Conclusion
When we started our adventure, we wanted to push this cooler to its absolute limits and our test bench certainly delivered that when its 18 cores were clocked to 4.7GHz. We’ll recap the performance below and see how the CORSAIR iCUE H100i ELITE CAPELLIX stood up to the heat in our kitchen!
Summary of Temperatures
The CORSAIR iCUE H100i ELITE CAPELLIX was not able to operate at its quietest configuration and maintain stability with the stock clock speeds of our Intel 10980XE as when the processor was at 93 degrees Celsius, the coolant temperature alarm went off. The best that the CORSAIR iCUE H100i ELITE CAPELLIX could manage, in this balanced view, was a temperature of 73 degrees Celsius and the fan at 1000 RPM with our test bench running at stock clocks. As we increased the overclock, things got worse as we had to increase fan speed, to prevent the CPU from thermally throttling, more with this AIO than any other we have tested to date.
Ultimately, we were only able to keep our Intel 10980XE in check at 4.3GHz down to 1500 RPM and 100% Pump. Beyond that, the CORSAIR iCUE H100i ELITE CAPELLIX tried to boil away all of its coolant. In the Max OC test, where our Intel 10980XE is clocking 4.7GHz, the CORSAIR iCUE H100i ELITE CAPELLIX (much like all the other 240mm and 280mm coolers we have tested to date) was not able to even begin to compete. This is, obviously, not the most desired outcome.
Summary of Sound Levels
At the slowest and quietest settings that we could stably achieve, the CORSAIR iCUE H100i ELITE CAPELLIX started to blend in with the ambient room sound levels and we could not hear a thing. Moving up to 1,500 RPM it became slightly audible but still was not distracting. At its maximum fan speed, 2,400 RPM, it made a defined contribution to our testing environment while doing its job. Overall, it is hard to place this cooler as, in relative terms, it bounced from one of the loudest to one of the quietest AIOs we have reviewed to date.
Final Points
We first adjusted our cooling testing methodology to test the claim of the Enermax LIQTECH II 360 since it said it could dissipate 500W+ of heat; a bold claim for sure. Afterward, we thought for a moment and realized why not make this our threshold for testing all of our cooling solutions? We would have a good standard that is going to let us have as close to an apples to apples comparison as we were going to be able to get while not going “easy” on even the beefiest of coolers.
So, here we are today with another entrant; the CORSAIR iCUE H100i ELITE CAPELLIX. This is a bit less beefy cooler than 360mm models but Corsair is pitching this as a premium product and the reviewer’s guide suggests XE model processors as the type of thing to test this unit with. So, we did and we probably should not have due to the extreme temperature environment for this size radiator.
That said, after putting it through our gauntlet, we see that the CORSAIR iCUE H100i ELITE CAPELLIX performed in the ballpark of the other 240mm coolers that have been strapped to our test bench. Given the amount of heat that we pumped into it, we believe that it was limited by its radiator size on our cooling rig and that we’d see much better performance numbers out of larger radiators. Our test bench really needs a custom loop to be tamed, so putting an AIO with a 240mm radiator on it simply isn’t fair.
The CORSAIR iCUE H100i ELITE CAPELLIX is listed at a $149.99 MSRP. Best Buy currently has it in stock exactly at $149.99 so it is available at the right pricing and reviews seem to be positive. Keep in mind that this includes the iCUE Commander Pro that would set you back $75 for a comparable iCUE controller on its own, so it’s like getting the AIO cooler for $75. Overall, the higher RPM on the fans of the CORSAIR iCUE H100i ELITE CAPELLIX can make the difference in temperaturs compared to other AIOs with lesser RPM fans. These are some of the highest RPM fans we’ve experienced, which help. If you are in the market for a CORSAIR AIO because you have or will have iCUE compatible devices then the CORSAIR iCUE H100i ELITE CAPELLIX provides a great value proposition for your hard-earned dollars.