icue h150i elite lcd display liquid cpu cooler white free sample

The CORSAIR iCUE H150i ELITE LCD XT Liquid CPU Cooler delivers powerful, customized cooling for your CPU, with a personalized LCD screen that displays GIFs, images, and system information.

Premium All-in-One LCD CPU Cooler: Combines powerful, low-noise cooling with a personalized LCD display to accent your system’s aesthetics and track its realtime performance at a glance.

Brilliant IPS LCD Display: Showcase your live CPU temperature, favorite animated GIF, funniest meme, your team’s logo, or any image you like on a custom 2.1” IPS LCD screen with 480×480 resolution, ultra-bright 600cd/m² backlight, 24-bit true color depth, and over 16.7 million colors

Pick Your Theme:A diverse library of colorful themes let you view vital system information in bold graphic display styles that suit your system and setup.

Powerful AF RGB ELITE Fans: CORSAIR AF120 RGB ELITE PWM fans deliver massive low-noise airflow with AirGuide technology along a high-surface area 360mm radiator for extreme CPU cooling performance.

Quiet CPU Cooling with Zero RPM Mode Support: Dictate your exact fan speeds up to 2,100 RPM with PWM control as quietly as 34.1 dBA, plus support for 0 RPM PWM signals that allow fans to stop entirely at low temperatures, eliminating fan noise completely.

High-Performance Pump Head with RGB LED Ring: Provides powerful, low-noise cooling for your CPU, with a ring of 24 individually addressable RGB LEDs encircling the screen for even more vibrant lighting effects.

Included iCUE COMMANDER CORE Controller: An included iCUE COMMANDER CORE RGB lighting and fan speed controller gives you precise speed and lighting control over up to six CORSAIR RGB fans.

Unite Your Setup:Powerful CORSAIR iCUE software enables you to adjust fan and pump speeds, control and synchronize your cooler’s RGB lighting with all iCUEcompatible devices, and monitor CPU and coolant temperatures, all from a single intuitive interface.

The CORSAIR iCUE H150i ELITE LCD XT Liquid CPU Cooler delivers powerful, customized cooling for your CPU, with a personalized LCD screen that displays GIFs, images, and system information. CORSAIR AF RGB ELITE PWM fans produce incredible low-noise airflow with speeds up to 2,100 RPM, using AirGuide technology for concentrated cooling to disperse heat along a 360mm radiator. Connect to the included CORSAIR iCUE COMMANDER CORE and powerful CORSAIR iCUE software to orchestrate synchronized RGB lighting and adjust fan speeds for up to six fans. With pre-applied CORSAIR XTM70 premium thermal paste on a thermally optimized copper cold plate, and easy installation on the latest CPU brackets including Intel® LGA 1700 and AMD® AM5, the H150i ELITE LCD XT puts your CPU cooling on full display.

Combines powerful, low-noise cooling with a personalized LCD display to accent your system’s aesthetics and track its real-time performance at a glance.

Showcase your favorite animated GIF, funniest meme, your team"s logo, or anything you like on a custom 2.1" IPS LCD screen with 480x480 resolution and ultra-bright 600cd/m² backlight.

Each ELITE LCD XT 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.

CORSAIR AF RGB ELITE PWM fans with AirGuide technology deliver massive low-noise airflow along a high-surface area for extreme CPU cooling performance.

All ELITE LCD XT AIOs include pre-applied CORSAIR XTM70 Extreme Performance thermal paste for maximum heat transfer from your high-end processor to the cooler cold plate.

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!

As always, for all of our recommended coolers and fans, check out our CPU Cooler and Fan Buyer’s Guide, updated quarterly to bring you the most up-to-date buying advice!

The performance is there, but is there enough lighting for the price? As much as we love the iCUE H150i RGB ELITE aesthetic and performance, there are some things we would have changed before slapping our ELITE moniker on it.

Along that ride, we also have seen many AIOs from them. Some good, some great, and many others that left us not all that pleased, but we understood the reason for its availability, even though in our minds we wanted something more. However, every once in a while, Corsair will sneak in a product that nobody expected. In all the ways in which Corsair has illuminated their liquid cooling solutions, it never crossed our minds that they would take this route.

Even though we have seen a few iCUE coolers in the past and over the years, the H150i name has become very familiar, and the term RGB goes on everything these days. What is a change to us is the inclusion of the word ELITE, which means that Corsair has something special, either under the hood or obvious. Still, in one way or another, we are about to see one of the sleekest-looking H150s to hit the market. You just need to decide if the cost is worth it.

As we follow the chart we made from the info available on the product page, we see that the top of the list starts with the CW-9060060-WW part number of the iCUE H150i RGB ELITE. This is a mixed metal loop with copper used for the cold plate, while the radiator is made from aluminum. Of course, the fans can be PWM-controlled, and iCUE support is blatantly obvious as it is part of the name.

Dimensions of the radiator and fans follow, where we can see the radiator of this cooler is 397mm long, 120mm wide, and 27mm thick. The AF ELITE 120mm PWM fans are 120mm square and 25mm thick each. There are three of these fans in the box, which boast AirGuide technology, which concentrates airflow to get more from the 1850 RPM, 59.1 CFM, and 1.93 mmH2O that the fans can top out at.

Skipping back to things we missed, we are given an 1100-gram overall weight of this unit, and socket compatibility is what we expect from today"s CPU coolers. We seemed to have skipped over the 31.5 dB(A) noise level these fans will kick off, and for those wondering, Corsair backs the iCUE H150i RGB ELITE with a five-year warranty.

When it comes to shopping for the iCUE H150i RGB ELITE, it is widely available for our searches, and it lands in the middle of the MSI and Cooler Master offerings we looked at recently. At last check, to get the Corsair iCUE H150i RGB ELITE, you will need to come up with $179.99. Even though we know that new additions have been added, styling has been changed quite a bit, and to get three AF ELITE fans will set you back nearly $75 on their own. Ultimately, we will have to see if the new illumination, new components, and performance equates to enough in your mind to make you want to spend nearly $180 on your next CPU liquid cooler.

Typically, the top of the box is where Corsair would present the cooler in all its glory, but this time they decided to use a black backdrop and put "super chilled" on it. Of course, there is the company name, logo, and product name, but it seems like such a shame to waste this valuable real estate.

Instead, Corsair puts the cooler on the side of the box, and the view only shows part of the illumination with a view of the diffuser ring around the head unit. On the left is the branding and name of the cooler, while the right offers a note that this is compatible with AMD and Intel processors, and there is an iCUE icon.

The next long panel starts with features like its high performance and compatibility, the contemporary pump with 16 ARGB LEDs, and the inclusion of AF ELITE fans, iCUE, and Zero RPM mode. The right half shows dimensional renderings, and is the first time we get a much better idea of the new illumination in this head unit.

Without any foam to cover this, we find some literature on the top of the inner packaging. The cardboard inside is segmented to keep the various components apart. Even without the foam, our iCUE H150i RGB WLITE shows up in spectacular condition.

While a square head unit with rounded corners is nothing new, one this tall from Corsair is. If the added height on top of the pump isn"t enough of a catch, look closely, and you will see that the top and bottom plastic components do not match in color. This is because the top is only tinted and is not solid black plastic like the bottom. Another bonus is had at the logo plate on top. It is currently held with magnets and can be oriented to fit any direction. We also love the //ELITE nod to the name on the side.

The cold plate ships with thermal paste applied to it, and this time it is debris free and ready to be installed for most users. Since we use the same paste on all coolers, this has to go.

We added a fan in this image as it was an easy way to see the //AF ELITE painted on one of the corners and are the only other indicators of its ELITE status. Combined with the 27mm thick radiator, the thickness comes to 52mm and is what you need to ensure the motherboard and RAM won"t get run into.

On the side of the radiator, rather than //ELITE like on the other components, the radiator sports a chromed Corsair logo. Nothing too fancy, but enough to be easily recognizable in any system.

As the other latest AIOs to get reviewed are, the iCUE H150i RGB ELITE utilizes a radiator with a high FPI count. Choosing a random spot to count, we got to twenty-four fins per inch. With high FPI, we need a fan with a fair bit of grunt, and that is why Corsair opts for the AirGuide in the AF ELITE fans.

The three fans accompanying the iCUE H150i RGB ELITE are these AF ELITE 120mm PWM fans. From this angle, the fans are stealthy with the lack of information on the back of the fan hub, but it isn"t hard to miss the angled louvers added to the back for the frames. Otherwise, the frames have rubber built-in at the corners, and each fan uses nine blades to give it all they got.

We applied some MX-4 to the CPU, set the head unit in place, aligned the holes in the brackets, and with the knurled nuts, we tightened them as much as our fingers would allow. Even though many AIOs do not conflict with the RAM, this Corsair model is the furthest away from the RAM we have seen lately.

Moving back a bit to appreciate the entire loop, we have no surprises at this time. Still, the//ELITE on the head unit and the //AF ELITE on the fans are visible, but many will lose all but the fan identifiers when installed in a typical fashion. We honestly would have loved a //ELITE on the side of the radiator to help brag for us, though.

Once we added power, there is no doubt we fell in love with the tinted head unit"s visual appeal. Of course, compared to almost all other ARGB AIOS on the market, we also want fan illumination, but if these fans help the iCUE H150i RGB ELITE take top honors, we will concede this point.

Even though we can appreciate the ARGB ring around the logo and behind the logo itself, head-on is the weakest angle to take in the iCUE H150i RGB ELITE, in our opinion. The tinted head unit and its display are lost, as are any indications of its ELITE status at this distance. Other than that, we have little to mention regarding issues with the installation and usage.

To see our testing methodology and to find out what goes into making our charts, please refer to our 2020 CPU Cooler Testing and Methodology article for more information.

Using iCUE software, we set the fans and pump to either Quiet, Balanced, or Extreme modes and ran the stock test. Doing so left us with the Quiet setting landing at 61.4°C; this is not that good. Balanced upped the game to 58.7°C, and while we expected more from Balanced, we did get a nice boost to 55°C in Extreme mode.

Using the same methods, we turned on the overclock and found a similar spread of results, but this Balanced mode seems to take the only loss of positions. Quiet mode left us at 68.2°C, which is $50 cooler territory, and Balanced didn"t fare much better at 66.3°C. Extreme mode keeps the iCUE H150i RGB ELITE near the top of the chart, holding sixth place.

After the last batch of tests, we went back to iCUe, set the pump to Extreme, as it lacks control otherwise, and set the fans to run at 100%. Doing so takes us to 59.7°C. Compared to the best result in the previous chart, we only gained 2.4 degrees, proving how well the Extrem profile is programmed to these PWM fans.

With the overclock applied, the fan increased slightly to 700, 730, and 1140 RPM, which is why the sound levels have barely changed. Using Quiet and Balanced modes ensures the CPU cooler is not the loudest thing in the build unless everything else is passive while gaming or working. Extreme mode is still up there at 37 dB but is much better than what you are about to see.

In this chart, we allow the fans to spin as fast as possible, and with the iCUE H150i RGB ELITE, the AF ELITE fans got up to 1865 RPM and topped out with the others recently tested at 57 dB. At this level, we do not see the need to subject ourselves to this amount of noise for a couple of degrees.

We understand that Corsair opted for better performance in an ELITE cooler model, but that does not sway the fact that we want more light, we deserve more light, and at this price level, we can get it elsewhere. However, if you are after ELITE status and need to have your system say it for you, there is no other current option available at this time.

iCUE controls and functionality adds much to an otherwise typical AIO. Not only can you control the sixteen ARGB LEDs in the head unit to do whatever you can dream up, but the pre-defined options for the fans and pump are also as simple as click-and-go settings. You click to open a dropdown, pick the setting, and it auto enables it. On top of that, you can set your own fan curves, percentages, or whatever other way you can control the fans.

We wish we got finite control of the pump speed, but when used, we saw a range of 2000 RPM on the low-end and 3169 as its top speed. Due to all of the controls being coolant temperature controlled and not CPU temperature, the curves ramp much slower, and that is why we got the higher thermal results with Quiet and Balanced modes.

Pring may seem high, and it is, and there is no way to spin that around. With the lack of ARGB fans, it is one of the dimmer-lit ARGB models available today due to the tinted plastic not allowing all of the light to escape as a white diffuser would. Breaking it down to the fact that you are getting $75 worth of fans on the cooler is one way to help swallow the pill. Even with the awesome lighting we have been raving about all along, we are not sure it, and the ELITE status is enough to make many rush out to grab the iCUE H150i RGB ELITE at nearly $180.

If you find it on sale, by all means, grab it up, but considering what the MSI just did with a 240mm radiator and what that costs, even with a tax for using something like iCUe software, it almost prices itself out of contention with others where lighting takes precedence. Performance is not lost in that attempt for others; in this day and age, we want all of the ARGBs, not just a few on the head unit.