Final thoughts and rating
Corsair's Hydro Series H50 all-in-one liquid-based cooler, priced at £59, is aimed at the enthusiast who wishes to indulge in overclocking high-wattage CPUs and normally looks towards premium air coolers to keep the chip(s) running smoothly under load.Based on the Asetek LCLC design but taking in a single head for cooling the CPU, with no means of adding further loops for, say, graphics, the Hydro H50 strength lies with just how easy it is to install - your gran could do it.
Once installed, performance is a touch better than a class-leading air cooler, the Thermalright Ultra 120 eXtreme, and significantly better than an Intel reference heatsink. The liquid-cooled nature of the design means it's less partial to increases in ambient temperatures, too, and that's an important consideration in the summer.
A cinch to fit and quiet for the most part, the Corsair Hydro H50 provides stiff opposition to the very best air coolers available on the market, meeting its design aim.
Bottom line: Corsair's Hydro Series H50 is based on established technology and does well in keeping an overclocked, overvolted Intel Core i7 chip in check. It can be recommended to users whose previous cooling choices would have veered towards the premium end of the air cooling market, but another £10 off the etail price would make it that much sweeter.
HEXUS Rating
We consider any product score above '50%' as a safe buy. The higher the score, the higher the recommendation from HEXUS to buy. Simple, straightforward buying advice.
The rating is given in relation to the category the component competes in, therefore the cooler is evaluated with respect to our 'mid-range components' criteria.Corsair Hydro Series H50
HEXUS Awards
HEXUS Where2Buy
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It's also available for £58.62 from C3Computers.co.uk.
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