Corsair Hydro H105 Review

Performance Analysis

At full speed, the H105 has one of the strongest delta T results on our LGA1155 system. Interestingly, it's still just beaten by both of its counterparts, the H100i and H110, but when temperatures are this low differences of 1°C or 2°C are mostly meaningless. As with most such coolers at full speed, it's also very loud. The fans were certainly noisy, but we noticed that a lot of the noise came from vibrations, so you'll certainly want to make use of all the washers Corsair supplies to keep these to a minimum, especially if you install the radiator and fans either side of a case panel as we did.


Thankfully, when tamed using our motherboard's Standard PWM setting, the H105's thicker radiator allows it to shine. It only adds 2°C to its full speed delta T result, taking it to 40°C. This means it's able to keep up with both the H80i and H100i when they're using fan settings that are considerably louder (especially in the case of the H80i). Some of the air coolers at this level of performance are even quieter (and cheaper), but for LGA1155 users, the H105 should keep chips with hefty overclocks running cool with low noise levels.

In our LGA2011 test system, the H105 steals the top place from SilverStone's Tundra TD02 with a convincing result of 38°C. Both the TD02 and H105 have a radiator that's thicker than usual, which certainly seems to benefit these hot-running CPUs. Again, you'll want to limit the fans from running at their maximum speed, but there's undoubtedly heaps of cooling potential on offer here.

Conclusion

As we've alluded to, the H105 is very similar in terms of price, design and performance to other coolers in Corsair's range. In all honestly, most LGA1155 users probably don't need to spend this much on a cooling solution that will keep temperatures and noise in check, but if you do feel the need to, the H105 is another fine choice. There's plenty of performance on hand, a neat set of interchangeable coloured rings and a dead simple installation rounding it all off.

The H105 really comes into its own on an LGA2011 though, where the thicker radiator gives it a much more tangible advantage. You'll have to make sure you have the room to accommodate it, but it should be able to net you a cooler and quieter system than its competitors for much less than the cost and effort of a full water-cooling loop.