ADVANCEDPROJECTS
128 DECEMBER 2019|COMPUTER SHOPPER|ISSUE 382
reaching 83oC and the
chipset 51oC. Clearly,we
can’t rely on the plain
physicsof convection:fans
are definitely neededto
move air actively across
our hot components.
However,ito nly took
the single rearfantob ring
temperatures downto
more reasonable levels.
The maximum processor
temperature dropped 16oC,
while graphics card
temperaturefell 9oC and
chipsettemperatureby
10oC. Notabad result,
consideringadecent case
fancosts £5to £8.
Surprisingly,wef ound
little change when also
connecting the frontfan.
The chipsettemperature
dropped another 4oC–the
front fanise ssentially
blowing directly onto it
–but drops elsewhere
were only one or two
degrees at most. Equally,
moving the frontfanto
the roo fonly led to a
decreaseof 1oC forthe
graphics card and chipset.
Filling all threefanslots
was also underwhelming.
The processor,motherboard and SSD ran
only 1oC cooler than with only the rearfan,
with the graphics card shedding 2oC. It maybe
temptingto use onefan(as arear exhaust)to
deliver quiet cooling, but we’d still useafront
intake fantos upply airflowforthe chipset.
ANEW COOLER
We feel abit squeamish about running a
processor at stock speeds at 77oC, so a
better cooler was in order.A£25 Arctic
Freezer 33 eSports One isagreat choice if
you’re onabudget, but wefancied abig
upgrade andtested aCorsair Hydro H100i
RGB Platinum (£110,www.scan.co.uk).
This sealed unit watercooler hasafew
flashy extras, not least the rainbow-pattern
LEDs, and onboardtemperature andfan
controllers. Fitting the unit can beabit fiddly,
however,and we choseto attach thefans to
the radiator first, and then loosely install the
waterblock before screwing the radiatorto
the roo foft he case and finally tightening the
clips on the processor socket. Cable routing
is trick y, but the Carbide 275R has plentyof
handy holesto hide the clutter.
Once installed, the results were
impressive.With the front and rear case
➡The Corsair Carbide 275R
uses the standard single input/
single outputfanarrangement,
but is this configuration best?
Cooling results
Processor Processor
Rearfan Nofans
Rearand
frontfan
Nofan vs vs vs vs
Rearand
frontfan
Rearand
topfan
Rearand
topfan
Rearfan
GraphicscardChipset
93
o
C 77
o
C 83
o
C 37
o
77 C
o
C 77
o
C 72
o
C 40
o
C
