Scope of supply:
In addition to the radiator in 80 sizes and two SP120L (120mm) fans from Corsair with screws, nor are the brackets (backplate and screws) for AMD and Intel CPU systems and the manual included.
What is somewhat missing in this price range, are a few decouplings for the fan to be mounted on the housing, as the supplied fan do not even.
Construction and installation:
The H80i GT is assembled for Intel delivered systems. If you have a AMD system has to change the retainer ring before installation. In its default configuration on the copper plate thermal paste already applied. Thus, a quick installation there is no obstacle.
The backplate is simply inserted from the rear into the provided holes in the mainboard. For the different bases can move it to the backplate screw sockets, which is well illustrated and described in the manual. Here must be specially mounted anything.
Then screwed the first fan on the radiator. Pay attention to the direction, which is shown on the fans with arrows!
The second fan is then fixed by means of screws on the housing and in front of the radiator comes in the versions of the screws.
Last but not least, the heat sink is placed and bolted to the CPU.
All these steps go very easily by hand and can be completed quickly thanks to the few installation steps.
Software:
The Corsair Link software allows not only the settings of the cooling and the LED and the monitoring of temperatures in the housing. Overall, a lot of graphics and surfaces are available for this. It all works very well. However, the abundance of these options is also the weakness of the software from Corsair. The many options make the software look cluttered and confusing, which can overwhelm beginners or less experienced buyers. (V3.1.5525)
Power:
The following system is powered by the GT H80i
i7 3770K beheaded on 4,5GHz
16GB DDR3 Kingston Savage 2400
ASUS Maximus V Formula
R9 280X TurboDuo OC
Installed in a Corsair Carbide Air 540 with 4 Corsair AF140 LED fans.
The CPU is in the desktop mode (screen, open any programs, only Windows and services are running) to a comfortable 20 degrees chilled, at room temperature of about 20/21 degrees.
Under load (Prime95) it reaches a temperature of at most 61 degrees, under the same conditions of the room temperature.
By comparison, a Be Quiet Dark Rock Pro 2 CPU is cooled to 25 degrees and 71 degrees desktop operating Prime95 load.
In all these tests, the cooling of the H80i GT remained pleasantly quiet and was set to Quiet Mode. The fans were not to be heard except for the cranking at startup. The pump is in Quiet Mode pleasantly quiet and easy to hear only in stressful situations and then tends to a slight clicking sound. This can be noticed disturbing when one is very sensitive. This is just the compromise you have to make a compact AIO water cooling, compared to a Custom.
Conclusion:
The elegant design and excellent assembly, plus the excellent cooling performance are just a few of the many advantages of H80i GT. Even larger AIO systems, with 240 or 280 radiators, cool little better than the GT H80i (1-2 degrees, more than 5 degrees). This is an announcement for a 80 AIO water cooling and therefore gets the Corsair GT H80i a full purchase recommendation from me!
Only the lack of decouplings and somewhat overloaded acting software might interfere.
***** Stars