TheOverclocker Issue 46 | Page 42

G A M E T I M E // C O R S A I R H 1 1 5 I R G B P L A T I N U M favour, in line with much of their other products. This is obviously not confined to the hardware but software as well. Software is where it could have all easily fallen apart, but iCUE as mentioned earlier is more than competent and allows you to configure every element of the H115i RGB Platinum. Within the application you can configure the fans and block lights to your heart’s desire. The pump cap has 16 customizable LEDs around a CORSAIR logo which also has four RGB LED beneath. It’s a small touch but one that has a noticeable impact in an appropriately lit chassis. Besides the improved thermal performance, this is a key part to the revised Platinum AIO. It looks great but if you’re not one for all these lights you can simply turn it off with a single click. As you’d expect, iCUE allows you to set a lighting pattern on the cooler that matches the rest of your CORSAIR components. That is; your mouse, keyboard, headset, 40 The OverClocker Issue 46 | 2019 headphone stand, fans etc. can be matched to your particular colour scheme. Whatever you decide, it’s entirely up to you. What you may notice if you used any of the previous Hydro coolers is that the profiles have been renamed or at least one has. Gone is the extreme setting and in instead we have Performance mode. This is essentially the same setting as before offering the highest performance possible. Do not however that the fans are capable of spinning even faster so even greater performance is possible for casual overclocking, if you’re willing to put up with the noise. Personally, the difference between modes isn’t enough to warrant using the performance setting. That is, if your CPU could not do 5GHz when using the Quiet mode, it won’t suddenly prove capable of this so by making use of the performance setting. Considering where Hydro coolers come from and where they are now, the H115i RGB Platinum is a far cry from the original H100. Next to this model, the H115i RGB Platinum is leaps and bounds ahead in every aspect. These differences are difficult to appreciate as the changes with each generation of Hydro cooler are hidden by marginal performance boosts while CPUs get warmer and our focus is taken over by aesthetic elements. It is only when you have both side by side that you realize just how much progress has been made and the H115i RGB Platinum is the finest example of this. Should you be in the market and were deciding between the 360mm Radiator H150i RGB PRO and this model, honestly either one of them will do. The excessive cabling compromises the Platinum unit by comparison, but in the end, it comes down to the one that works best for you and not performance or pump/ fan noise. Aesthetically I’m partial to the H115i and given their similar if not identical performance, I’d pick the H115i RGB Platinum. [ The Overclocker ]