CORSAIR Hydro Series H105 CPU Cooler Review

Cooling/Water Cooling by leeghoofd @ 2014-01-13

Even though the Hydro H105 has just been officially presented to the masses at the CES 2014 Trade Show, MadShrimps is already introducing you to this latest sibling of the CORSAIR Hydro series. The H105 is manufactured for CORSAIR by Asetek and looks at first glance as a beefed up version of a Hydro H75 with a 240mm radiator. Over the years CORSAIR keeps on innovating in the AIO segment. The CORSAIR LINK software unleashed extra end-user tuning possibilities with the Hydro series. The included Static Pressure Fans allow for better cooling performance at lower noise levels. The Hydro H90 and H110 got equipped with 140mm Fans. So what's new with the Hydro 105? The biggest improvement for the H105 is the thicker 240 radiator, now measuring 38mm instead off the regular 25mm. How it all will perform will become more clear on the following pages...

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120mm fan and Mounting Mechanism

Since the release of the Air series Fans, Corsair always includes light versions of their high static pressure Fans with the Hydro series. Pretty awesome stuff as these shift some serious air and are optimized for maximum cooling performance. While remaining far less noisy as previous utilized versions, take note that the boxed SP120L Fans are slightly trimmed down versions of the Air series. To reduce costs, no rubber anti-vibration pads and no interchangeable color rings are included.

 

 

 

 

The two Fans are PWM controllable and are hooked up via a Y splitter to one of the PWM compatible Fan headers on your motherboard. The SP120L Fan specs are;

  • Dimensions; 120 x 120 x 25mm
  • Speed: 800- 2700 RPM (+/-10%)
  • Airflow: 73 CFM
  • Static Pressure: 3.9mm/H2O
  • Noise level: 37.7 dBA

The mounting mechanism also evolved over the years, becoming more simple in design, utilizing less and less parts, making them easier to install. Since CORSAIR removed LGA 775 from the support list, the Intel bracket only requires two different formats to be fully compatible with legacy and modern sockets.

For Intel LGA 1150/1155/1156 and 1366 the end user is required to install the back plate; no more tiny aluminum inserts to mess around with. Instead slide able socket adaptable mounting positions, making everybody's life far easier.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Install the back plate first, then screw in the four standoffs, mount the pump unit and secure it with four oversized thumbscrews and you are done.

Different standoffs have to be used for LGA2011. On the left picture we still have two black ones installed from the H100i kit. The new version look far more professional don't they ?

 

 

 

The Hydro 105 is Intel ready out of the box. To install the pump unit on an AMD setup, one needs to remove the Intel mounting bracket. Again an easy job, just pop the retaining ring, position the AMD bracket and secure it again with the retaining ring. No screwing nor multi part swap job, this is as simple as it can get.

 

 

 

The black standoffs are required for AMD setups. Just screw them into the original backplate, mount the pump unit and secure with the four thumbscrews.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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