Review: Corsair H170i Elite Capellix XT

I have the Corsair H170i Elite Capellix (Non XT version) being delivered tomorrow.... How does this new version compare to the previous one? I did not see a comparison in review.

Thank you

 

My #1 question for every RGB laden device now is: "Can I set it once and uninstall your garbage software?"

This has become a major consideration for every thing I now buy. So firmware memory. To their credit, my Corsair ram let me set it and uninstall.

My EK and Asus garbage won't. As soon as their software is even not booted everything resets to the rainbow vomit default.

 

Have you tried SignalRGB.

 

It's become quite a challenge to get parts that are friendly for non-RGB users.

RGB should be off by factory default, if people want the vomit on they can deal with the bloatware.

 

Just download OpenRGB and disable RGB for all devices separately.
You can save those profiles directly into devices.
No need to even keep the program open after that.

btw, "This makes the device 100 percent iCUE compliant" can't care less about it.

 

I disabled RGB in my BIOS, my RAM still lights up. I have downloaded G.Skill's app for it and load it up to turn off the RGB, then have a scheduled task kill the g.skill rgb software 1 minute after login to Windows. These are the kinds of weird hoops you have to jump through these days At least my video card lets me just turn it off and never worry about the software again. My Soundcard though has lights that are on unless the software loads, but I load that anyway so it's almost OK.

 

Corsair's iCUE usually lets you set everything up once and then you can uninstall it and never need to touch it again. The catch is that other RGB software (like the kinds from MSI, Gigabyte, EVGA, etc.) can conflict with it. Especially the kinds for motherboards. The best option is to control that stuff via your BIOS if you can to avoid that. Worst case, OpenRGB works with most everything. It can mess with peripherals that have lighting, though.

 

These systems aren't that much more performant than classic aircooling. I know it is not a custom watercooling loop, but still a bit disappointing.

 

Ya. Cooling tech hasn't moved on a whole pile in the last decade, most "new" products just seem to feature new RGB stuff or more importantly in my opinion mounting hardware for newer sockets.

I use AIOs so I don't have to worry about a big chunk of metal hanging off my motherboard when I move my system around.

 

I have the non-XT version and the fans rattle when they're in the exhaust position at the top of the case. When they're intakes the noise goes away and it also keeps the CPU & coolant running 5*C less at the same ambient.

 

It's likely, but I don't recall tightening them any less than when I installed them as intakes.

 

I'm not seeing the value in reviewing this product with an overclocked historical CPU, this becomes a misleading data point, especially when it is the only data point.