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Corsair cpu cooling: Liquid CPU Coolers | CORSAIR

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Best Corsair CPU coolers in 2023

Keeping your processor cool during use is incredibly important. These components are capable of producing a lot of waste heat that needs to be quickly removed so they can continue operating at rated speeds. Corsair is a popular PC brand that makes some of the best coolers in the business. We’ve rounded up the very best Corsair CPU coolers for your PC right here.

Our favorite Corsair CPU coolers in 2023

Source: Corsair

Corsair iCUE h250i ELITE LCD XT

Best Overall

Our favorite Corsair CPU cooler.

The Corsair iCUE h250i ELITE LCD XT is a 360mm all-in-one (AIO) CPU cooler with impressive thermal performance and plenty of features. If you have the available budget to spare, this will easily cool even an overclocked Intel Core i9 or AMD Ryzne 9 CPU.

Pros

  • Excellent cooling performance
  • Stunning LCD panel
  • Powerful 120mm fans

Cons

  • Expensive

$290 at Amazon

$300 at Best Buy

$290 at Newegg

Most people will require nothing more than a 240mm AIO as we recommend below, but the Corsair iCUE h250i ELITE LCD XT is our favorite CPU cooler from the company. It offers impressive thermal performance with a 320mm radiator and three new Corsair fans for maximum airflow. The three blowers have RGB lighting and the CPU block has an impressive LCD panel for displaying just about anything you’d desire. Just keep an eye on that price tag.

If you’re building your dream PC and want one of the best AIO coolers around, look no further than this one from Corsair. It’ll improve the aesthetics of your PC as well as keep everything cool.

Source: Corsair

Corsair iCUE h200i ELITE CAPELLIX XT

Best Compact

For those with more compact PC cases.

If you need a good thermal performance in a reasonably compact package, you’ll want to consider the Corsair iCUE h200i ELITE CAPELLIX XT. We don’t recommend AIO coolers with a 120mm radiator so this is as compact as we’d go.

Pros

  • Good thermal performance
  • May not be enough for overclocking

Cons

  • Pricey

$180 at Amazon

$180 at Newegg

$180 at Best Buy

We’d never recommend an AIO cooler with a 120mm or 140mm radiator. It’s just not worth it compared to air coolers. 240mm radiators are perfectly fine for a PC build, however, making the Corsair iCUE h200i ELITE CAPELLIX XT a worthwhile consideration if you’re limited by the PC case. Not every chassis can hold a 360mm radiator, which is where this cooler comes into play. It has the same high-quality Corsair fans you’d find in larger coolers, as well as a bright CPU block with all the RGB lighting in the world, but at a more reasonable price.

Because you’re only using two 120mm fans and have a smaller surface area than a 360mm radiator, we’d recommend against overclocking an Intel Core i9 or AMD Ryzen 9 CPU with this AIO. Everything else about this cooler is amazing, aside from it being a little pricey.

Source: Corsair

Corsair iCUE h250i RGB ELITE

Best Value

If you want the most bang for your buck.

Not everyone needs RGB fans and an LCD for showing GIFs and other data. This is where the Corsair iCUE h250i RGB ELITE comes into play. There are a few lights on the CPU block, but that’s about it. This thing focuses on being great at cooling your CPU.

Pros

  • Great value
  • Impressive thermal performance

Cons

  • No RGB fans
  • Can get loud

$189 at Amazon

$180 at Newegg

Should you want the very best bang for your buck with Corsair’s catalog of AIO coolers, we’d recommend the Corsair iCUE h250i RGB ELITE. It has minimal RGB lighting, no LCD panel, standard Corsair fans, and the same excellent performance you’d expect from an AIO cooler with a 360mm radiator. Because you cannot alter what’s displayed on the CPU block, and there’s very minimal RGB lighting elsewhere, Corsair was able to keep the price low, allowing those on tighter budgets access to higher-tier cooling solutions.

Whether you’re rocking an Intel Core i9-13900K or AMD Ryen 9 7950X, the iCUE h250i RGB ELITE will be able to tame the CPU even under heavy loads. Because of the three fans, you may notice some additional noise at higher RPM speeds, but that’s the nature of the beast when you’re attempting to extract a lot of heat waste for a single location.

Source: Corsair

Corsair iCUE h270i Elite LCD XT

Best Performance

A beastly CPU cooler for overclocking.

Bigger usually means better, which is why the Corsair iCUE h270i Elite LCD XT takes our spot for the best-performing AIO cooler from Corsair. It has a 420mm radiator with three 140mm fans for excellent thermal performance.

Pros

  • The best cooling performance
  • Massive 420mm radiator

Cons

  • Can be too big for many PC cases
  • Expensive

$390 at Amazon

$310 at Newegg

This is it, the big one. The Corsair iCUE h270i Elite LCD XT is the largest AIO cooler the company sells and it likely won’t fit inside your PC case, unless you’re using a full-tower chassis. We’ve compiled a list of the best full-tower PC cases if you want to go all-out with such a cooler. The radiator comes in at a whopping 420mm in length, which is far greater than the 360mm our top Corsair CPU cooler has. So long as you can fit this thing inside your PC, you’re going to have a great time.

It’s expensive, but for the money, you’re getting three powerful 140mm fans, a high-quality water block pump, and some tasteful RGB lighting effects. Install Corsair’s iCUE software and you’ll have a cooler that can not only cool the best consumer-grade processor but also look the part.

Source: Corsair

Corsair Hydro X Series iCUE Xh405i RGB PRO Custom Cooling Kit

Best DIY

Want to build your own CPU open-loop cooler? This kit is for you.

The Corsair Hydro X Series iCUE Xh405i RGB PRO is a custom water-cooling kit, which means Corsair provides everything in a box and you need to fix and connect everything together. This kit includes a reservoir, fans, a radiator, a pump, fluid, fittings, and some tools to make it all work.

Pros

  • Build your own open-loop water cooling
  • Contains everything you need

Cons

  • Expensive

$550 at Amazon

$550 at Newegg

If you’d like to build your own open-loop water-cooling solution for your PC but don’t want the hassle of picking all the parts, Corsair has a kit available that has everything you need to get started. The Corsair Hydro X Series iCUE Xh405i RGB PRO sounds like a mouthful and it most certainly is. But this fancy kit is also incredibly capable once it’s all installed and up and running. Inside the packaging are a 360mm radiator, three RGB Corsair fans, a pump/reservoir combo unit, a CPU block, rubes, fittings, and all the necessary tools.

This is essentially a barebones kit for building your own loops, including the means to cut the acrylic tubing. The only thing missing is a heat gun to warm up the tubes for bending, which will need to be bought separately. It’s expensive, but custom water-cooling projects such as this typically cost far more than an AIO or air cooler. What you get in return is impressive thermal performance. The three 120mm Corsair fans will be able to blow plenty of cool air through the large radiator, and you’ll have more than enough fluid to soak up all that processor waste heat.

Source: Corsair

Corsair XTM50

Best Thermal Paste

For the times when you’re removing the CPU cooler.

The Corsair XTM50 is the easiest of them all when it comes to installation. You get a CPU stencil and a spreader included in the box, making it easier for you to install the paste.

Pros

  • Fantastic thermal performance
  • Excellent for overclocking

Cons

  • Pricey

$15 at Amazon

$15 at Newegg

Thermal paste is incredibly important and can be the difference between excellent performance and impressive thermal throttling. It’s what plugs any gaps between the integrated heat spreader (IHS) on the processor and the plate on the cooler, be it a block or heatsink. The IHS transfers heat through the cooler using contact, so the more direct contact we have, the better the thermal transfer will be. Regardless of how advanced manufacturing has progressed, there will be defects in either the IHS or the cooler (or both).

There will be cuts, grooves, or other imperfections on a microscopic level that affect the process of transferring heat efficiently. This is where thermal paste comes into play. It acts as a transfer agent between the two metal surfaces, not only ensuring there’s an even contact across the processor, but the paste will also help improve the thermal conductivity of the cooler. Most CPU coolers (including those we recommend in this guide) will come with thermal paste already applied, but it’s always worth having a spare available.

Choosing the best CPU cooler

Our top recommendation for the best Corsair CPU cooler would be the Corsair iCUE h250i ELITE LCD XT. This impressive 360mm radiator-sporting package offers impressive thermal performance at a reasonable price. It has all the RGB lighting you could ever ask for and even has a fancy high-quality LCD panel on the CPU block that can be used to show just about anything. If you want not only the best cooling performance but also a solution that looks good and will enhance your PC build, this would be our top pick.

Other recommendations from Corsair are worth considering here. The Corsair iCUE h200i ELITE CAPELLIX XT is ideal for more compact PC builds where space is limited. It would fit inside smaller form factor cases without an issue, providing a much-needed uplift in thermal capacity. The Corsair Hydro X Series iCUE Xh405i RGB PRO Custom Cooling Kit is just awesome if you want to go it alone and create your very own open-loop CPU water cooling solution.

Picking the right CPU cooler depends largely on the processor you intend to use it to … well, cool. We’ve rounded up the very best CPUs (and most heat-producing) from AMD and Intel that will not only blow your existing benchmark scores out of the water but will also slash your energy bills, as you no longer require central heating during the winter months. Corsair found itself in our best AIO coolers collection and for good reason!

Source: Corsair

Corsair iCUE h250i ELITE LCD XT

Best Overall

Our favorite Corsair CPU cooler.

The Corsair iCUE h250i ELITE LCD XT is a 360mm all-in-one (AIO) CPU cooler with impressive thermal performance and plenty of features. If you have the available budget to spare, this will easily cool even an overclocked Intel Core i9 or AMD Ryzne 9 CPU.

$290 at Amazon

$300 at Best Buy

$290 at Newegg

Best Corsair CPU cooler in 2023

Only the coolest coolers here

Updated: May 11, 2023 11:05 am

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Corsair h250i ELITE LCD 360

Corsair iCUE h250i Elite Capellix Liquid CPU Cooler

Corsair Hydro Series h250i Pro

Best Corsair CPU cooler: Top picks

Corsair h250i ELITE LCD 360

Corsair iCUE h250i Elite Capellix Liquid CPU Cooler

Corsair Hydro Series h250i Pro

Best Corsair CPU cooler: Reviews

Corsair h250i ELITE LCD

Corsair h250i ELITE LCD 360

Corsair iCUE h250i Elite Capellix

Corsair iCUE h250i Elite Capellix Liquid CPU Cooler

Corsair Hydro Series h250i Pro

Corsair Hydro Series h250i Pro

Best Corsair CPU cooler: Things to consider

Cooling Performance

Compatibility

Noise Level

Design and Aesthetics

Additional Features

Best Corsair CPU cooler: FAQs

Are Corsair coolers good?

Can a CPU cooler effect PC performance?

Final Word

  • 01

    Best Corsair CPU cooler

  • 02

    Runner up Corsair CPU cooler

  • 03

    Budget Corsair CPU cooler

Corsair is a giant in the CPU cooler space, incorporating quality and performance into every cooling component to ever touch a CPU. But we’re here today to show you the best Corsair CPU cooler, fortunately for us, the process is made a little easier by the fact that Corsair only makes AIO liquid coolers and custom loop components.

We’re going to be covering the AIO liquid coolers, as custom loops can get very complex in practice, not to mention expensive. So without further delay, let’s get into it.

Best Corsair CPU cooler: Top picks

  • 01

    Best Corsair CPU cooler

  • 02

    Runner up Corsair CPU cooler

  • 03

    Budget Corsair CPU cooler

Best Corsair CPU cooler: Reviews

Here we will review the Corsair coolers we have selected as the best Corsair CPU coolers in a more comprehensive capacity, covering why we think that these CPU coolers are the best that Corsair has to offer.

Corsair h250i ELITE LCD

Radiator Type

Aluminium

Fan Edition

3x Corsair ML120 ELITE RGB PWM

Max RPM

2000 RPM

Socket Support

Intel 1700, 1200, 1150, 1151, 1155, 1156, 1366, 2011, 2066 AMD AM4, AM3, AM2, sTRX4, sTR4

Pros