Corsair Hydro H50 CPU Cooler Review

Installation

Fitting the H50 in a chassis is pretty simple, although it does require removing the motherboard to insert a backplate for support. The hard plastic hold down needs to be screwed in first before the CPU block is attached. It can be lightly attached using just finger twists to secure it, then the CPU block can be inserted and twisted into position before those screws are tightened, sealing the deal.

The trickier part is getting the long screws through the back of a case, through both fan holes and into the small threaded hole on the radiator. This process can easily become very frustrating - it would be easier to attach the fan to the radiator first on the inside, but that would require sourcing screws to fit. If you want to use your own, thicker fans, you'll need longer screws anyway.

The downside of a simple screw is that there is no vibration resistance - something the Domino ALC has to its advantage, although there's no stopping you modifying your H50 with a different fan. Another upside to the whole LCLC (low-cost liquid cooling) argument is that there is very little weight on the actual CPU socket and motherboard; instead this is put on the chassis itself so transporting the case becomes a lot safer and despite using water (or, at least, something wet). OEMs enjoy using LCLC products for this reason.


The H50 requires the use of two fan headers on the motherboard - one for the fan and one for the pump. By contrast, the Domino ALC had the advantage of only requiring one, but since most modern motherboards come with several it's not too much of an issue and at least the cables are nicely braided on the H50.


One thing that users should be wary of is plugging in the 3-pin power connector for the pump into a motherboard header - you need to turn OFF fan control. It requires the full 12V for optimum performance and anything less will seriously hinder its effectiveness. This is another area, in hindsight, where we appreciate the Domino ALC for having an alarm telling us the pump was not working as it should.