Corsair Hydro Series H60 AIO Liquid CPU Cooler, 120mm Radiator, 120mm SP Series PWM Fan

Background and thoughts on the AIO: I'm a pretty new builder in terms of computers. I built one computer in 2014 that was just alright and I made some upgrades to a store-bought model (new fans, graphics card, ram). After completing my M-ATX build in January 2021, I decided to go full air cooler. The stock fan that comes with the Ryzen 5 5600x is not up to snuff when compared to previous fans. I saw my temps at idle getting close to 60 degrees at times. After having a ton of compatibility issues with an air cooler that clearly was NOT designed with AM4 boards in mind (Cooler Master) and didn't change my temps at all - I jumped into the world of water cooled AIOs. There are SO many options out there for AIO water coolers, and really it comes down to cost and need. If you're just trying to keep a CPU nice and chilled - this is your cooler hands down. I love the simple white LED light frankly, and the price difference to go from this model to one that has RGB wasn't worth it at all. The 120mm fan and radiator fit perfect along the rear of the case and there's a perfect amount of clearance with the motherboard heatsink so there's no rub. If you have a mini-itx or micro-atx case and you want a water cooler - this should fit and do the trick.Installation: This fan comes preinstalled with Intel mounting, and while that might scare some of you off who worry about fiddling with things - it's as easy as literally pulling with a small amount of force on the mounting bracket for it to unseat and let you push in the AMD mount. Thats. It. No screwdriver or worrying about damaging the pump. The pump also comes with thermal paste pre-applied - so unless you're worried about the stock stuff, you really don't need to buy any additional paste. IMPORTANT: If you're using this with an AM4 like I was and having a Ryzen 5600x chip - the stock backplate that came preinstalled on your motherboard is needed. The two clips on the AMD mount slide right onto the stock motherboard mount for AMD - and you tighten the screws (again, no screwdriver needed) until it's snug over the CPU. It comes with one Corsair fan - so if you're really worried about airflow and coolness - you could get a second one to have a push-pull configuration - but I found that the single fan gave me great results and an instant upgrade over my previous air cooler.Speaking of RESULTS: Cool and Breezy. I'm idling in the mid 30's now - with some moderate gaming taking it into the 50s and mid 60s. I've always been nervous about water coolers because of the whole water in the computer thing - but Corsair makes this install a pretty simple process. Just have that backplate otherwise you're in for a world of hurt. OH AND BABY IS THIS THING LOW PROFILE AND QUIET. Seriously - my last air cooler was a monstrosity that sounded like - well a monstrosity. This dropped the sound and temps - the perfect AIO in my honest opinion.

I have found the Corsair H60 to be reliable, long lasting, rugged, and very strong cooling performance. I also have an H50 bought 9 years ago, still cools good as new.My H60 was the 2018 (not the H60X Elite which is virtually the same except the H60X Elite has a lot more and more colorful LGB).The 120 AIO cooler that came with my iBuyPower computer lasted 1.5 years. The replacement Enermax Liqmax III lasted 6 months. This H60 has lasted 2 years and still cools exactly the same. Along the way, I also upgraded a cpu and remounted the H60. It still works perfectly.Also important: the H60 cooled down the cpu to lower temperatures than the other two 120 mm liquid AIO coolers I mentioned above. About 5 degrees C coolerMounting the H60 was easy. I'm watching a video on youtube by Hardware Canucks who tested 120mm coolers. The Corsair H60 was 1 of the 4 that he mentioned were easy to mount. Some of the others he tested were very complicated to mount.I have only room for a 120mm fan which is why I did not get 240 or 360 double and triple fan radiator systems.If you don't mind the noise you can easily get another 5-8 degrees cooler by using everything in the H60 package except replacing the fan. I used this fan which reduced temps another 6 degrees C:Noctua NF-F12 iPPC 3000 PWM, Heavy Duty Cooling Fan, 4-Pin, 3000 RPM (120mm, Black) for DesktopIt says "3000 RPM" which is way above the 1700 RPM on the H60. But actually this Noctua fan runs at 4200 RPM at 100% speed. It is loud but it really cools. On a 360 mm 3 fan setup, it will be even louder and provide even more cooling.On a 3 fan cooler I don't think you need these addon high RPM fans.On a 120mm one fan system, the Noctua fan above will make your 120mm cooler out cool almost 240 coolers with stock fans!A lot depends on whether like me you consider the fan "white noise" soothing, or you consider it unacceptable.Fan choice aside, these classic H60 line up of coolers are powerful, rugged, relatively easy to install.

UPDATE Jan2023: Still working well after moving this into my primary desktop system. The room is much quieter than when I had CPU fans running, and the exhaust fan revving up and down under system load is relatively muted. Seems to do just fine even when this 6-core 95W TDP cpu is pegged.Orig review follows.--This H60 is my 1st liquid cooler, but far from my first system build.It's a pretty easy install. Once installed, it doesn't take as much space as you'd expect, but does take some maneuvering room to get it in place. I included some photos to give a better idea of how it looks/fits in a typical case. It wouldn't fit in more compact case designs. Pictured in a Corsair Obsidian 500D (mid-tower).So far it works very well, keeping my i5-9600KF nice & cool, leaving plenty of overhead for overclocking, or just to run quietly under load.What you need to know:* Mounting requires access to the BACK of the mobo in most cases. In cheaper cases, that means taking everything out.* Fits many different socket types. For the Intel 115x sockets, you'll need to pop the little nubs on the rear bracket towards the center. They don't seem like they'll move, but they actually do move by the necessary 1cm. This I realized after first having an "oh no it doesn't fit" reaction.* 120mm fan is included. I'm a fan of Corsair fans. (heh)* You need a free SATA plug for power for the pump.* The pump is quiet but not silent. It's louder than the 120mm fans in the case, but quieter than a CPU fan spinning up under load.I generally like Corsair products, and this one is no exception. I dislike those whiny old stock CPU fans that spin up/down audibly... This H60 will help keep my new gaming build quiet & performing well under load. Recommended.