Performance Analysis

Something that wowed us with the H100i RGB Pro were its powerful 2,400rpm fans, which meant that it was able to keep up with the monstrous H150i Pro on occasions, which has slower and admittedly quieter models. The impact of the new cold plate wasn't massive and several results were identical to the older H100i RGB Pro with the rest being within the margin of error we'd expect. As usual, though, the only kit to perform noticeably better was Raijintek's custom water cooling components, which we'd expect from a custom kit anyway given the more elaborate pump, waterblock and radiator setups.

There was very little difference again in our LGA2066 system, matching or bettering both the H110i RGB Pro and H150i Pro at full speed and balanced modes, while avoiding the issues experienced with the H150i Pro in quiet profile where the pump and fan speeds couldn't keep up with the massive heat load of our Core i9-7980XE.

Finally, our AM4 system again saw near identical performance between new and old - we'd be reluctant to say for sure if the new cold plate was actually having an impact here seeing as the advantages are so slight. Overall, we should mention fan noise, which is far from quiet at full speed at 2,400rpm. If you want this kind of cooling at lower noise levels, the only option is to increase the number of fans and radiator size - in other worlds opt for the H150i Pro.

Conclusion

It's fair to say that given the minuscule to non-existent boost to cooling, the H100i RGB Platinum is essentially an H100i RGB Pro with fancy lighting and a larger cold plate to better cater for Threadripper CPUs. You'd be hard pressed to see any difference in cooling, the fans are very similar apart from lighting and spin at the same speed and the pump is very similar too. The price, thankfully, isn't significantly higher; the old cooler retails for anywhere between £100 and £120 with our July 2018 review coming in the middle at £110. The H100i RGB Platinum is set to cost £125. Given its ML120 Pro RGB fans cost £40 a pair compared to £20 for its standard version, An extra £20 or so is justified. 

In terms of price compared to the competition, £100 is the going rate for a premium RGB 240mm AIO liquid cooler. You'll pay the same for the DeepCool Gamer Storm Castle RGB and Cooler Master ML240R RGB for example. However, you do get more for your cash with the H100i RGB Platinum than its sibling - namely better lighting, and unlike much of the competition, you have a considerable amount of headroom thanks to its powerful fans. It's pricey to be sure, bu ultimately it's a fantastic-looking and great-performing liquid cooler.