REVIEWS / COOLING
M
osthigh-end all-in-one (AIO) liquid coolers won’t
leave you with change from £100 these days,
especially RGB-equipped ones. At over £130 inc
VAT,Corsair’sH115i RGB Pro XT is well on the way to costing
thesameamount as a full custom loop, but we can’t deny
thathavinga 280mm software-controlled, RGB lighting-
equippedall-in-one unit is an attractive proposition,
especiallyfrom a simplicity point of view.
TheH115iRGB Pro XT is compatible with all current CPU
sockets,andit has a redesigned cold plate and micro-skived
copperchannels. It’s a USB-controlled unit, so you’ll need a
spareUSB2 header to hook up to the pump. The pump has
two4-pinfanconnectors to power the two ML140 magnetic
levitation-bearing fans, and as these fans aren’t RGB-
enabled,there aren’t too many cables.
Thetopofthe pump is the only place you’ll find RGB
lighting,andthe 16 LED digitally addressable LEDs can be
controlledindividually. The lighting effects are extensive
andyoucancreate your own effects too, with full control to
all 16 LEDs,which can synchronise with any other Corsair
components,with support for some motherboards too.
As this is done using software, there are no
additional cables for the lighting, which is
great news.
The fans spin at up to 2,000rpm, which
isn’t in the same league as some of Corsair’s
240mm AIO liquid coolers, but their larger
size area means they can shift more air, and
the radiator has a greater surface area too.
This should mean you get decent cooling
with less noise, although we’ll be paying close
attention to pump noise too, as this can often
be the downfall of AIO liquid coolers.The installation kit is relatively concise, with socket pins and
thumbscrews for all sockets except AM4, where the cooler
uses clips that hook up to the stock mounting mechanism.
This is very easy to use, but lacks a sturdy four-point mount,
which we’ve seen affect cooling in the past.
The cooler includes separate mounting plates for AMD and
CPU sockets, which slide onto the pump, but installation is
painless on each socket. As usual with most AIO liquid coolers,
there’s no thermal paste in the box, as this has been pre-
applied to the cold plate. If you need to upgrade in future, you’ll
need to buy some, as this paste only lasts for one installation.
Meanwhile, the radiator has a reasonably dense array of
fins, but it’s compact and only 27mm thick, so it should fit into
most twin 140mm fan mounts. Should you wish to add fans to
theothersideoftheradiatorfora push/pullsetup then Corsair
hasalsoincludedanextrasetofscrewsSUPPLIER scan.co.ukCORSAIR H115I RGB PRO XT/£133 inc VAT
ALLINONE LIQUID CPU COOLER
SPEC
Compatibility
Intel: LGA115x, LGA2066, LGA2011;
AMD: Socket AM4, AM3/+,
AM2/+, FM2/+, FM1, TR4/X
Radiator size with fans (mm)
137 x 322 x 52 (W x D x H)
Fa ns
2 x 140mm
Stated noise
36dBAOVERCLOCKED
Great software
Detailed fan and
pump control
Excellent cooling
Few cables
OVERCOOKED
- Quiet profile
limits cooling - No ext ra
thermal paste - Not all cases
have 140mm
fan mounts
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hasalsoincludedanextrasetofscrews.