corsair icue h150i elite lcd display brands
This was my first liquid CPU cooler purchase and my first PC build in over 10 years. So I wanted to go all out on my build with all the LED bells and whistles (LED Fans, LED Memory, LED on GPU, LED on motherboard, etc.) so after doing some research the iCue software was the most compatible with other manufacturers. I also made sure that I got a case with plenty of ventilation (room for 10 fans).
The only issues I"ve ever had is with the LCD screen and the LED ring on the pump. Oddly enough, the problems seem to resolve themselves given enough time (either just randomly or through a software/firmware update). Over the past six months I"ve had three unique issues happen with the LCD.
The first was I got a triangle with an exclamation point on the screen within a few weeks of installing. I went through all the troubleshooting steps online and nothing seemed to work (updating the iCue software, firmware updates, disconnecting/re-connecting cables, etc.). I was about to RMA it and then one morning it starting working.
Third issue happened this morning (Nov. 13) with the LCD screen. When I booted up the computer, the images on the LCD screen was jumping. Kind of like the old computer monitors that had a v-sync issue. It only did this for about 20 minutes. I"m assuming it was the cold weather as my home office was cold this morning and after the LCD screen warmed up the image jumping on the LCD cleared up on its own.
Overall, I only give it three stars. The CPU cooling works great. However, having random issues with the LCD that seem to fix themselves on their own is a major turnoff.
Corsair knows a thing or two about making decent all-in-one liquid CPU coolers and the company has launched a new range of iCUE Elite LCD solutions for Intel and AMD processors. Available as the Corsair H100i Elite LCD, H150i Elite LCD, and H170i Elite LCD, today we"re taking a look at the H150i Elite LCD.
Each CPU cooler comes rocking a 2-inch IPS display that can display temperature readings and more. Corsair bundles the latest ML RGB Elite fans (in 120mm and 140mm flavors), creating quite the compelling range of coolers to go up against heated competition from NZXT, ASUS, and other manufacturers.
Starting from $260 for the Corsair H100i Elite LCD, these aren"t affordable solutions to cool your processor. Is the Corsair H150i Elite LCD worthy of a spot in our best CPU coolers collection?
Bottom line: Corsair"s H150i Elite LCD may be seriously expensive, but this AIO cooler is capable of handling even enthusiast-grade processors without breaking a sweat.
Prices for the Corsair iCUE Elite LCD AIO coolers start from $250 for the 240mm H100i Elite LCD. The H150i Elite LCD we"re reviewing today costs $280-290, which is a substantial amount of money for a CPU cooler, even if it"s an AIO with a 360mm radiator and three premium 120mm fans.
There has always been a premium feel for enjoying the luxury of all-in-one liquid cooling performance compared to air coolers. Corsair"s range isn"t priced out of the competition either. When the 360mm NZXT Kraken Z73 originally launched, it was priced at $280. Corsair does offer some advantages with an IPS display and high-end fans.
Corsair includes everything you"ll require to get up and running, including the pump/radiator, three 120mm ML Elite fans, iCUE COMMANDER CORE RGB and fan controller hub, and a bag of mounting accessories. The iCUE COMMANDER CORE is one powerful hub alone, allowing you to hook up to six RGB channels and fans.Corsair"s iCUE H150i Elite LCD AIO looks the part with its gorgeous IPS display.
It"s possible to connect the three ML Elite fans to your motherboard to let it handle curves and the like, but I"d recommend using the iCUE COMMANDER CORE since you"re going to want to install and use the software to manage the IPS display. If you"ve installed and used an AIO cooler before, you"ll know precisely how everything works with the H150i Elite LCD.
Corsair includes mounting accessories for Intel and AMD (including Threadripper) processors. The fans can be attached to the radiator on either side, depending on how you plan to install the AIO inside the best PC case. Interestingly, the plastic shroud with the IPS display can be detached from the main water block to make installation easier.
The Corsair H150i Elite LCD is more than enough for the AMD Ryzen 9 5950X as the chart below shows, making it overkill for a 12th Gen Intel Core i5 processor. You could get away with the smaller H100i Elite LCD for anything below an Intel Core i7 or AMD Ryzen 7 CPU. A temperature reading of 56 C on an overclocked Ryzen 9 5950X is a solid score.
The pump is silent in both silent and balanced modes, though you will notice some whine when pushing it to full speed. The same goes for the three ML Elite fans that are fairly quiet until you really ramp up the system load on the CPU. When joined by a few more case fans, you"ll not endure any additional noise with a good pair of headphones on.
This is one expensive piece of tech. Corsair threw a lot into the H150 Elite LCD box, including premium ML Elite fans and a fan/RGB controller hub. The pump and fans are excellent in keeping powerful processors cooled, but you"ll want to mess around with the various settings using iCUE software to really make the most of this AIO cooler.
There are numerous liquid coolers available for both Intel and AMD processors. Displays are becoming a more common sight on water blocks too. Corsair has always produced some of the best fans on the market and pairing them up with a radiator and reliable pump is a sure way of creating a powerful AIO cooler.
A close contender for the Corsair Elite LCD series is the Kraken range from NZXT. If you"re after a white AIO cooler, NZXT may have just what you"re searching for, but both solutions are extremely good with the latest processors. The decision largely boils down to personal tastes in design and how much you"re willing to spend.
Whether you should buy the Corsair H150i Elite LCD depends on a few things. Firstly, you need to be comfortable spending $300 on a CPU cooler. Then you need to have a powerful enough processor to take advantage of the 360mm radiator and thermal cooling capacity. Finally, you need to be running an OS that supports Corsair"s iCUE software to manage the IPS display.
While it"s only available in black, the H150i Elite LCD is gorgeous. The 2-inch IPS display is great for displaying temperatures or animated images. The three included 120mm ML Elite fans are incredible too. They"re capable of pushing volumes of air through the radiator and the latest pump from Corsair is quiet yet powerful.
Whether you"re using an overclocked Intel Core i5-12600K or AMD Ryzen 9 5950X, you"re going to have an easy time keeping the processor cooled. Playing games or running synthetic benchmarks and stress tests, the Corsair H150i Elite LCD is more than happy to keep temperatures low enough without making too much noise.
Bottom line: In terms of performance alone, the Corsair H150i Elite LCD is an incredible piece of kit. It will happily keep an overclocked Intel Core i5-12600K or AMD Ryzen 9 5950X cool enough under load.
Corsair recently introduced its new iCUE Elite LCD Display Liquid CPU Coolers. All three of these new coolers, the H100i Elite LCD, H150i Elite LCD, and H170i Elite LCD, are equipped with a 2.1-inch IPS screen that can be adjusted to display PC monitoring statistics (such as CPU temps, coolant temps, fan speeds, and system temperatures), as well as photos and animated GIFs, among other things. These coolers also make use of Corsair"s latest ML RGB Elite Series fans, which provide very effective yet silent cooling. Yeah, iCue Elite LCD coolers that are equipped with a 2.1-inch IPS LCD screen for easy viewing of statistics. The screen has a resolution of 480 × 480 pixels and a refresh rate of 30 frames per second. It serves as a useful dashboard for displaying your system"s vital signs. You can, however, personalize it to your satisfaction by including a one-of-a-kind animation or even your favorite meme. The monitor also includes an LED ring with up to 24 ARGB LEDs, which can be controlled using the Corsair iCue software included with the display.
Added into the mix are Corsair ML RGB Elite series fans power the iCue Elite LCD coolers, which provide reduced friction and noise while also providing enhanced performance and durability when compared to ordinary bearings. The ML120 RGB Elite and the ML140 RGB Elite have operational speeds ranging from 450 RPM to 2,000 RPM and 400 RPM to 1,600 RPM, respectively, and are available in two sizes. Eight ARGB LEDs help to distinguish the cooling fans from the rest of the room. The cooling blocks are split-flow copper cold plates based on a high-density design that has 128 micro-skived fins per inch, which allows for more efficient cooling. Pump heads for iCue Elite LCD coolers are powerful, although they produce little noise, according to the manufacturer. According to Corsair"s findings, using a liquid cooler can result in up to 13.6 percent lower processor temperatures when compared to using an air cooler. The tests were carried out on an unidentified processor under a 250W load at an ambient temperature of 27 degrees Celsius, according to the manufacturer. On the iCue Elite LCD coolers, there has no problem with socket compatibility, that"s including Alder Lake support and thus Intel"s LGA1700, LGA1200, LGA115x, LGA2066, and LGA2011 sockets, as well as AMD"s AM4, sTRX4, and TR4 sockets.
Backed by a five-year limited warranty the units do not come cheap though, the H100i Elite LCD and H150i Elite LCD will cost $259.99 and $289.99, respectively, H170i Elite LCD will; cost $309.99. Here"s something to remember though, if you already own one of the brand"s iCue Elite Capellix coolers, you may upgrade the LCD display of your CPU cooler with the iCue Elite CPU cooler LCD display upgrade kit, which costs $99.99.
Corsair recently introduced its new iCUE Elite LCD Display Liquid CPU Coolers. All three of these new coolers, the H100i Elite LCD, H150i Elite LCD, and H170i Elite LCD, are equipped with a 2.1-inch IPS screen that can be adjusted to display PC monitoring statistics (such as CPU temps, coolant temps, fan speeds, and system temperatures), as well as photos and animated GIFs, among other things. These coolers also make use of Corsair"s latest ML RGB Elite Series fans, which provide very effective yet silent cooling. Yeah, iCue Elite LCD coolers that are equipped with a 2.1-inch IPS LCD screen for easy viewing of statistics. The screen has a resolution of 480 × 480 pixels and a refresh rate of 30 frames per second. It serves as a useful dashboard for displaying your system"s vital signs. You can, however, personalize it to your satisfaction by including a one-of-a-kind animation or even your favorite meme. The monitor also includes an LED ring with up to 24 ARGB LEDs, which can be controlled using the Corsair iCue software included with the display.
Added into the mix are Corsair ML RGB Elite series fans power the iCue Elite LCD coolers, which provide reduced friction and noise while also providing enhanced performance and durability when compared to ordinary bearings. The ML120 RGB Elite and the ML140 RGB Elite have operational speeds ranging from 450 RPM to 2,000 RPM and 400 RPM to 1,600 RPM, respectively, and are available in two sizes. Eight ARGB LEDs help to distinguish the cooling fans from the rest of the room. The cooling blocks are split-flow copper cold plates based on a high-density design that has 128 micro-skived fins per inch, which allows for more efficient cooling. Pump heads for iCue Elite LCD coolers are powerful, although they produce little noise, according to the manufacturer. According to Corsair"s findings, using a liquid cooler can result in up to 13.6 percent lower processor temperatures when compared to using an air cooler. The tests were carried out on an unidentified processor under a 250W load at an ambient temperature of 27 degrees Celsius, according to the manufacturer. On the iCue Elite LCD coolers, there has no problem with socket compatibility, that"s including Alder Lake support and thus Intel"s LGA1700, LGA1200, LGA115x, LGA2066, and LGA2011 sockets, as well as AMD"s AM4, sTRX4, and TR4 sockets.
Backed by a five-year limited warranty the units do not come cheap though, the H100i Elite LCD and H150i Elite LCD will cost $259.99 and $289.99, respectively, H170i Elite LCD will; cost $309.99. Here"s something to remember though, if you already own one of the brand"s iCue Elite Capellix coolers, you may upgrade the LCD display of your CPU cooler with the iCue Elite CPU cooler LCD display upgrade kit, which costs $99.99.
CORSAIR launched their new AIO Liquid CPU Coolers a few weeks before the Intel Alder Lake launch because they know very well that the new processors from Team Blue run quite hot. Whether CORSAIR has incorporated any new design changes to better handle Alder Lake’s high temps remains to be seen. The new CORSAIR iCUE ELITE LCD Liquid CPU Cooler seems to be a minor upgrade over the their iCUE ELITE CAPELLIX Liquid CPU cooler that were launched last september. We decided to check out the 360mm variant i.e. the CORSAIR “H150i” iCUE ELITE LCD Liquid CPU Cooler to see what all has changed. CORSAIR also has the H100i 240mm and H170i 420mm variants available with the new LCD displays.
CORSAIR isn’t the first to put an LCD display on their coolers. ASUS showcased the Ryujin with an LCD display in 2018 and we’ve seen brands such as NZXT come out with displays on coolers of late.
The CORSAIR H150i iCUE ELITE LCD comes in a standard black and yellow Corsair box with all necessary accessories to fit all modern CPU sockets. The Intel bracket is pre-installed on the cooler and support LGA1700/1200/1156/1155/1151/1150 sockets. And as for AMD, you get AM4/STR4/STR4X brackets and mounting hardware.
The fans included with the CORSAIR H150i iCUE ELITE LCD Liquid CPU Cooler are the 120 mm ML RGB ELITE fans which use Magnetic Levitation bearing and provide between 14.86 to 58.1 CFM while running between 450-2000 RPM. These are static pressure fans meant to be used with dense radiators. Each fan has a 4-pin PWM connector for powering the fans and a 4-pin RGB connector.
To control the LCD display and all the RGB on the fans, CORSAIR includes a COMMANDER CORE with the cooler. This thing can handle six fans and six RGB devices aside from the LCD display on the cooler. And if you happen to have six RGB fans, then that’s all it can handle. A proper mid-tower cabinet such as the 680X will come with a few RGB fans of its own, so that along with the three ML RGB ELITE will be easily handled by the COMMANDER CORE.
You also get a USB Y-splitter cable for connecting two USB connectors into one USB 2.0 header on the motherboard. This does not always work since some boards will make it difficult to recognise devices if passed via a USB hub. When we used the splitter cable with our test rig, neither the LCD display, nor the three ML RGB ELITE Fans connected via the COMMANDER CORE were recognised. We had to bypass the USB Y-splitter to let iCUE recognise the devices.
Then comes the COMMANDER CORE which controls all the fans, the RGB lighting on the fans and the pump. The CPU block has a thick flat cable that runs into the COMMANDER CORE which in turn is connected to a SATA power connector and a USB 2.0 connector. The CPU block also has a USB 2.0 connector. Both USB connectors need to be connected to the motherboard to let iCUE talk to the display on the pump and the COMMANDER CORE. Like we mentioned previously, we could not use the Y-splitter USB cable with the two devices and they had to be connected directly.
Corsair went with CoolIT for this particular model and because Corsair is such a huge customer, they do get to customise a lot more aspects of the AIO than other customers. In the case of the CORSAIR H150i iCUE ELITE LCD, they haven’t done much aside from attaching a display on top of the pump block. Let’s start with the radiator.
The radiator could have easily incorporated screw protectors or screw guards such as the ones that we see on the Corsair XR5 and XR7 radiators that are part of their Hydro X series. The OEMs are different since the XR5 and XR7 are made by Hardware Labs and the AIO comes from CoolIT. We’re pretty certain CoolIT gets it from some other OEM but it’s high-time that this simple design modification was incorporated by all AIO manufacturers.
The CPU water block comes pre-fitted with the LCD panel and metal brackets for mounting on Intel systems. The tubings are attached using plastic swivel fittings which have a metal crimp on the end to secure the tube onto it. All the cabling comes out from the top of the CPU water block which in this image is oriented sideways. And then you have the LCD display which is a 2.1-inch 24-bit colour IPS panel with a resolution of 480x480 pixels and a frame rate of 30 FPS. The backlight is bright at 600 Nits.
You can remove the LCD display quite easily and you’ll be left with this. There’s no connector to perform a direct attach to the pump block should you not want the LCD display.
Corsair mentions that the cold plate is 56 x 56 mm, ours came a millimeter short but that’s fine. The cold plate is secured in place with eight Philips screws and opening the cooler is quite easy. Although, not recommended unless you have some Glycol and distilled water mixture lying about to top it up.
On the underside of the cold plate we get to see the typical CoolIT design of micro-skived fins. Corsair states that they have 128 fins per inch in this design.
Lastly, we have the CORSAIR ML120 RGB ELITE fans which is the other major change with this launch. On the iCUE ELITE CAPELLIX AIO, we had the ML120 RGB fans with eight LEDs and the fan could run between 400-1600 RPM while pushing up to 47.3 CFM. It did so without making much noise at 25 dBA. On the other hand, the ML120 RGB ELITE features eight LEDs fitted in a slightly different housing with straight edges and it can run between 450-2000 RPM while pushing up to 58.10 CFM. It’s also noisier at 30.4 dBA max.
One of the important things about AIOs is to see if the micro-skived fins, which is where most of the heat exchange happens, align with the actual CPU die inside the IHS. Intel and AMD have different arrangements of the dies on the substrate and the performance of AIOs depends on how well they align with the actual dies. Intel has a massive monolithic die on the consumer processors whereas AMD has their chiplet designs which spread out the dies across the entire substrate. Since the H150i iCUE ELITE LCD cooler was launched around the Intel Alder Lake processor launch, we decided to see if that aligned well with the die.
The CORSAIR H150i iCUE ELITE LCD Liquid CPU cooler is a decent AIO for the new Alder Lake processors as long as you’re not crunching out prime numbers all the time. The LCD display is a nice change and CORSAIR has done a great job of polishing the entire iCUE interface and making it easy to control. The fans, on the other hand, are a little louder than before. Overall, the H150i iCUE ELITE is a nice addition to CORSAIR’s portfolio.
FeaturesA premium all-in-one CPU cooler that combines powerful, low-noise cooling and vibrant RGB lighting with a personalized LCD display, offering custom graphics to accent your system"s aesthetics and track its real-time performance at a glance.
Showcase your live CPU temperature, favorite animated GIF, funniest meme, your team"s logo, or anything you like on a custom 2.1" IPS LCD screen with 480x480 resolution, ultra-bright 600cd/m2 backlight, 24-bit true color depth, and over 16.7 million colors.
Three all-new 120mm CORSAIR ML RGB ELITE magnetic levitation fans with eight RGB LEDs per fan and AirGuide technology channel airflow for extreme CPU cooling performance.
CORSAIR iCUE software enables you to switch between a variety of display options such as fan speeds, CPU temps, images and GIFs, and more, adjust fan and pump speeds, and control and synchronize RGB lighting with all iCUE-compatible devices.
Here at TBG, we have a thing for coolers. We’ve tested well over six dozen at this point, of all types, from low-profile to towers to big liquid models. In fact, we’ve conducted multiple shootouts for each of these categories, which we believe gives our audience a much better understanding of the market than one-off reviews do. But occasionally we’ll still do a single-product review if we think it will build on a recent shootout, and that brings us to Corsair’s H150i Elite LCD.
Back when we tested the Corsair H150i Pro RGB XT, we mentioned that if Corsair could tweak the fans a bit, it might be able to reestablish itself as a true leader in the liquid cooling market that it pioneered. And lo and behold, buried way down on the spec sheet for the Elite LCD are brand-new fans!
That, dear readers, is why we decided to test this cooler, not the snazzy LCD screen on the pump (which we will obviously be showing off). The Elite LCD is in fact the first cooler to feature the new ML120 RGB Elite fans, which are a major revision of the original ML120 and ML120 RGB fans. While the basic 7-blade design remains, the shape of those blades is slightly different, and more importantly, the frame has been completely redesigned. One other notable update: every Elite LCD includes an Intel Socket 1700 adapter, which will be music to the ears of Intel 12th-Gen early-adopters.
But how does the Elite LCD perform? Only testing will tell us, so let’s jump into it! As always, thanks to Corsair for providing a sample of the Corsair’s H150i Elite LCD for review.
As with all of our reviews going forward, this review appears exclusively on YouTube, which you can see below. Not only do we provide details on what comes in the box and dive into some benchmarks, but we also show you what the Elite LCD looks like in action!
With that said, a few things stand in the way of total domination. First, of course, is the price. If you don’t want the snazzy screen, you probably shouldn’t be paying for it, right? We just hope that Corsair updates it’s other AIO coolers with the improved ML120 fans on the Elite LCD. Even then, the ML120 fan blade design still holds back the cooler slightly versus the best rad-specific fan designs, and the CoolIt pump is not quite as sublime as what Arctic provides (although it’s at least on par with Asetek designs). But the Elite LCD has enough going for it that other manufacturers can’t provide that we’ll give Corsair a pass on all that and bestow it with our recommended award!
The CORSAIR iCUE H150i ELITE LCD Display Liquid CPU Cooler delivers powerful, customized cooling for your CPU, with a personalized LCD screen and three cutting-edge CORSAIR ML120 RGB ELITE PWM fans.
The best performing coolers from one of the biggest names in cooling, ELITE LCD all-in-one liquid CPU coolers offer a unique window into both your PC’s performance and your own style and personality.
Showcase your favorite animated GIF, funniest meme, your team’s logo, or anything you like on a custom 2.1″ IPS LCD screen with 480×480 resolution and ultra-bright 600cd/m² backlight.
Each Elite LCD Cooler comes with an iCUE COMMANDER CORE that can control lighting and fan speeds of not only the included fans, but up to a total of six. Turn any case into a smart case.
All-new CORSAIR ML RGB ELITE magnetic levitation fans with eight RGB LEDs per fan and AirGuide technology channel airflow for extreme CPU cooling performance.
Each ELITE LCD cooler comes complete with all the mounting hardware you need for modern platforms, including AMD AM4 and Intel LGA 1200 and LGA 1700, and installs in just minutes.