Corsair has come a long way since selling L2 cache modules to OEMs in 1994. Today the company sells various components and peripherals. Corsair 5000X case and CX750M power supplyCooling has also long been a staple of the company’s lineup and its flagship. iCUE H170i Elite LCD XT It has proven to be the most powerful cooler we’ve ever tested with Intel’s i9-13900K.
Along with that cooler, Corsair also gave us a more “budget” option, the 240mm H100i Elite Capellix XT. The H170i is best aio cooler It’s listed, but does the H100i Elite need it too? We’ll have to do some testing to find out. First, here are the specs for the Corsair.
cooler specs
| cooler | Corsair iCUE H100i Elite Capellix XT |
| Manufacturer’s suggested retail price | $179.99 USD |
| Radiator dimensions | 277mm×120mm×27mm |
| Radiator material | aluminum |
| pump speed | Up to 2700RPM |
| Socket compatibility | Intel: LGA 1700, 1200, 1150, 1151, 1155, 1156, 1366, 2011, 2066 |
| AMD: AM5, AM4, AM3, sTRX4, sTR4 | |
| base | copper |
| Maximum TDP (tested) | ~270W |
| guarantee | 5 years |
Packing and inclusions
Corsair’s iCUE H100i arrives in a medium-sized box, but the size and shape are similar to what you’d expect from a shoe purchase.
Package includes:
- 240mm radiator and CPU block
- Mounting Brackets and Alternate CPU Block Plates
- Two 120 mm fans
- Mount for all modern CPU sockets (including AM5 and LGA1700)
- Safety and warranty information
- Lighting and PWM hub
- Pre-applied thermal paste
install
Installing Corsair’s AIO is fairly straightforward, as with many other coolers on the market.
1. Secure the backplate.
2. Secure the standoffs.
3. Secure the radiator and fan to the top of the case.
4. Secure the CPU block to the standoffs.
5. Secure the fan control hub. Connect CPU block and fan.
Features of Corsair iCUE H170i ELITE LCD XT
CPU block with replaceable plates
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The cooler includes three CPU plates with different designs for limited customization. This cooler can also be upgraded to a 2.1 inch IPS LCD with purchase. corsair upgrade kit (opens in new tab) – However, if you are interested, we recommend purchasing the iCUE H100i Elite LCD XT instead. The upgrade kit is $100, but the Elite LCD version of this cooler is only $80 more than the base version.
Full copper CPU plate
Corsair’s iCUE H100i Elite Capellix XT’s CPU contact plate is made of copper and comes pre-installed with thermal paste in the triangular pattern found in many of today’s cases.
Hardware RGB and PWM hub
Corsair’s coolers include a hardware RGB & PWM fan hub that can support up to 4 additional fans in addition to the one that comes with the cooler (supporting a total of 6 devices).
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240mm radiator with 27mm thickness
The included radiator is 240mm and 27mm thick. It’s not the thickest (or thinnest) radiator we’ve seen so far, but it’s compatible with just about any case that supports 240mm AIO.
2x AF RGB ELITE PWM 120mm Fans
Fans affect both cooling capacity and noise level, so it’s not just heatsinks and radiators. Corsair includes a pair of 120mm AF RGB ELITE fans in the H100i Elite. The company touts airflow of up to 65.57 CFM at peak 2,100 RPM and quiet, long-lasting operation thanks to fluid dynamic bearings. There are also 8 of his RGB LEDs individually addressable for each fan, and the lighting can be customized by the company’s comprehensive iCUE software.
| model | AF RGB ELITE PWM |
| size | 120×120×25mm |
| fan rotation speed | 550 – 2100 RPM ±10% |
| air flow | Up to 65.57 CFM |
| air pressure | Up to 2.68mm H2O |
| Rated noise | Up to 34.1dBA |
| Bearing type | Fluid dynamic bearing |
| lighting | RGB |
By default, Corsair’s iCUE H100i Elite Capellix XT’s pump and fan curves are based on CPU coolant temperature, not CPU temperature. This method has advantages and disadvantages. Most people would appreciate a way to reduce noise levels for common loads and eliminate fan bursts. If you want to tie the fan curve to CPU temperature (or another sensor), you can change this behavior using Corsair’s iCUE software.
The out-of-the-box setup demonstrates how the fan speed slowly increases over time. Below is a screenshot of the iCUE software running a steady sustained load.
The advantage of this method is that typical loads do not make the cooler’s fan louder. With Mozilla Firefox he opened 50 tabs in a row and the cooler ran quietly like an idle load.
The downside of this method is that for semi-intensive and sustained workloads (such as those used for testing), the cooler will run just as loud as for fully unbounded workloads. The fans spin at high speed for several minutes after a long workload is complete, instead of immediately returning to low speed. This happens because the AIO takes a short time to cool down the coolant temperature after a sustained workload. The screenshot below shows the fan behavior after completing an intensive workload.
Corsair’s iCUE software offers comprehensive customization of coolers, components and peripherals. I was pleasantly surprised to find that her RGB options on the motherboard were detected by the software and easily controlled for all system RGB functions. This is a collaboration between Asus and Corsair. First announced in 2020 (opens in new tab)Other motherboard brands are not currently supported by iCue.
This software allows detailed control of the LEDs. You can change the settings of individual LEDs on the included AF RGB ELITE fan.
test method
With previous generation CPUs for coolers, it was fairly easy to keep flagship i9 processors well below TJ max (the maximum temperature a CPU can sustain without throttling) under demanding workloads, but current generation CPUs ( and especially 13900K) without extreme cooling (or with power capping enabled).
Peak CPU temperatures have been a source of concern in the past, but enthusiasts should learn to accept high temperatures as ‘normal’ while running demanding workloads on Raptor Lake and Ryzen 7000 CPUs. there is. The latest AMD and Intel CPUs are designed to run fairly hot without problems, up to 95 degrees Celsius for AMD Ryzen 7000 CPUs and up to 100 degrees Celsius for Intel’s Core i9-13900K. Similar behavior has been the norm in laptops for years due to cooling limitations in tight spaces.
Additionally, Intel’s Core i9-13900K supports Adaptive Boost Technology (ABT), which allows Core i9 processors to dynamically boost to higher all-core frequencies based on available thermal headroom and electrical conditions. can. This allows multi-core loads to run up to 5.5 GHz with the required amount of heat dissipation. This feature works in an aggressive hot-seeking manner. If the chip detects that it is operating below the 100°C threshold, it will increase performance and power consumption until it hits the safe 100°C limit, maintaining higher clocks (which provides better performance). increase).
The increased cooling challenges with Raptor Lake meant that we had to change some of the ways we test coolers. Some coolers were able to pass the Cinebench R23 multi-core test with Intel’s 12th Gen i9-12900K when the power cap was lifted (although only the most powerful models were able to pass that test ).with most liquid coolers all The air cooler I tested “failed” that test because the CPU hit TJ max in this scenario.
On Raptor Lake’s 13900K, not a single cooler has been able to keep the CPU below its max TJ in this test. Instead, look at total benchmark scores and sustained clock speeds to compare performance.
Asus’ TUF Gaming Z690 Gaming Plus WIFI motherboard is used to test Intel’s i9-13900K CPU. Cooler Master’s HAF 700 Berserker Case fans are limited to 35% speed. The motherboard’s default fan curve is used for the CPU cooler fan.
In addition to testing Cinebench with no power cap applied, we also show the results of capping the CPU power consumption to a more reasonable 200W. We also show the results at 125W for those who prefer very quiet cooling at the expense of some performance. For both of these results, we show the traditional delta result versus ambient temperature.
Sound level measurements recorded using a PSPL25 sound meter are provided for all three power levels tested to compare the noise produced by each cooler in different scenarios.Most coolers are effective at 125W expected to run quietly.
LGA1700 socket bend
Keep in mind that besides the CPU cooler, there are many other factors that affect cooling performance, such as the case you use and the fans attached to the case. Your system’s motherboard can also affect this. Especially if the motherboard is bent, the cooler will have poor contact with the CPU.
To prevent bending from affecting the cooling results, Thermalright’s LGA 1700 contact frame was attached to the test rig. If the motherboard is subject to bending, the thermal results will be worse than those shown below. Not all motherboards are affected by this issue. We tested the Raptor Lake CPUs on two motherboards. One of them showed a significant thermal improvement after installing his Thermalright’s LGA1700 contact frame, while the other motherboard had no difference in temperature at all!For more information see the contact frame review Please look.
test configuration
| CPU | Intel Core i9-13900K |
| Tested comparison air cooler | cougar forza 50 |
| Deep Cool AG400 | |
| Deep Cool AG620 | |
| Iceberg Thermal IceSLEET G6 Stealth | |
| SilverStone Hydrogon D120 ARGB | |
| Thermal Light Assassin X 120 R SE | |
| Thermal light AXP120-X67 | |
| Compare tested AIO coolers | Arctic Liquid Freezer II 360 |
| Corsair iCUE H170i Elite LCD XT | |
| Corsair iCUE H100i Elite Cappelix XT | |
| Deep Cool LT720 | |
| Enermax Aquafusion ADV 360 | |
| Fractal Celsius + S36 Prisma | |
| MSI MAG Core Liquid P360 | |
| SilverStone VIDA 240 Slim | |
| motherboard | Asus TUF Gaming Z690 Plus Wi-Fi DDR5 |
| RAM | Kingston Fury DDR5-6000 |
| GPUs | Intel ARC A770 LE |
| case | Cooler Master HAF 700 Berserker |
| monitor | LG45GR95QE |
| PSUs | Cooler Master XG Plus 850 Platinum PSU |
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