Corsair H105 AIO Watercooler Review

Conclusion  

So the big question that has been on a great deal of peoples lips was could it beat the H100i performance wise? And the answer is yes. Even with lower fans speeds. This most surprising point is looking around its going to cost about £90 so in most retailers its also cheaper than the H100i.

With a lower cost and higher performance it may lead you into thinking have they cut corners to make savings, but it is made by a different OEM to the H100i and because of this doesn’t feature the Corsair link software which allows the user to control fans speeds and LED colour on the desktop plus monitor temperatures. With the H105 the LED is just white so its a great neutral colour that should fit in with most systems and the lack of fan control just makes things easier for those of your out there wanting to run a manual fan controller. Utilise the motherboard fan header and control or even like we favour in the office setting your fan speeds up via fan speed controllers wired direct to molex.

The interchangeable coloured rings on the pump face are a nice touch for easy customisation but these can be difficult to remove. A quick heads up for anyone doing this just jamming a screw driver in to pry the ring out will probably damage the pump housing, it wont be enough that it stops it from working but you will definitely be able to see some physical damage where the screw driver has push onto the plastic of the pump housing. We are fully aware of this because J our intern did exactly that, he soon learned the trick about wrapping some insulation tape around the end of the screwdriver that touched the edge of the housing stops the chance of this (he also got sent in the rain to the coffee shop as punishment)

The main things most potential purchasers need to be aware of is the clearance you will need above your motherboard for that 38mm radiator. Once you take fans in to consideration you will need 65mm of clearance between the top of your motherboard and the roof of your case. We make a point of covering this measurement in everyone of our reviews and/or videos so if you are not sure just look back if you are not sure. If you do decide to measure for yourself please remember to turn your system off and remove the power cable before waving a metal tape measure around inside your rig.

All in all with the thicker radiator you can have better temperatures with lower fan speed and therefore a quieter system for less outlay than if you were to buy a H100i. You just need to be very careful about your case choice because this is much more limiting than the thinner H100i. All in all a thoroughly well deserved OC3D Gold award.
 

       

Thanks to Corsair for sending the H105 in for review, you can discuss your thoughts in the OC3D Forums.