Corsair Hydro X Water Cooling Configurator Guide

Corsair Hydro X Water Cooling Configurator Guide

Corsair Hydro X Water Cooling Configuration Guide

Custom water cooling is perhaps the most complicated thing you can do when building a new PC, requiring a lot of care and attention to install, maintain and prepare. Thankfully, this effort will come with the rewards of superior cooling performance, almost silent system operation (if done correctly) and increased overclocking potential with some hardware. Beyond that, liquid cooled PCs can boast a range of aesthetic benefits, assuming the builder has brought together the right components and lighting solutions. 

Corsair has now entered the liquid cooling market, with aims to become the new king of liquid cooling, expanding from their H-series of closed-loop liquid coolers to create standalone components to compete with the likes of EK and XSPC. 

To do this, Corsair has launched its new Hydro X series of custom water cooling components with a full product stack that extends from coolants to fittings, radiators, pumps and even water blocks. From day-1, Corsair is ready to water cool your entire PC and to help users along, they have also provided their potential customers with a dedicated water cooling configuration tool. 

Corsair’s Custom Cooling Configurator

Corsair’s custom cooling configurator is available here, but we thought that it was appropriate to give our readers an overview of what was and wasn’t possible with Corsair’s configuration tool. 

Starting with case selection, we are glad to confirm that Corsair’s water cooling configuration tool supports both Corsair and non-Corsair cases, with enclosures from the likes of Cooler Master, Fractal and NZXT being supported by Corsair’s tool.

Corsair cases will receive 3D representations of the configuratior’s selected components, unlike 3rd party enclosures. This will help users of Corsair cases visualise their future water cooling loops, but given the effort required to add new cases, it is understandable why 3rd party models are not utilised here. Would you expect 3rd party case makers to provide Corsair with the 3D data they’d need to add this level of support? Yeah, didn’t think so. 
 

Corsair Hydro X Water Cooling Configurator Guide  

On the motherboard side, we can see that Corsair’s configurator supports platforms that range from Z170 (for Intel) and X370 (for AMD) to their modern counterparts, enabling users to select their exact motherboards and processors from a range of manufacturers. CPU selection is important here, as it enables Corsair to help users select the radiator sizes that they need to create their liquid cooled PCs, a factor that becomes more important when users later select whether or not they will overclock their processor or graphics card. 

Corsair Hydro X Water Cooling Configurator Guide  

After selecting our processor and motherboard, users of Corsair’s Hydro X water cooling configurator can then select their graphics card, with the tool featuring graphics cards that range back to the Radeon RX 500 series (Polaris Refresh) and the Nvidia 10 series (Pascal). This covers almost every major graphics card release since mid-2016. This is as far back as Corsair realistically needs to go when it comes to GPU support. 

In later parts of the configurator, Corsair will inform users whether or not their chosen graphics card is supported by their Hydro X series of GPU water blocks. 

Corsair Hydro X Water Cooling Configurator Guide  

After selecting your case, motherboard, processor and graphics card, Corsair will then present users with a summary of their PC configuration and present warnings where applicable. The image below showcases component selections which include a graphics card which lacks Corsair water block support, and a case that lacks a dedicated 3D model. 

The next page will cover Corsair’s component selection, configuration options and how we feel Corsair’s system could be improved. 

Corsair Hydro X Water Cooling Configurator Guide  

Corsair launches their Hydro X series of water cooling products

Customisation options and potential improvements   

After selecting your system’s components, users of Corsair’s Hydro X configuration tool will be given a water cooling configuration that supports their chosen hardware and PC enclosure. The image below showcases what users will see. 

To customise component selection, Corsair has a “customise” button under every major sub-heading of their configuration tool, which covers CPU water block, GPU water block, cooling performance, fan style, pump style, customisation, iCUE and potential add-ons. 

Within these options, users can tell corsair whether or not they plan to water cool their graphics card, processor or both, and if they desire to overclock these components. These factors will influence other component selections, such as radiator sizes. Fittings and coolant volumes will be automatically selected by Corsair in the numbers that end users will require. Buyers can use this tool to select the colour of the coolant and fittings they desire, as well as the types of fans they want to use. 

Corsair Hydro X Water Cooling Configurator Guide

When possible, Corsair has provided its users with several options for radiator sizes and has designed stage 1, 2 and 3 configurations to offer the minimum radiator space users need to good liquid cooling performance and larger configurations that can accommodate future hardware upgrades or offer increased thermal headroom for overclocking. 

With this configuration tool Corsair will assume that most of their users will want an iCUE control solution and Corsair-made fans, even when using 3rd party cases. Some of these components cannot be removed within Corsair’s water cooling configurator directly, though they are removable at checkout. Likewise, radiators cannot be chosen arbitrarily, but only in the locations and sizes that Corsair’s configurator chooses. More versatile options would be appreciated here. 

In all, Corsair has created a tool that offers water cooling newcomers a great place to start when it comes to selecting appropriate liquid cooling components. Those who need more help when creating their water cooling looks are able to seek advice on the OC3D Forums, where experienced PC enthusiasts will be able to offer assistance when possible. 

Corsair Hydro X Water Cooling Configurator Guide  

You can join the discussion on Corsair’s Hydro X Water Cooling Configurator on the OC3D Forums. 

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