Overall and Final Verdict
All together the Corsair H100i ELITE CAPELLIX XT continues what Corsair has always done with their AIO cooler lineup. You get solid performance and a variety of models that cover any size you might need as well as both black and white models to match your system. Their capellix LEDs look great, especially on the top of the pump where they have packed in 33 LEDs. Those go under the swappable top covers that give a little more adjustability and have me curious about what kind of interesting stuff you can do for full customization as well. The pump design, even with the swappable top is still shorter than the other AIOs coolers that I’ve tested recently which doesn’t matter much to anyone with a normal-sized system, but can be very important for SFF system fans. The H100i ELITE CAPELLIX XT also did well in our noise testing.
There is always room for improvement and on the H100i ELITE CAPELLIX XT, there were a few things. I’ve spoken about this in the past, but it is starting to become a bigger issue now that a lot of their competition has solutions to the problem, but with each fan having two sets of wires and having the controller you have a lot of wires to keep out of view and deal with. I was also surprised on our white model which Corsair went out of the way to make sure every small detail on the radiator side is bright white, but when it came to the pump a majority of it is still black including the wires, this is something some of the competition does a better job with. I also think that a fan with more lighting might better match up with the crazy lighting on top of the pump on the H100i ELITE CAPELLIX XT. The AF RGB Elite fans still look great, but something like their LL fans which have the outer ring of lighting as well would look better in my opinion.
As for pricing, the H100i ELITE CAPELLIX XT as tested has an MSRP of $179.99 and the larger H150i is $229.99. This does put the H100i ELITE CAPELLIX XT up in the high end of AIO coolers and the cost isn’t completely out of line, part of what you are paying for is the included Core Commander controller and the crazy amount of lighting. But it is getting up into the same range as some coolers with integrated screens on the pumps, but if that isn’t your thing no one else has lighting like this on the pump. If this is the styling you are going for, beyond dealing with some additional wiring, you aren’t going to be disappointed. But if you are on a budget, one of the AIO coolers without its own controller is going to help keep costs down.
Live Pricing: HERE
