Corsair H100i NO STOCK FANS

[Guest]

Looking into changing the Corsair H100i stock fans. They run at 2700rpm, with 77cfm and 37Db...
Few questions..

I am looking into overclocking the intel i7 4770k, and I might want to change the stock fans. Is 2700RPM more than enough? And what are some good fans you recommend to switch out instead of the stock ones, or are the stock good enough?

I was looking into changing them with these -

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835214044

But it has a lower rpm... will the lower rpm be a problem???

 

[volksman]

With the H100i - almost any fans will "work". I swapped the stock fans out on mine with both Corsair SP120 Quiet Edition and High Performance Editions, both work fine. My stock fans had the rattle people talk about that seems inherent in the design.

Both edition fans will need to use the pigtail connector that comes with them to keep the RPM and therefor noise down.

In my experience, with a 4770K processor as well, there is so little difference with most static pressure optimized fans on the H100i, and at any speed. Even at the slowest fixed fan setting I can get out of any of the SP120 fans (~670 RPM), to the highest (`2K RPM) I get a minor (about 3-4 C) difference in CPU temp. I found that the H100i works best and quietest with a custom slow speed fan curve in Link with 4 fans in a push pull arrangement.

My only real advice is find the quietest static pressure optimized fans you can. If the SP120 fans are too pricey, look at some of the quiet Cooler Master fans. I haven't tried them, but they seem to get good reviews.

 

[volksman]

Also - another thing, avoid any of the ceramic thermal paste. I tested 2 different brands against the cheapest paste I could find at Microcenter, and the cheaper paste had more impact on the performance than the fan speeds.....

 

[JackNaylorPE]

2700 rpm is way too much for most people as it is way too noisy.... the 37db is a bit of "marketing" thing as you can see, better said "hear", in the video here, the H100i tested over 60dBA ... skip to the 55% CPU load mark at about 1:15 of the video.

http://martinsliquidlab.org/2013/03/12/swiftech-h220-vs-corsair-h100i-noise-testing/

The way the H100i manages to just edge out the better air coolers is to use very loud and very hi rpm fans. If you swap out for slower / quieter fans, you lose the performance provided by the hi rpm fans.....to the point where its significantly lower than even moderately priced air coolers.

http://www.vortez.net/articles_pages/corsair_h100_hydro_series_extreme_performance_liquid_cpu_cooler,16.html

However, this performance comes at a cost; noise. At 2600RPM, the H100 isn’t a quiet unit at all and similarly at 2000RPM, it can still be quite intrusive. In terms of performance per noise, high end air coolers from Phanteks, Noctua and Thermalright still reign supreme, contrary to Corsair’s own marketing. Like other ALC units, the H100 relies too much on high RPM fans for its performance when the goal of water cooling is generally for extreme performance at low noise levels.

http://www.vortez.net/articles_pages/corsair_h100_hydro_series_extreme_performance_liquid_cpu_cooler,14.html

So to answer ya question .... the cooling and and the noise go hand in hand .... decrease one and ya decrease the other.....after investing $110 in the original H100I + say $30 on new fans, for the $140 investment, you now have something that performs as well as moderately priced air cooler.

If ya looking for something quieter, that cools as well or better, I'm afraid ya going to have to give up on the 100i and invest in something quieter ..... a Swiftech H220 at the basic level (you can hear that at the same link above).

The Kraken is a small step up from the H100i
http://www.frozencpu.com/products/18036/ex-wat-240/NZXT_Kraken_X60_280mm_All-In-One_Liquid_Cooling_Solution_-_Dual_140mm_.html?tl=g30c83s137

Next up the Swiftech units with PWM fan control

http://www.frozencpu.com/products/17738/ex-wat-231/Swiftech_H20-220_Elite_Series_Liquid_Cooling_Kit_-_Universal_Mount_H2O-220-Elite.html?tl=g30c83s137

http://www.frozencpu.com/products/17739/ex-wat-232/Swiftech_H20-320_Elite_Series_Liquid_Cooling_Kit_-_Universal_Mount_H2O-320-Elite.html?tl=g30c83s137

Then onto one of the XSPC kits which can be expanded into a full blown loop w/ GPUs when ya ready

http://www.frozencpu.com/products/16551/ex-wat-217/XSPC_Raystorm_EX280_Universal_CPU_Water_Cooling_Kit_w_D5_Variant_Pump_Included_and_Free_Dead-Water.html?tl=g30c83s137