Introduction
For a time, Corsair was predominantly known for cooling products. So much so that people mistake them for having a rich history in cooling, particularly air. Truth be told, Corsair’s air cooling option isn’t that varied and with only one previous attempt that the company probably wishes to delete from history, it comes at a surprise the they’re actually doing another air cooler.
The Corsair A115 CPU air cooler comes at a time where we have CPUs demanding 300W+ of power and with TDP ranges that high, AIO liquid coolers have thrived. Rated for up to 270W TDP CPUs, besides unlocked Raptor Lake i9 unlocked SKUs, the Corsair A115 should cover every mainstream consumer CPU out right now in terms of cooling.
Features & Specifications
- Precision engineered convex copper cold plate optimized for latest CPUs
- Fits Intel® LGA-1700 and AMD® AM5 sockets and older
- Two AF140 ELITE fans with CORSAIR AirGuide technology
- Compatible with 3000 | 4000 | 5000 | 7000 Series cases
- Dimensions (L x W x H): 153mm x 155mm x 164.8mm
- Five-year warranty
| Specification | Details |
|---|---|
| Product Length | 155 |
| Product Width | 153 |
| Product Height | 164.8 |
| Heatpipe Configuration | 6x 6mm |
| Heatpipe Material | Sintered Copper |
| Lighting | NONE |
| Cooling Warranty | 5 Year |
| Number of Fans | 2 |
| Fan Dimensions | 140mm x 25mm |
| Cooling Socket Support | Intel 1700, Intel 1200, Intel 1150, Intel 1151, Intel 1155, Intel 1156, AMD AM5, AMD AM4 |
| Fan Speed | 400 – 1600 RPM ±10% |
| Fan Airflow | 15.3 – 84.5 CFM |
| Fan Static Pressure | 0.1 – 1.73 mm-H2O |
| Noise Level | 5 – 33.9 dBA |
| Fan Control Method | PWM |
| PWM | Yes |
| Weight | 2.2 |
| Fan Model | AF ELITE |
Official product page – Corsair A115 Air Cooler
Closer Look
Corsair packs the A115 in square box which houses smaller boxes that house the accessories and cooler inside. The cooler does come pre-installed with one of the fans with the other fan in one of the other inserts.
The installation accessories are all packed in paper pouches which are cleanly labeled. If you don’t want to keep the large box after a month or so, you can use the smaller box and label it properly so you can store the accessories you’re not using.
Corsair limits support for only mainstream CPU sockets for both Intel and AMD. That means all the includes mounting hardware will fit all Intel LGA115x, LGA1200 and LGA1700 motherboards and sockets AM4 and AM5 for AMD boards.
The Corsair A115 uses a rail system to mount the fans. You can use up to three (3) 140mm fans BUT YOU NEED another rail set. Corsair only includes 2 pairs with the A115 package where 1 is pre-installed with the mid-fan and the other in the accessory pack. An extra rail set will be $9.99 from Corsair on top of the cost of another fan.
Speaking of fan, Corsair includes the 140mm AF140 Elite. You may swap these out to Corsair’s newer iCUE LINK QX140 but or any 140mm for that matter but Corsair’s AF Elite fans have a very good track record specially in high static pressure applications. The secondary fan is optional and if you’re application doesn’t need all that cooling power, you can just stick to a single fan.
Pictured above are the rails to installed on the fans as well.
The Corsair A115 has slots on the sides of the fin stack to guide the rails in place. You can freely adjust the height once they’re in but take note of the rail positioning.
Corsair designed the A115 for high-compatibility so the fin stacks are as dense as possible. Corsair went with a central balance with no offset on the heatsnk towers, a technique usually done to provide more clearance for tall RAM.
There is a slight cut out on the bottom fins to give way to modern tall RAM kits. If you have anything higher, sadly those are non-standard but if you’re motherboard is at least compliant to modern design standards, slot 2 and 4 should allow placement but with the fan slightly raised.
For motherboards like the EVGA Z690 Dark Hero or anything that moveds the DIMM slots on the top, there may be some compatibility concerns so please check the dimensions firsta or consult the manufacturer to ensure compatibility.
Corsair provides a splitter cable for powering both fans from the CPU_FAN header but you can still use the CPU_OPT or any other fan header that can sync with your CPU_FAN header, just make sure to set it up if its anything else.
No RGB though means no extra cable to manage so with the cooler in-place you’re ready to go.
Assembly
The mounting hardware are pretty easy to understand and Corsair smartly labels the stand-offs so you don’t get them mixed up. For Intel, you need to use the included backplate and stand-offs to mount the mounting brace.
For AMD, its required to remove the default mounting hardware but use the stock backplate to mount the provided stand-offs and brace.
With the brace secured, a long screwdriver is needed to secure the mounting screw to both the brace.
Test Results
Test Setup
Processor: Intel Core i9-13900K
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws 5S DDR5-6000
Storage: T-Force Z540 SSD
PSU: FSP Hydro G Pro 1000W
Monitor: GIGABYTE M32U
VGA: ASUS Phoenix GTX 1050 Ti
We test the CPU on an Intel Core i9-13900K on an AORUS Z790 MASTER X motherboard. The logic of the test is stress the CPU with AVX but using different power limits to effectively simulate various CPU TDPs. We’re going with maximum fan settings to see the most that the cooler can bring the CPU down. I lost the data for fan testing where we did 20% and 50% as well to better articulate temp gap.
Focusing on the Corsair A115, Corsair says their internal testing saw this cooler bring a 14900K to 53.8*C at 250W with Cinebench 2024 load. With our test, we’re quite above that at 80*C at 250W at only 5 minutes of loading. Our frequency chart is present to show you if our CPUs were hitting throttling and while they’re not the highest clocks I’ve seen, they are boosting rather than dropping on the higher clock speeds on both 250W and 300W.
The temp chart does show the Corsair A115 take a minute to reach 80*C and knowing that Cinebench 2024 tends to not put a constant load on the CPU we can see this as the reason for Corsair’s numbers. Our ambient temperate is the same as always at 28*C.
User Experience & Conclusion
Subtle details like the smart fan mounting and more compact fin stack design are commendable achievements for Corsair with the A115. Its performance also makes it a nice attempt at reestablishing themselves after their previous design misses. Its a simple solution to cooling your CPU and it works out of the box with minimal complexities that addle even Corsair with their newer solutions.
But in a world where high-end CPUs easily push 300W, the Corsair A115 will need to see its biggest advantage taken away from as its quiet fans need to run at higher speeds to cool at higher heat loads. And that begs the question of who the Corsair A115 is for? Thankfully, we’re not blind to limit our CPU options and while Ryzen 9 and Core i9 unlocked CPU owner would probably do better with larger liquid AIOs, anyone packing non-K CPUs and lower TDP SKUs would reap the benefit of a large heatsink.
This works for people who still can’t get over their fear of having water in their system and to this day I still get asked how long do AIO last before the cooler dries out? A valid question indeed despite AIO liquid CPU coolers being rated for years. The Corsair A115 meanwhile has a 5-year warranty and should your fan burn-out at any point, the single fan can get you buy until you get Corsair to send you a replacement one.
If $100 or PHP6.000 is out of your budget for a cooler, then there’s plenty of options out there for your price range and budget but for those that can afford the Corsair A115, its primary competitor is DeepCool and Noctua on our side of the planet and Noctua’s aging D15 has seen its price going higher and higher. DeepCool on the other hand is more of a matter of brand and overall performance but if you’re under 200W TDP, all these will serve you well.
That said, if you plan to use this air cooler for around 5 years, then consider Corsair’s excellent customer support as the tax you’re paying for their asking price.
Corsair backs the A115 CPU cooler with a 5-year warranty. I give it a B2G Recommended badge for warranty length and support.
