CORSAIR Launches the $60 Hydro XC5 RGB CPU Water Block

[VSG]

In a somewhat puzzling trend, this is yet another launch from CORSAIR's Hydro X series of custom watercooling components that has not been marketed by the company. It took a careful set of eyes to see the new CPU block, the Hydro X Series XC5, on their website and evidently this is a new release targeting even more a budget-friendly build compared to the Hydro XC7 and Hydro XC9 blocks. The XC5 block is a cost-down version of the XC7, with support for Intel LGA 115x/1200 and AMD AM4 CPU sockets depending on the SKU you go with. Gone is the transparent top, and instead we see a black nylon top with a patterned cutout for RGB lighting. The nickel-plated copper cold plate is replaced with passivated copper, which may also please all you pure copper folks out there, and the 16 RGB LEDs are now set up in 8 lighting zones (two LEDs per zone) as opposed to fully addressable 16 dRGB LEDs on the XC7. This means that the Hydro XC5 blocks can be had for $60/€60 before applicable taxes, which is $20 less than the XC7 on street pricing at the moment.



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[EarthDog]

'cost-down' version??? That's...awkward.

I wonder how these perform. Any chance TPU is getting these for review?

 

[VSG]

'cost-down' version??? That's...awkward.

I wonder how these perform. Any chance TPU is getting these for review?

I can get one anytime, but I am still in Taiwan and it will be a few weeks minimum before I am set up again for watercooling reviews. But, more importantly, the cooling engine is basically the same as on the Hydro XC7, just with a copper cold plate instead of nickel-plated copper. So performance should be essentially identical.

 

[bmacsys]

There are so many good looking waterblocks. This one certainly isn't one of them.