INTRODUCTION

   The entire concept behind AIO liquid CPU coolers may not have changed much ever since their appearance roughly a decade ago but unlike then today they are the number 1 choice for gamers, professionals and even enthusiasts. Granted they may not look as impressive as some custom water cooling kits (durability in AIO products is more important than looks) and they may also not offer quite the same cooling efficiency but there's simply no comparison in terms of cost. Regular air CPU coolers which are far closer in that regard not only can't really keep up with AIO models in terms of cooling efficiency but high-performance models also require too much space over the CPU (motherboard clearance issues). CORSAIR has a long history of producing high quality and performance AIO liquid CPU coolers and today I’ll be testing their latest iCUE H115i Elite CAPELLIX model.

   Founded in 1994, CORSAIR has grown from pioneering the high-performance DRAM market into one of the world’s leading providers of high-performance gaming and streaming products. CORSAIR offers a complete range of products to equip gamers, enthusiasts, and esports athletes, including mechanical keyboards, precision gaming mice, wireless headsets, premium PC components, and the CORSAIR ONE fully-integrated gaming PC. With a company-wide commitment to quality, innovative design, advanced features and high-performance, CORSAIR products have won thousands of media and industry awards, earning their place in gamers’ hands and PCs following years of development and engineering by a team dedicated to building great products that they themselves would want to use. In 2018 CORSAIR acquired Elgato Gaming, a manufacturer of streaming products. In 2019 CORSAIR acquired Origin Computers, a manufacturer of custom high-performance gaming PCs and laptops, and SCUF Gaming, an innovator and creator of high-performance gaming controllers.

   Just like with previous AIO models by CORSAIR the iCUE H115i Elite CAPELLIX AIO is an updated version of its predecessor, the award winning iCUE H115i RGB Pro XT model (review here) and is of course also manufactured by Asetek. Still CORSAIR hasn't changed that much between models so there are three key differences, the new ML RGB magnetic levitation 140mm fans used (8 individually addressable RGB LEDs in each - in terms of specifications are identical to the plain non RGB ones - 2000RPM/97CFM/3.0mmH2O/36dBA), the new centrifugal pump with its 33 ultra-bright individually addressable CAPELLIX RGB LEDs and the removable top cap (black glossy and transparent white) and the bundled iCUE Commander Core fan/RGB hub. Everything else pretty much remains the same so we find the same 322mm long, 137mm wide and 27mm thick dual-fan aluminum radiator, the same 380mm long sleeved tubings and the same XL surface all-copper base (coldplate). Needless to say, once again both the RPM of the fans and pump and the 49 (total) addressable RGB LEDs can all be easily controller (automatically or manually) through CORSAIR's iCUE software.