As you’d expect with a CES we’ve seen companies announcing bigger, faster, stronger CPU cores and so it falls upon the companies making the cooling to keep up. Corsair has stepped up with the launch of the A500 and the iCUE RGB Pro XT CPU coolers. The A500 uses air cooling and whatever residual refrigerating effects come with having a concise name, while the iCUE RGB Pro XT range of coolers use liquid.
There are three variations of the iCUE RGB Pro XT, namely the H100i, the H115i and the H150i which refers to the size of the radiator, the radiator sizes in question being 240mm, 280mm and 360mm respectively. These radiators are equipped with Corsair ML Series PWM fans, with the 120mm versions having a top speed of 2400 RPM and the 140mm fans going to 2000 RPM. The iCUE software allows for users to control not only the pump speeds but also the 16 RGB LEDs in the CPU cooler itself. Notably the fans are not RGB equipped.
The A500 by contrast is a somewhat understated dual fan cooler. It is equipped with four copper heatpipes in direct contact with the CPU and is rated to handle CPUs with a TDP of 250W. The twin Corsair ML 120 fans are PWM controlled at speeds between 400-2400. There are no illumination features here, just a lot of air getting pushed around. Having the capability to handle a 250W TDP is impressive for an air cooling system, and while it’s not enough to handle a third generation Threadripper it should be more than enough for anything outside of the HEDT bracket.
The A500 uses the Corsair HoldFast system, which makes it compatible with AM3, AM4, FM2, LGA115X and LGA20xx CPUs.
The iCUE RGB Pro XT range is available with the H150i costing £159.99, the H115i £139.99 and the H100i at £119.99. The A500 comes in at £89.99.