I was in the market for an AIO because I recently purchased a known to run hot FX-9590 and I wanted something better than a heat sink tower to cool it down. After weighing the choices between a handful AIO's I chose the H110i mostly because Corsair is the most widely used AIO, and the H110i has the second longest warranty at (5) years.
Installation is actually easier than a big air cooler because you don't have install a custom back plate on your motherboard - unfortunately for me I had take an aftermarket back plate off and install the original back plate to use the H110i. Then find a place to hang the radiator which fit perfectly in the top of the Stryker case by just removing the 200mm top exhaust fan. Note: The Screws provided with the H110i are round heads which interfere with the top screen movement (for cleaning) on a Stryker/Trooper case , but I'm using it as exhaust, otherwise I'd have to find replacement flat head screws.
There are 3 ribbon cables coming out of the water block pump head, one SATA power to energize the pump and fans, the next two flat ribbons are for the two 140mm PMW 2100rpm Corsair SP fans. Note: These fans are 5-700 rpm faster than any of the 140mm fans Corsair distributes to retailers, but they are for sale at Corsair's site as H110GT replacement fans - the only 2100rpm 140mm Corsair sells at this time.
A fourth cable with a single wire plugs into the 3-4 pin CPU fan header for the pump rpm signal.
There's a fifth unattached cable that plugs into a USB receptacle in the pump head and the other end to one of your motherboard's USB headers for using the LINK software. It is not attached permanently like the other cables I assume because the Link software is optional since the H110i will work without it, but if you want a fan configuration other than the default you need to connect it and use the Corsair Link at least until your configuration is complete. Optionally of course you can connect your fans to a fan controller or control using available motherboard headers.
The first thing I noticed when I powered the unit on the first time was a revving up and down of the fans every few seconds which became annoying since the fan rpm's kept going up and down like a kid twisting then dropping throttle on his new 2 stroke motor bike outside your window. So, without panic I decided to familiarize myself with the Corsair Link Software to see if I could fix this revving up and down problem.
I found that the Profile my H110i was configured in out of the box was based upon CPU Package Temperatures. If you were to put the CPU package on a graph it almost looks like a EKG graph (heart monitor) with an AMD FX CPU such as the 9590 because it can vary widely ( amplitudes and intervals) since the package data cycles through the 8 cores every few tics of the clock and some core temps can differ by 10 degrees or more which if the difference temps between cores are on two different sides of the fan curve that means the firmware is constantly telling the fans to speed up and then slow down with every other tic of the clock.
To resolve the revving issue I immediately set my fans to spin at a fixed RPM temporarily and it worked. Then I setup profiles of each speed and tested the speeds at different cpu loads to see how each speed effected the cooling and how much noise they made while doing so in preparation to mapping a fan curve configuration for my needs. I've had it a month and I'm still tweaking it a bit.
I will say that these high rpm fans definitely make this AIO better in performance as at high loads the higher speeds make a difference. With all cores at high load my 9590 stays in the 50's if I allow the fans to ramp up to 1400-2100rpm as needed - otherwise If they are run quiet which is <1300rpm my temps will climb past sixty which I wouldn't want. The caveat is these fans when climbing up to speed are noisy and tend to rattle until they settle down. I would not change them to common SP <1500 fans with a hot cpu like the 9590, but I think I see some Noctua SSO2 Bearing Fan Retail Cooling NF-A14 iPPC-3000 PWM fans in my future.
It took some time to find a fan speed to keep my 9590 idle temperatures stable - BTW I have the 9590 locked at 4.91 GHz, slightly below its 5GHz Turbo rate. I found that a moderately quiet fan rpm setting of about 1000 rpm's keeps my 9590 CPU in the mid to upper 30's depending on ambient start up air temperatures and the H110's coolant temperature (2 hours into its startup today it's sitting at 35C while both surfing and editing this review). After a full load of an hour or more then back to light use the CPU idle temperature tends to settle at about 39-40C since the coolant temps are higher. I expect the temps will go up a bit during the summer heat, but for now I'm more than satisfied with the temperatures while using the H110i. I also tested the H110i with my FX-6300 and it idles at much cooler temperatures that ranged about 26-27 and stayed the 40's when at full load with an occasional rare bump to 50-51C.
As much as I've read complaints about the Link Software, I can tell you that it isn't perfect especially if you're looking for an all in one monitoring solution , but it's certainly effective and once you set your Profile (named configuration) it is locked into the 110i's firmware - so you can unplug the USB and never start the Link software again once you're satisfied with your configuration. While the Link is stable, there are issues such as 2 of my 5 motherboard fan headers ghosting, and their fan speeds not being reported, which otherwise would of been a nice feature, but that is really not why I bought the H110i for a cooling solution.
Setting up Profiles - there are two (2) pump speeds and either speed can be attached to any of your named Profiles. The pump speed can be set to adjust at a specified temperature, but I made it simple and left them on high for all configurations since there is no discernible noise at either speed. There are 8 modes Default, Quiet, Balanced, Performance, custom, fixed %, fixed rpm and Max. In each Profile the modes can be set to each individual fan lead (2), you can copy them over to the other for identical settings or you can alter them if that fits your needs. For example if you had a push pull setup, you could put the top pull fans on one channel and the bottom two on another in case you needed to make the pull side slightly faster to make them more efficient.
There are 5 speed/temperature mapping points on the graph you can base fan curve upon attached to one of the following (7) groups. MB Socket, MB Motherboard, MB Temp#3, CPU Package, HD/SDD Temp, GPU Temp & H10i coolant temp. I created and named at least a dozen custom configurations with the link software some at fixed speeds for specific tasks and some custom curves for most everyday use.
Lastly each device being monitored has a Notification tab available by clicking the item that allows an optional action to be performed should a monitored temperature or fan speed fall outside the range specified. Those actions can be shutting the system down at a specified time interval, energizing RGB features, running an executable file, or ramping up fans 100%.
Did I mention the Corsair logo is and illuminated RGB LED and can be configured in the Link? Well I did now and yeah that's nice and might compel one to consider H110i over an identical AIO that has no LED.
Even though there's room for improvement with the vibrations of the fans while ramping up >1300 rpm and the lack of a complete monitoring solution (ghosting of other system components) with the link software, the bottom line after a month into using the H110i I'd say it was a good choice and I'd recommend it to anyone looking for a inexpensive, simple, yet effective liquid cooling solution.
| Product Dimensions | 6"L x 1.1"W x 4.7"H |
|---|---|
| Brand | Corsair |
| Power Connector Type | 3-Pin |
| Voltage | 12 Volts |
| Wattage | 260 watts |
| Cooling Method | Water |
| Compatible Devices | Desktop |
| Noise Level | 30.85 dB |
| Material | Copper |
| Maximum Rotational Speed | 2000 RPM |
| Air Flow Capacity | 54 Cubic Feet Per Minute |
| Wireless Type | 802.11a |
