Antec Kühler H2O 950 – Hardware Review
Follow Brand: Antec
Product: Kühler H2O 950
Type: CPU cooler

Antec Kühler H2O 950 – Hardware Review

Good: Performs well, easy-to-use software, fits a lot of both AMD and Intel sockets
Bad: A fixed non-removable fan, high noise-level when in performance mode
User Score
7.2
(10 votes)
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Rating: 7.2/10 (10 votes cast)

When you buy a CPU, Intel or AMD provide you with a cooler that comes together with the chip. Most people don’t ever bother upgrading from that but there are some great reasons to do just that. Performance and noise are probably 2 of the most important ones. We have this Kühler H2O 950 from Antec to show you exactly why the upgrade is worth it.

AntecLogo

Exterior

This liquid CPU cooler stands out from the crowd on the visual department. It has a special integrated 120mm fan-pump system attached to the radiator. While it’s nice to see something different once in a while, it does bring us to a problem. The primary fan can’t be replaced by an after-market one of your choice. Luckily while not being the quietest, the fan does perform well. Also included is a second 120mm fan for a push-pull configuration. The water block, which absorbs the heat of the CPU, is round and can light up (colour can be set within the software, read about that further down). Connecting these two parts are 2 flexible black tubes. The whole construction feels solid and can take a punch while also being flexible. The overall look of Antec’s Kühler 950 is quite cool as the white fans make for a pleasing contrast against the other black parts.

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Installation

The product naturally comes with an installation guide, which is needed. While overall, installing this cooler isn’t overly complicated, it does come with a large variety of parts. Why? Well this cooler will fit a large number of both AMD and Intel sockets which is great but do make sure to pick the right parts when installing. Fitting the radiator with the fans to your case can be done on any free 120mm fan mounting position in your case, provided it’s close enough to the CPU. Only thing to look out for is clearance of which you’ll need quite a bit when using a push-pull configuration. Missing here is a tube of thermal paste, which you’ll need when reinstalling the water block to the CPU.

The 950 does require you to use an internal USB connection from your motherboard. Well you don’t have to but if you want to use the accommodating software, and you should, then you’ll be better off doing that anyway. There are 2 female 4pin connectors for the fans as well as a third male one to connect to your motherboard’s CPU fan header. Also in the package you’ll find a CD containing the Grid software to control the cooler, you should instead go to Antec’s website to download it though. Grid is easy to use and works quite well. However it doesn’t offer much in terms of custom setups. There are 2 set modes, performance and silent, which will do the things you expect them to do. There’s also a manual mode in which you can set the speed of the fans but sadly no way of making a custom graph in which you set at what speed the should run at a certain temperature. You can also set up the LED on the water block to a set colour or to change according to the current temperature of the CPU.

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Performance

When putting the 950 to the test, we did that in 2 scenario’s: idle and 100% CPU load. We stressed the CPU using Prime95. There are some interesting results here as the 950 in performance mode is able to match the results of a Corsair H100i. It does that at a higher noise level though which may be a problem for some. When in the silent mode, the cooler still manages to perform quite well at a more pleasant noise level. When comparing the Kühler to Intel’s stock cooler, it’s obvious how much of a temperature drop you’ll get giving you a lot of headroom to do some overclocking if you should so desire.

Own Opinion

What I didn’t like was that there’s one fan you can’t change, I also like to use my own fans. Besides that, there’s a lot to like about Antec’s cooler here. Installing it was as easy or as hard as any other CPU cooler is and it offers enough performance to allow for some overclocking. Antec’s Grid software is very easy to use but could some more customizability in my opinion. However when using it with the fans set to silent, they actually were very quiet.

Conclusion

The Antec Kühler H2O 950 is a great option when in the market for a CPU cooler that’s not too big nor complicated to use. Controlling it is easy through the Grid software but don’t expect too much customization on that front. The controllable LED part on the water block is a great little tough though.

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Rating: 7.2/10 (10 votes cast)
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Antec Kühler H2O 950 - Hardware Review, 7.2 out of 10 based on 10 ratings
Veflow


I'm currently studying software-development. My main hobbies are gaming (software/hardware) and music (jazz saxophone player). I game primarily on PC (and also love building them) but also play on PS3, iOS and Android.

1 Comment

  1. […] to the test. Antec kindly supplied us with their Kühler H20 1250. We’ve already reviewed it’s little brother, the 950, and were quite positive about it. The 1250 is twice the size, does it pack twice the […]

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