Once upon a time, choosing a CPU cooler was simple, usually due to the fact that the stock cooler had sufficient cooling capability and for those who wanted to cool down their CPU temperature it was a simple case of basic science, bigger surface area for lower temperature but these days it just is not the case.
With modern water-cooling kits being at the high end of the pricing scale we tend to stick to air cooling.
That all changed when Corsair choose to break the mould, with the release of their H50 CPU Cooler, a plug-and-play CPU water-cooling system which can provide leading performance without hurting our pockets.
Dubbed as a huge success in the eyes of many, Corsair decided to use their winning tried and tested formula to release the new Corsair Hydro H70. In our opinion it is by far one of the best plug-and-play water-cooling solutions. Averaging a price range between £70-£85.
What’s in the box?
In the cleverly designed packaging you will find a new and improved cold-plate design to efficiently transfers heat which comes with thermal compound already applied.
A thicker radiator to increases the cooling surface for even better cooling results.
Dual 120mm Corsair fans with a dual fan header connector and two fan speed control cable that let you optimize maximum cooling with minimum noise
Universal mounts compatible with the following CPU sockets: 1156, 1366, 775, AM2, AM3
And lastly fitting instruction and manuals
So what has changed?
Well first thing you will notice between the two units is the size. Corsair have increased the surface area of the H70 meaning it will be able to achieve better cooling performance, on top of that they have added a second fan which uses a push/pull system to get to air through the radiator.
The second more significant change is partly due to the fact that they have increased the surface area of the radiator, they have made the CPU pump small meaning that in some smaller cases users could fit the cooler.
The cooler now uses 2 x 120mm cooling fans.
Now, we found that one issue with the H70 is the noise its fans make. Thought this issue can be solved easily by changing the fans to more silent performance fans, which in turn might surprise users and increase the cooling ability of the H70 depending on the fans they decided to use.
Testing
We tried to make this test as universal and relevant as possible, knowing that users wouldn’t all be using top of the range full tower cases, we decided to do a closed case test in the CM STORM CASE. Now due to size of the radiator fans were removed to make space for the radiator and the pump.
We tested the H70 on an Intel i7 920 with a clock speed of 2.66 GHz using 1.00v. After running prime95 for 32mins the core temperature at 100% was 36°C.
We then waited an hour for the system to cool before overclocking the i7 920 to 3.00 GHz using 1.28v. Again, after running prime95 for 32mins the core temperature at 100% was 40°C
Our conclusion about the Corsair H70 is a very good CPU cooler but performance will vary from system to system, case to case. Saying that, we still feel the H70 is a worthwhile investment.
We give it a 7/10 however if you decide to change the stock fans to once that are silent then we rate it a 9/10
