Packaging
The H80i comes packaged in that oh so familiar red, white and black Corsair shell, giving us our first introduction to the cooler right on the front of the box. Not much is here for us except the Corsair Link logo letting us know this cooler has that capability built right in.
Flipping the box over we find graphs, a list of the box’s contents and socket compatibility information. While I’m all from trusting Corsair’s testing information we, of course, plan to put the cooler through our own tests.
Lifting off the lid we find everything wrapped in so much plastic and stuffed into an egg crate. Included with the unit is the usual documentation including warranty information and the install/user’s guide as well as all the installation and mounting equipment and the pair of 120mm fans that move the air across the radiator. The final extra in the box are the two connection cables, one for the two fans and the other for the USB Corsair Link.
Saving the best for last, we now take a look at the actual cooling unit. Starting with the water block and pump combination we find a ton of connections on the top. Three of these ports are for fan connections to tie into the H80i’s Corsair Link capability and the last is a USB connection meant to connect to one of your motherboard headers. The pump itself is SATA powered and PWM controlled like most AIO water cooling solutions we find today. The block is made of solid copper and already has a layer of thermal compound applied to it to make for an even easier installation. This whole package is connected to the radiator by 90o fittings and triple layer, low-permeability rubber tubing.
The radiator is, curiously, made of aluminum and seats the pair of included 120mm case fans. The coolant mixture in the H80i is a propylene glycol mix because of this and while it helps offset the galvanic corrosion it does lead to a lesser cooling capacity.
