Review: corsair h80

Liquid cooling has always been the coolest system for keeping the processor. These types of systems are not within everyone's reach, due to their high costs and special maintenance. Finally, the user chooses to mount prestigious heatsinks or a closed Liquid Cooling Kit.

Faced with this situation, Corsair in the middle of this year presented us with its new closed RL Kits. These are the Corsair H60 / H80 and H100. As you will remember in early summer we analyzed the Corsair H60 kit that offered excellent performance. We have brought our older brother the “Hydro Series H80” to our lab, which incorporates two 2500 RPM fans and promises to lower the Corsair H60 by 10ºC.

CORSAIR H80 FEATURES
Radiator	120mm x 152mm x 38mm
Radiator Material	Aluminum
Fan	2 x fans: 120mm x 120mm x 25mm / 1300-2500 RPM
Tubes	Low permeability close to zero evaporation
Fan air flow	46 to 92 CFM
Noise	22 to 39 dBA
Static pressure	1.6 - 7.7mm / H2O
Compatibility	Intel LGA 775/1555/1556/1366/2011 AMD AM2 / AM2 + / AM3 / AM3 +
Additional features	Support for Corsair Link.
Warranty	5 years

Among the Corsair H80's most important features, we highlight the increased thickness of the radiator and the two high-performance fans. Capable of rotating up to 2500 RPM and releasing an airflow of 92 CFM.

The pump includes a button that allows us to control the speeds of the 3-pin and 4-pin fans (PWM). In it we have three modalities:

• Low (1300 RPM) Medium (2000RPM) Maximum performance (2500 RPM).

It also includes accessories for the new Socket 2011, support for Corsair Link technology and a 5-year warranty.

What is Corsair Link technology?

This new Corsair technology allows us to control the speed of the pump, the temperature of the liquid and the speed of the fans using software. For its operation, an external module is required, which must be purchased separately (Currently not available).

The Corsair H80 comes packaged in a box with the same features as the previous Corsair Hydro series. On the front it presents the product. On the back are the product features and an interesting table about the performance of its H60 / H80 and H100 Kits (dual radiator) on an i7 920 at 3.8GHZ.

Corsair promises us a 10.6ºC improvement over the Corsair H60. Between Corsair H80 and H100 only 1.7ºC.

Once we open the box we find all the pieces perfectly protected and in a plastic bag.

Close-up of the Corsair H80 Kit.

Corsair uses low evaporation ethylene propylene (FEP) flexible tubes.

The kit comes with a simple aluminum radiator. Its aesthetics is beautiful as we can see in the image.

It has a real width of almost 4cm. This increase will provide us with better dissipation than the Corsair H60 Kit.

The block wins again in aesthetics. This time it includes 3 white LEDs and a button to regulate the speed of the fans.

As we have commented on the previous page, Corsair uses low evaporation ethylene propylene (FEP) tubes. These tubes allow us to move almost 180º.

In this image we can see the plug for the Corsair Link.

Corsair allows us to control two 3- or 4-pin fans. Be careful not to install fans with too much voltage, such as the Scythe Gentle Typhoon 3000 RPM, because the controller may explode.

The heatsink base is made of copper and has pre-applied thermal paste for installation.

The box includes:

• Corsair H80 Liquid Cooling Instruction Manual Intel and AMD Screws / Anchors Two Corsair CF12S25SH12A Fans

In the following image we detail all the kit hardware.

On the right the Intel anchor and on the left the AMD anchor.

Includes two excellent Corsair CF12S25SH12A fans that work from 1300 RPM to 2500 RPM. Its finishes are good, but its cables could be sleeving.

Each fan works at 0.35A.

The installation is very simple. We place the support at the back of the motherboard.

We add the screws to the bracket, insert the CPU block, tighten with the nuts and this is the result obtained:

TEST BENCH:
Box:	Dimastech Easy Table V2.5
Source feed:	Antec HCG620W
Base plate	Gigabyte Z68X-UD5-B3
Processor:	Intel i7 2600k @ 4.8ghz ~ 1.34-1.36v
Graphic card:	Gigabyte GTX 560 Ti SOC
RAM:	G.Skills Ripjaws X Cl9
HDD:	Samsung HD103SJ 1TB

To test the actual performance of the liquid cooling kit we are going to stress the CPU with full memory (Linx) and prime number (Prime95) floating point calculation programs. Both programs are well known in the overclocking sector and serve to detect failures when the processor works 100% for long hours.

WE RECOMMEND YOULEPA AquaChanger 120 Review

How are we going to measure the processor temperature?

We will use the internal sensors of the processor. For this test on Intel processors we will use the “Core Temp” application in its version: 0.99.8. It is not the most reliable test, but it will be our reference in all our analyzes. The test bench will be around 29º ambient temperature.

In our test bench we will use the following 12v fans:

• 2 x Corsair CF12S25SH12A 2600 RPM at 12v2 x Noctua NF-P12 at 12v2 x Scythe Nidec 1850 RPM at 12v2 x Phobya G-Silent 12 1500 RPM at 12v.

Corsair is taking a step forward in Closed Liquid Refrigeration Kits. Thanks to its new OEM CoolIT. We already saw with the Corsair H60 kit an outstanding performance. Now with the Corsair H80 we gain up to 20% performance from the Corsair H60, thanks to its two high-end 2600RPM fans.

The fans offer fantastic performance, but the noise they emit at high revs does not compensate with the temperatures obtained. As usual in our tests we have verified its performance with another range of Fans: Scythe Gentle Typhoon 1850, Phobya G-Silent 12 and Noctua NF-P1. The results obtained are excellent because we only lose between 1 or 2 ° C and we significantly reduce the loudness.

Corsair continues to do an excellent job lowering the noise from the pump. The Corsair H80 can be considered appropriate for "Be Quiet" equipment. This version includes a button on the pump, which allows us three fan profiles (Basic, Medium and High). One of the improvements that we liked the most is the compatibility with Corsair Link. This new technology will allow us a personalized control of the fans, pump and liquid flow.

In short, we are in front of the best current simple radiator liquid cooling kit. It will assure us silence, aesthetics and performance. The Corsair H80 can be found in the best online stores for around € 90.

ADVANTAGE	DISADVANTAGES
+ EXCELLENT PERFORMANCE AND DESIGN.	- ITS PRICE.
+ LIQUID COOLING THAT DOES NOT NEED MAINTENANCE.	- VERY NOISY FANS AT 2600 RPM.
+ INCLUDES 2 FANS AT 2600 RPM.
+ EASY INSTALLATION.
+ WE CAN DO A GREAT OVERCLOCKING.
+ COMPATIBLE WITH CORSAIR LINK.
+ 5 YEARS WARRANTY.

The Professional Review team awarded him the gold medal: