The larger of Corsair’s two coolers in this month’s group is a no-nonsense piece of kit, including a plain radiator, plain black tubes and a small pump to sit on top of the CPU, without the ostentation of the aluminium or Perspex used elsewhere. It makes up for this lack of flair in other areas though.
Installation is easy: the backplate is adjustable for different sockets and comes pre-installed with nuts – you slide the plate into place, attach the standoffs and then attach the pump using thumbscrews.
It’s even easier on AMD and Intel LGA 2011 systems, as those motherboards use stock sockets and the cooler uses the motherboard’s built-in backplate.
The Intel mounting brackets are already installed on the waterblock, and thermal paste is already applied – a touch that makes first-time installation a little less timeconsuming. Meanwhile, the two 120mm fans screw into place simply, and both have 4-pin connecters.
A splitter is supplied in the box too, so both can be controlled from one motherboard header. So far, so good, but you’ll need to bear in mind the size of the radiator. Its 38mm girth without fans attached is comparatively thick, so check how much clearance you have inside your case first.
As we said earlier, there’s not much in the way of terms of little touches and high-end features. There’s no support for Corsair’s Link software, and there’s no LED in the pump either, but Corsair supplies interchangeable red, blue and grey coloured rings that loop around the pump’s logo, adding a welcome way to colour-match the waterblock with the rest of your system.
Most importantly, though, the H105 fared incredibly well across most of our cooling tests. In our LGA1150 rig with its two fans running at top speed, the H105’s delta T topped out at 47°C – the second best result on test. With the fans using PWM, the delta T only became 4°C warmer, which is still one of the best LGA1150 results on test.
Where the H105 really impressed, though, was in our LGA2011 rig – its delta T of 44°C was the best result on test, being a full 3°C cooler than its nearest challenger.
However, while the H105 might work effectively at full fan speed, its fans were unpleasantly noisy – you wouldn’t want them running constantly at this speed while trying to work. The noise was much more pleasant with PWM enabled, though, while still offering great cooling.
Conclusion
The H105 is sensibly designed and easy to use, much like Corsair’s H75, but this larger unit goes one better with its incredible cooling performance, on both LGA1150 and LGA2011 sockets.
If you’re building an LGA2011 system then the H105 is simply the best all-in-one option when it comes to cooling, as long as you have room for it, and it backs up that performance with a good, solid design.
VERDICT
A sensibly designed, easy-to-use and very powerful cooler that’s ideal for LGA2011 systems.
Where to Buy
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