EVGA, and rad is a Thermochill 480 all run with 1/2 tygon tubing and a couple of angle adapters for fitment only).
My other system is a QX6700 with 2 GTX295s and it idles ~18°C with a max of ~30°C after 30min of Prime95.
Of course, all of this stuff costs money and I don't have any kids, so I'm able to afford wasting money to find out what works best for me and what doesn't.
I'd highly recommend selling that Corsair and building a proper setup using that Swiftech kit (I assume it's the new version of the Swiftech H20-320?). As a plus, the bracket that holds the rad on the rear of the case isn't complete shit (at least it wasn't in the past). The biggest plus with using Swiftech's kit is the fact that it isn't a closed loop system, you can add, or subtract pieces if you want.
Also, my computer's power usage dropped once I went to water cooling. Something like 3%. I know that isn't much, but it adds up over time, especially if you leave that computer running all of the time.
I hope that you don't think I'm just trying to trash your current rig. If what you have works for you, then by all means, keep it. But, if it doesn't, I hope that some of my experience helps.
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Thanks for the idea Lutz!
The new Swiftech all in one is able to be refilled and their using a modified MC335? As well as making it able to add more to the loop. All in ones aren't bad by any random. They serve their purpose fine, just do your research to make sure it's going to work. Id rather use one than a heavyair cooler that heats up the inside of the case.
Well ofc real watercooling is good, but im impressed performance of the H100i. My 2700K @ 5Ghz (1.425V) gets maximum of 72c in Prime95 (10 hours run). Very nice performance for its price.
Well ofc real watercooling is good, but im impressed performance of the H100i. My 2700K @ 5Ghz (1.425V) gets maximum of 72c in Prime95 (10 hours run). Very nice performance for its price.
Ouch @ that Voltage (which is probably why it reach beyond 65-68 degrees) but I guess you have to use that voltage to get to 5GHz. Do you have HT enabled as well?
Well ofc real watercooling is good, but im impressed performance of the H100i. My 2700K @ 5Ghz (1.425V) gets maximum of 72c in Prime95 (10 hours run). Very nice performance for its price.
Ouch @ that Voltage (which is probably why it reach beyond 65-68 degrees) but I guess you have to use that voltage to get to 5GHz. Do you have HT enabled as well?
Well that is pretty good voltage for 5Ghz (1.415V in bios), not to mention many SBs wont even boot with 50x multiplier. Yes HT is enabled. Up to 1.45V is safe for 24/7. I had one 2500K which required over 1.5V to get 5Ghz (1.5V is only for benching, 24/7 usage will definately degrade the processor) Best ones are little below 1.4V with HT on, but those are so rare. Also 72C is nothing on 2700K with HT enabled, especially in FULL load (like 40-50c in gaming. Most SB requires shitloads of voltage after 4.7-4.8Ghz, like 1.5V, bought this brand new, so pretty good luck in silicon lottery . Im also using offset, so only when gaming / Benching the processor runs at 1.415-1.425 (might run with little less, but CBA to start tweaking).
I've always thought that buying a closed loop system is like buying a vehicle that you can't change the transmission fluid in. Eventually, everything degrades to the point of needing replacement.
What kind of tubing do they use on those closed loop systems? Even with the best tubing, you'll have some evaporation of fluid and will eventually need to add some. Perhaps they use a low porosity tubing and it doesn't lose fluid as quickly as my setups do. I have to add a little bit of fluid once, maybe twice a year (~3oz. each time, but considering how large my loops are and how much fluid they each take, that's not much).
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Thanks for the idea Lutz!
Blargh, compression fittings are the suck. They cost way too much and can be a real pain to undo as you sometimes have to get in there with a pair of channel-lock pliers and undo them.
I prefer my herbie clamps and have a tool that unlatches them much easier than by hand. And, as a plus, they are cheaper, much cheaper.
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Thanks for the idea Lutz!
I like compression fittings. They look a lot cleaner too
Yeah, for $14 a pop they'd better look a lot cleaner.
I guess I'm the weirdo that would rather spend all of his money on good pumps, tubing, blocks, and other components than spend it on fancy compression fittings and other things that are pretty unnecessary if you just adjust how you install things. But I am weird, hell, I water-cooled my HTPC just becase...
Hobo Zombie: TRAAAAAAAIIIINNNNNNSSSSSS
Woman Zombie: COMPLAAAAAAAIIIIIIINNNNNSSSSS
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Thanks for the idea Lutz!
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Best ones are little below 1.4V with HT on, but those are so rare. Also 72C is nothing on 2700K with HT enabled, especially in FULL load (like 40-50c in gaming. Most SB requires shitloads of voltage after 4.7-4.8Ghz, like 1.5V, bought this brand new, so pretty good luck in silicon lottery 
