Corsair H70 Review
Testing
Published: 10th August 2010 | Source: Corsair | Price: £92.68 |
Testing Setup
Whilst we could test on a variety of sockets and chips thanks to the excellent mounting solution, with any CPU cooler it's best to see what the worst case scenario would be, and so that means handing it over to our tame racing driver. Oh hang on. That means placing it upon Intels toaster, the Core i7. Today we're using the Core i7 930 which is an improvement upon the 920, but still on the 45nm process and so can still pump out all the heat we could ask anything to handle.
We are testing the i7 930 at three different speeds. Firstly we have everything at stock. Secondly a 700 MHz overclock using 1.35v. And finally the full-fat 1.1 GHz overclock to 4 GHz, also using 1.35v.
Fans were run both at 100% 12v setting, and using the low-speed adaptor. The H70 is by no means quiet at 12v, and we always like to test using settings the average user would have.
Temperatures
Our first graph is giving the H70 an absolute thrashing by using Prime95 to stress the CPU as much as is possible. However we are fully aware that Prime is an extreme test and so we're also showing results using 3D Mark Vantage, which should replicate some hard-core gaming.
The first thing to note is how well the H70 handles the i7 at stock speeds. Under 60°C whilst running Prime is very impressive indeed. Naturally the increase in voltage and workload our overclocks bring quickly increase the heat and even with two fans and that big radiator the H70 struggles with 4 GHz. Over 80°C is not something we like to see at all.
Once away from the insanity of Prime though, the H70 can bring the 4 GHz temperatures to around the levels of a Prime 3.6 GHz overclock. These are very handy temperatures, especially considering the exacting nature of the CPU tests within 3D Mark Vantage.
Comparison
Putting the fans back up to 100% and running at stock, the H70 just beats out our beloved Noctua NH-D14 and is 4°C ahead of its little brother the H50.
Sticking with the 3.6 GHz setting we used above for the overclock the H70 produces a surprise. Even with the two fans attached and the larger radiator it still gives roughly the same result as we saw with the H50, and moving to a single fan it's obvious that the extra girth of the radiator can be a detriment. There definitely is a limit to the amount of cooling available because whilst the NH-D14 sees a 9°C increase when overclocking, the H70 is a full 17°C hotter than at stock.
Most Recent Comments
Sounds like you were suffering a bit with man-flu tho
The radiator seems massive and it sounded pretty loud when you put the camera near the test station.
For nearly £100 it seems pretty expensive
I have seen the H50 for £50-60 so would guess a lot of people would just buy that instead.
I'm thinking of building a custom watercooled rig at the moment so seeing this review has made me think a little more (in favour of getting a proper custom loop)
Also the H50/H70 don't seem to have the ability to compete with any proper watercooling setups, if anything they seem to be a replacement for air coolers.Quote
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Originally Posted by AMDFTW
the h70 beats the h50 lol and even the dh14 |
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Looks like it will be another cult-esque success tbh, ideal for people who want water cooling for its cool factor (*groan*) but don't want to get into something that may leak and needs constant attention.
Hopefully one day (cough cough hint hint) Corsair will consider making something similar for GPUs. I would rush out to get something like this that fitted my 5770s.
I do have a criticism with this unit though. The hoses.
With my specific case (the Alienware Predator 2) the unit really needs to be in the front. The hoses simply are not long enough. Corsair know this too as many people have a similar issue to myself. Maybe in the future they can make two models. One for front mounting and one for rear.Quote