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Why you should change the coolant in your water cooling system regularly
by Kevin Hofer
Hydro X Series: What's Corsair's entry into custom watercooling? Part 1
26.8.2019
Translation: machine translated
Corsair is entering the custom water cooling business with the Hydro X Series. I picked up a set and am testing it for you. Before I install the parts, I'll take a closer look at them.
I recently took apart the old gaming PC owned by the editorial team and cleaned the water cooling components. I realised that it's not always easy to clean the individual parts: certain parts are glued together and are therefore difficult to clean.
What's the situation with Corsair's Hydro X Series?
Hydro X Series
Corsair delivers more than just a CPU and GPU water block with the Hydro X Series. The Fremont-based company offers everything from the pump/reservoir combo to radiators, fittings and coolant. However, Corsair does not manufacture everything itself. The radiators are from Hardwarelabs, the coolant from Mayhems and the fittings from Bitspower. Corsair simply prints its own logo on them. The CPU and GPU water blocks and the pump/reservoir combo are developed by Corsair. I'll take a closer look at those.
By the way: Corsair wants to make it easier to get started with custom water cooling and has set up a cooling configurator on its homepage. Here you can enter all your PC components and the configurator will tell you what you need. This is really great for newbies.
The XC7 water block
Since I have a Ryzen 5 2600, I got myself the XC7 water block. It is compatible with the Intel LGA 115X and AMD AM4 sockets. The XC9 water block is available for the LGA 2011, LGA 2066 and TR4 sockets.
The scope of delivery includes the water block and mounting material. The manufacturer has also applied thermal paste.
I'm not convinced by the design of the XC7. I prefer simple structures. I find the rounded octagon too ornate. What's more, the visible part of the water block makes a rather cheap impression. This is due to the fact that Corsair produces it from nylon using injection moulding. I would have preferred milled acrylic here - as with my previous water block from Alphacool. The material Corsair uses is very difficult to clean and is prone to discolouration.
To tell you what the water block is good for, I'll take it apart. It consists of three parts: Base plate, centre plate and top plate.
The base plate itself is made of nickel-plated copper. What stands out: The fins are very close together. Much closer than on the Alphacool Eisblock XPX from our editorial team's gaming PC. As a result, the cooling performance of the XC7 water block should be better than that of the Eisblock XPX.
The positive thing about the centre plate is that it can be completely dismantled into its individual parts. The jet plate, which is designed to regulate the water flow for optimum cooling performance, can be completely removed. This means you can get right into the furthest corner when cleaning.
The cover plate houses the RGB ring. This can also be unscrewed. This is practical if you want to give the cover plate a colour other than black or want to get rid of the LED stuff.
Except for the design and the material of the centre and top plate, I have nothing to criticise about the water block. I'm particularly curious to see how the sealed fins affect the temperature. You should refrain from using coloured coolant with this fin density. They can clog up very quickly.
The GPU block XG7
Since I now own a 2070 Super with a 2080 reference PCB, I bought the water block for the RTX 2080 Founders Edition. If you want to water cool your graphics card, it should have a reference PCB. You can find compatible graphics cards via the cooling configurator from Corsair. A little tip: Graphics cards from EVGA usually have reference PCBs and your warranty will not be voided if you remove the existing heatsink. Corsair also has water blocks for the 2080 Ti and 2070 on sale.
In addition to the water block, the scope of delivery includes mounting material and a backplate. Corsair has not forgotten the RGB for the GPU either.
In contrast to the CPU block, I think the design of the GPU block is really cool. The black part is made of aluminium. The water block feels great in the hand. It weighs over 700 grams. The water wheel is cool, as it tells you whether the cooling water is flowing in the loop. The only negative point is that the connections for the fittings are manufactured using injection moulding. As mentioned with the water block, this looks cheap.
A big plus is that Corsair has already attached the thermal pads. Cutting them to size yourself is tedious and if you use the wrong one in the wrong place, it can have fatal consequences for the graphics card.
It is not necessary to unscrew the water block. You can see exactly what is screwed together where and how. The part must be very easy to clean.
The heat sink itself is made of nickel-plated copper. As with the CPU block, the fins are close together. Much closer than the Alphacool block in the previous editorial team's gaming PC. The block itself is milled.
The acrylic top is also milled. It's amazing how much nicer the part is to the touch than the injection-moulded CPU centre section. Overall, the GPU block has a better finish than the CPU block and is also easier to clean due to the materials used. Acrylic also discolours less quickly than nylon.
The GPU block has completely won me over. I'm really looking forward to installing it.
The XD5 pump/reservoir combo
The pump/reservoir combo comes with a D5 pump and a 330 millilitre reservoir. The scope of delivery also includes three brackets with screws: one bracket for the housing and two for mounting on radiators and fans respectively. There is also a probe for measuring the temperature and a bypass plug.
The scope of delivery impresses me, as everything has been thought of and the temperature probe is a nice gimmick so that you can monitor the temperature of your coolant. Fans of RGB are of course also catered for. The RGBs are attached to the top of the pump. Depending on the case, this makes it somewhat difficult to hide the cables.
The finish is not so great. Although I still find the reservoir visually appealing, Corsair once again relies on the injection moulding process with nylon. The plastic tends to discolour. What is still bearable with the water block can lead to very unsightly, clearly visible discolouration on the reservoir.
While I'm on the subject of cleaning. In general, it is very difficult to get to the reservoir itself. You have to loosen a total of 22 screws, including four different types, to get inside the reservoir. This is very time-consuming.
On the other hand, it's great that Corsair uses a D5 pump. It is very durable, quiet and has enough power even for larger loops.
Conclusion and outlook
Corsair makes a solid entry into custom water cooling with its three own products, the XC7 CPU water block, the XG7 GPU water block and the XC5 pump/reservoir combo. Although I would have liked different materials for the CPU block and reservoir, Corsair still offers well-made components that are particularly suitable for beginners.
What I find really cool is precisely this fact: Corsair makes water cooling easier for beginners. With the cooling configurator, which tells you exactly what you need, you're sure not to forget a single part.
I'm off to build my PC. Next time, I'll show you my build and tell you how well the Corsair components perform in everyday use. Then you'll also find out why the CPU block and pump/reservoir combo are grey in the cover picture. <p
Kevin Hofer
Senior Editor
kevin.hofer@digitecgalaxus.chFrom big data to big brother, Cyborgs to Sci-Fi. All aspects of technology and society fascinate me.
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