Corsair Hydro reliability

[supremor]

I'm quite interested in getting a Corsair H100 but I'm somewhat concerned about reliability. I run my PC 24/7 and I know its not unheard of for these units to leak or the pump to fail. Leaking is my main concern naturally, I don't know what exactly they use for coolant in these things but I assume its conductive? In which case a leak would probably mess up my PC pretty bad especially if happens while I'm sleeping or away.
Can anyone reaffirm my suspicions or am I totally wrong here?

 

[Rvenger]

Yes, the antifreeze they use is conductive. The unit is actually manufactured by CoolIT. These closed loop systems are usually pretty reliable and leaks are a very rare and special occurrence. There is a thread on Corsair forums about someone's H100 pump exploding. That would be an extremely rare instance and may be the fault of the user themselves for all we know. Corsair has excellent customer support and they would replace the damaged parts if an event like that were to occur. As long as you didn't modify the unit, misuse, or void the warranty in any way.

 

[supremor]

How far reaching is their policy on such things? What I mean is does it only apply to North America or is it worldwide?
I have no intention on modifying the unit in any way and I'm sure mounting should be pretty straightforward.
Also I forgot to ask, how is the longevity of these things? should I worry about replacing it after 2-3 years of 24/7 operation?

 

[abaez]

I had an H50? for about a year and a half before my current H100 I bought last summer. Absolutely no issues whatsoever and I don't think you should worry.

 

[Rifter]

I've had a H70 on my HTPC for two years and its been on 24/7 and i have had zero issues other than the stock corsair fans REALLY SUCK. they were loud and the bearings went on them within the first year.

 

[supremor]

Well I will give the H100 a second look. Noise is not a huge concern for me and the fans are easily replaced anyway.
One other question though, has anyone mounted the H100 in a HAF X? or would that be a problem?

 

[Leanox]

I was also wondering if the h100 fit into a CM storm trooper case fairly easy

 

[ljtatej]

I have the H100 and it bolted up perfectly to my HAF X, the holes were already there.

 

[HURRIC4NE]

i currently have a h100 and my i5 650 @ 3.7 is barely hitting 39C whatsoever, now you mentioned that you like to leave the computer on, apparantly yes you can do that, however i would recommend that when you do that, leave your corsair on the lowest fan setting, i actually did a load test and with the lowest corsair fan setting (you can change the fan setting on the cpu cooler itself) there is barely any noise and the whole machine is more stable since nothing is consuming too much voltage and what not, go for the h100, its much more safer than a water cooling kit if you ask me.....

 

[Topweasel]

I was also wondering if the h100 fit into a CM storm trooper case fairly easy

I know it will work in the HAF X, It has 2 200mm fans at the top so it can easily support a 2 140 mounts (really it has tons of screw holes for different fan configurations).

Wasn't sure about the Trooper because while it shares a lot of similarities with the HAF 932, in size and room. It only has the one big fan centralized. But this guy did it without saying he had to make any mods.

http://forum.overclock3d.net/index.php?/topic/40374-cm-storm-trooper-i7-3930k-x79-dual-sli-gtx-580s/

 

[BrightCandle]

Pumps are actually pretty reliable in comparison to many things in a PC, but its a moving part so prone to a much higher failure rate than many of the more durable elements of a PC.

Pumps have a life time somewhere around the same as a fan, of the region of 2-3 years depending on the quality, maybe a lot more if its not pushed very hard. The H series is going to be on the lower quality end of water pumps compared to serious water cooling set-up so I would expect to last about as long as your PC before its obsolete but not a lot longer. But I wouldn't not get one because of reliability problems, you just need to make sure that its on a fan header and if it drops below normal that the machine shuts itself down.

 

[supremor]

Well all the positive feedback convinced me so I'm gonna go ahead and grab a H100 when I do my build in a month or so. While I'd love to go for a proper water loop it would take more money and maintenance than I care to put in right now.

 

[chimaxi83]

Just wanted to throw in another vote towards Corsair's top notch customer service, it really is excellent.

 

[Smoblikat]

I once read a review of someones H50 breaking open and destroying the components inside, corsais replaced everything and gave the dude free next day air shipping.

 

[BrightCandle]

I once read a review of someones H50 breaking open and destroying the components inside, corsais replaced everything and gave the dude free next day air shipping.

Presumably the only reason they have to offer that is because the product itself contains mixed reactive metals (ie Aluminium). Thus they have to add to the water to stop corrosion and in turn make it dangerous to the components as it conducts electricity where distilled wouldn't.

These boutique water cooling kits are interesting but they really need to get the performance level up into actual watercooling setup territory because too many people currently think watercooling ~= high end air. Actually a well designed loop can cool your GPUs and your CPU and keep all of them below 55C with big overclocks on everything.

 

[AE-Ruffy]

I'm running a H100. Before that I ran a different brand (astek? i cant remember)

Never going back to heavy hsf's on my board.