Corsair releases small all-in-one water cooler for mini-itx systems
Corsair has announced the Hydro H5 SF-aio water cooler. It is a low profile cooler, which is suitable for use in small mini-itx cases. According to the manufacturer, the water cooler can dissipate 150 watts of heat, making overclocking possible.
The Corsair Hydro H5 SF is the first all-in-one water cooler suitable for the small mini-itx size. According to the manufacturer, the cooler is quiet and efficient thanks to the 120mm fan, which sucks in the warm air and then blows it out through the radiator. The cooler is 84mm high. Corsair says the cooler is easy to install; it is completely mounted on the motherboard.
A copper plate extracts the heat from the CPU, then the warm liquid is led to the integrated radiator of 120x40mm. The 120mm fan not only blows past this radiator, but also sucks in the warm air through the bottom. That should keep the components around the CPU, such as the VRMs, cool.
According to the specifications, the cooler can dissipate up to 150 watts of heat. That makes the H5 SF suitable for mini-itx systems on the X99 platform with Intel’s 2011-3 socket. ASRock makes such a motherboard. In theory, even the Intel Core i7-5960X, with a TDP of 140 watts, can be placed. When using a CPU with a lower TDP, there is room left to overclock the small system.
In June, Corsair already showed a prototype of the Bulldog at Computex, a very compact water-cooled gaming PC barebone. This system appears to have the same H5 SF cooler; now the manufacturer is also releasing the water cooler separately, for people who want to build a mini-itx system themselves. The low-profile water cooler is available immediately for a suggested retail price of $80. Converted including VAT, that is about 89 euros.
Recently, Corsair has also revealed more about the Bulldog barebones. These should be published in the first quarter of 2016. There will be a case variant with H5 SF water cooler and 600-watt 80 Plus Gold PSU for $299 and a kit that also adds a Z170 motherboard for $399. Euro prices are not yet known. Corsair will also supply complete Bulldog systems through ‘selected partners’. Specifications and prices are also unknown.