Corsair Hydro H60 CPU Water Cooler Review

Corsair H60 CPU Cooler

Now if a year ago you asked me if Corsair would team up with one of its rivals, CoolIT Systems, and come to the table with a combined effort I would have said no. In fact, they have done just that and the new Hydro Series H60 is the result. Corsair says the new H60 has new features and performs better than the H50 that came out way back in the summer of 2009.

The biggest change is in the pump and cold plate. In previous Corsair/Asetek coolers, the H50 and H70, the pump and cold plate was round. The new pump and cold plate is square. Corsair also says the new design is a split flow design in which the water enters the block in the center and flows outward through micro channels.

The H60 is also sporting an all new 120mm fan that has more static pressure and is quieter. The fan runs at 1700 RPM and pushes 74.4 CFM at 30.2dBA with a static pressure of 3.2mm H2O.

Adding to the list of changes, there is a new mounting system. The H60 does not use a mounting system that we have seen before on either Asetekor CoolIT based systems. The new mounting system is more like what you would see on a normal air cooler. The H60 still supports Intel 775/1155/1156/1366 and AMD AM2/AM3 sockets, it is just easier to install into your system.

Features of the Corsair H60

• Cooler The Corsair Hydro Series H60 is a fantastic choice for cooling. With a new micro-channel cold plate and a split-flow designed manifold, the H60 brings remarkable new technologies to an affordable price point. If that weren’t enough, the H60 also features an all-new fan, custom designed to offer enhanced static pressure, which means better cooling.
• Quieter You don’t have to sacrifice performance to build a quiet system. Most high-performance coolers use crude, outdated designs that rely on two techniques: put a huge hunk of metal in your case or crank the fan to obnoxiously loud noise levels. The Hydro Series coolers feature innovative, cutting-edge designs that utilize the superior thermal conductivity of liquid over air to provide fantastic cooling at much lower noise levels. In fact, the H60 is similar in noise levels to a 120mm case fan you probably already have.
• Easy to Install Almost any case with a rear 120mm fan mount location can house the Hydro Series H60 CPU cooler. And don’t worry about compatibility with your CPU, we’ve got you covered. AMD® sockets AM2 and AM3 are covered, and without having to install a custom backplate, making the H60 a great choice for any modern AMD CPU up to the new Phenom six-core processors. And when it comes to Intel®, don’t worry about it. Whether you’ve got Socket LGA775, LGA1155, LGA1156, or LGA1366, we’ve got compatibility inside the box. That’s right, even the brand new Core i5 and Core i7 2x00 series processors are supported, right out of the box.
• The Corsair Advantage With more than 15 years of building enthusiast-grade memory and components, we’ve earned a reputation for quality, compatibility, and performance.
  

Specifications for the Corsair H60

• Warranty: Two years
• Cold Plate Material: Copper
• Socket Support: AMD AM2, AMD AM3, Intel LGA 1155, Intel LGA 1156, Intel LGA 1366, Intel LGA 775
• Radiator Material: Aluminum
• Tubing: Low-permeability for near-zero evaporation
• Radiator Dimensions: 120mm x 152mm x 27mm
• Fan Specification: 120mm (x1)
• Fan Dimensions: 120mm x 25mm
• Fan Speed: Up to 1700 RPM
• Fan Airflow: 74.4 CFM
• Fan dBA: 30.2 dBA
  
• Fan Static Pressure: 3.2mm/H20

• Looking closer at the Corsair H60

  
  

  

  With the H60 unpacked we can start to get a good look at it. The Pump/Cold plate is connected to the radiator by the 12” long corrugated tubing. The pump has a single wire running from it for powering the pump. So you will need two open fan headers on your motherboard, one for the pump and one for the fan.

  

  The new style pump/cold plate is square and very low profile. On the top of the pump housing is the Corsair Ship Sail logo.

  

  The tubing connects to the pump/cold plate with 90* swivel fittings to add flexibility for installation. The mounting tabs are attached to the pump body by the Phillips head screws. Two screws for each bracket, four in all. Simply remove the screws and you can change the mounts over to AMD; the Intel mounts come pre-installed.

  

  The H60 comes with pre-applied thermal paste.

  

  Under the paste is a nice flat surface.

  

  The radiator is able to handle two 120mm fans for a push pull arrangement. The overall dimensions of the radiator are 120mm x 152mm x 27mm.

  

  The radiator for the H60 has a fin count of 21-22 fins per inch as all the previous radiators in the Hydro Series have had. The higher the fins per inch the higher CFM fan you want to have. The fan for the H60 is rated at 74.4 CFM.

  

  The H60 is also sporting a redesigned fan. The fan has some heft to it; I don’t have a scale but the fan does feel heavier than any of the 120mm fans I have lying around on the test bench. The fan was redesigned to have a higher static pressure while being quieter. The higher static pressure helps to push the air though the radiator fins more efficiently.