Corsair’s iCUE H170i Elite LCD XT AIO offers the best cooling performance we’ve tested yet with Intel’s i9-13900K, handling over 325W in our most intensive thermal tests. And unlike other coolers, the noise level of the H170i Elite is tied to the CPU coolant temp, resulting in quieter operation during most common tasks and the elimination of bursty fan behavior. The tradeoff is that we saw noisier operation under the kinds of sustained loads that we use for testing. Normally I would consider this a mark against the product, but Lian Li wisely included a built-in low-noise/high-performance toggle switch, allowing you to reduce maximum fan speeds and noise levels with the flip of a switch. Most coolers that support low-noise modes have reduced thermal performance when engaged. But I didn’t observe any difference in thermals between the two modes when tested on my i7-13700K. When set to the low noise mode, total noise output is reduced to 49.2 dBA, which is on par with MSI’s and DeepCool’s competing 360mm AIOs. AIO coolers are way more convenient and affordable than custom liquid cooling loops. And, traditionally at least, they've been able to deliver lower CPU temperatures with less fan noise than air coolers – although that’s not always the case these days, as air coolers have gotten better and, in some cases, bigger.

Tier 3: These coolers are able to keep the i9-12900K under TJ max with CPU power limits of 140W enforced. Testing Methodology While cooling performance is absolutely amazing, thermals are only one part of the picture. How loudly the cooler runs is very important as well. In its default configuration, Lian Li’s GA II Trinity Performance runs loudly at 55.2 dBA. I’ve only tested a handful of coolers that reach this level of noise. Of the few Corsair coolers I have left they are using CorsairLink which takes 45mb, runs 1 process, uses 0.5% CPU on average and does everything I need it to do for a cooler - tell me temps and fan speeds. Tier 2: These coolers are able to keep the i9-12900K under the TJ max threshold with CPU power limits of 200W enforced. I expect most liquid coolers and the best air coolers to meet this standard. A software driver that takes 2.3+ GB to install just to tell you fan speeds and temps, that runs 64+ processes and runs at 6% + CPU usage all of the time is not "impressive" in any universe. And certainly not when that software is riddled with bugs, some as old as 3+ years - Fundamental stuff that should have been fixed by now.Tier 1: These coolers are able to keep the i9-12900K below TJ max in most loads, with no power limits enforced. I expect only the best liquid coolers to meet this standard. With Raptor Lake’s 13900K, not a single cooler tested has been able to keep the CPU under TJ max in this test – because as we pointed out, the chip is designed to dial up performance and power until it reaches that thermal result. For these intense loads, we’ll test performance by comparing the total amount of watts cooled and noise levels. That’s still no small amount of money for a cooler. But if your needs are extreme enough to warrant a 420 mm radiator, you can probably afford to spend a bit extra on keeping your powerful CPU as cool as it can be under load. I have 10 PCs. All of them had Corsair coolers and PSUs. Some had Corsair RAM and commander pro's. Of those 10 PCs I had to make 14 cooler replacements over an 3 year period with the coolers failing, typically the pumps.

In addition to testing Cinebench without power limits enforced, we’ll also be showing results when the CPU’s power consumption is limited to a more reasonable 200W. We’ll also show results at 125W for those who prefer whisper-quiet cooling, at the cost of some performance. For both of these results, we’ll show traditional delta over ambient temperature results. The increased cooling challenges posed by Raptor Lake mean that we’ve had to change some of the ways we test coolers. Some coolers were able to pass Cinebench R23 multicore testing with Intel’s 12th Gen i9-12900K when power limits were removed (although only the strongest models were able to pass that test). Most liquid coolers and all air coolers I’ve tested “failed” that test because the CPU reached TJ max in this scenario.You’ll need to make sure there’s room to install an AIO cooler in your PC case, preferably in the top or rear, exhausting your CPU heat out of the chassis. AIO coolers typically come in three sizes, defined by the dimensions of the radiator and the fans the radiator is designed to fit: 120 (one 120mm fan), 240 (two 120mm fans), or 360mm (three 120mm fans). While it was fairly easy with previous CPU generations for coolers to keep the flagship i9 processor well under TJ max (the maximum temperature a CPU can sustain without throttling) in tough workloads, this is no longer realistically possible on current generation CPUs (and the 13900K specifically) without extreme cooling (or enabling power limits). While in the past a CPU hitting its peak temperature was cause for concern, enthusiasts are going to have to learn to accept high temperatures as “normal” while running demanding workloads with Raptor Lake and Ryzen 7000 CPUs. Modern AMD and Intel CPUs are designed to run fairly hot without any problems – up to 95 degrees Celsius and for AMD Ryzen 7000 CPUs and up to 100 C for Intel’s Core i9-13900K. Similar behavior has been standard in laptops for years due to cooling limitations in tight spaces. To test the limits of a cooler's thermal dissipation capabilities, I run two primary stress tests: Cinebench and OCCT each for 10 minutes. While this may be a short amount of time, it is sufficient to push most coolers - air and liquid - to their limits. While stress testing in Cinebench, I run both with power limits removed and with an enforced 200W CPU power limit. In this test setup using MSI’s Z690 A Pro DDR4 Motherboard and Be Quiet’s Silent Base 802 Computer Case, only the best coolers are able to pass Cinebench testing when power limits are removed.

Cooler Master’s iCUE software has a variety of presets that you can choose, which can impact noise levels and overall cooling performance. During these tests, I ran the cooler using the “Balanced” profile, which is the default setting in Corsair’s iCUE software. After installing and testing it, I found Cooler Master’s new MasterLiquid 240 Atmos especially impressive. It’s clear the company has improved its flagship AIO in several key areas. Noise levels are low in most common workloads, and despite its smaller 240mm profile, the 240 Atmos is one of only a handful of AIOs I’ve tested that's capable of keeping Intel’s i7-13700K under its peak temperature, even in the hottest of workloads. This means that coolers that kept previous generation products like the i9-10900K nice and cool sometimes struggle to keep Intel's i9-12900K under Tj max–the max temperature before the CPU starts to throttle. Many coolers I’ve tested have failed to keep the i9-12900K under TJ max when power limits are removed in workloads like Cinebench and OCCT. ll be testing Corsair’s iCUE H100i Elite with Intel's Core i9-12900K. Due to the increased thermal density of the Intel 7 manufacturing process, as well as changes to core and component layouts, Alder Lake CPUs are more difficult to cool than previous generation CPUs in the most heat-intensive of workloads. The disadvantage to this method is that semi-intensive, but sustained, workloads will cause the cooler to run just as loudly as it would in a fully unrestricted workload. The fans will also spin at higher speeds for a moderate period of time once the workload has completed, rather than instantly returning to low speeds. This happens because it takes a few moments to bring the AIO’s coolant temperatures down after a sustained workload.

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