my h100i is in transit, what should I do?
 

I think i've been hanging out in the corsair support forum and/or reading to many one eggs :)

i've seen quite a few issues w/ the h100i due to the firmware and/or link software. my question is should I just dive in and install per the instructions or consider forgoing the software and install the h100i directly to my motherboards cpu fan connection?

thanks for any advice.

Try the installation as it's in the manual. Not all people have problems with them. If it doesn't work (the fans rattle, whine etc), then RMA the fans and they'll send you new fans. You don't have to send anything back.

While waiting for the RMA, use the motherboard fan headers. BTW, most issues are due to the fans themselves being controlled by DC, the new ones are PWM.

There are issues with the firmware as well, but those are more rare.

Sit. Wait. Sleep.

I've had the H70/H60i/H110. All of them had shit fans. Don't ever trust a corsair fan. Buy other fans ahead of time. Once you eliminate the fan issue it's just a matter of pump problems. Try just hooking it straight up to the psu first and if you hear any grinding noise wait a day, if it's still there try hooking it up to the board and updating the firmware. If it's still making noise wait one week (can take awhile to get all the air out) and then RMA if it's still there.

It's always a gamble with these companies. They just cross their fingers that most people won't notice the sonic disaster most fans and CLC are. Some people have to rma over and over again to get one without the noise.