Corsair A500, review and full review in Spain

Reference

Features and technical specifications

	Corsair A500
Dimensions	137mm x 169mm x 103mm
Weight	1460 grams
A cold plate	Cannot, directly contact the heating equipment
They do not like	2 X ML120 Magnetic Levation
The size of the fans	120mm x 120mm x 25mm
Speed ​​(RPM)	2,400 RPM
The flow of air	75 CFM
Modesty	36 dBA
Solid pressure	4,2 mm H2O
PWM	Yes
Social harmony	Intel 1150/1151/1155/1156 Intel 2011 / 2011-3 / 2066 AMD AM4 AMD AM3 / AM2
Hot pipes	2 X 8 mm and 2 X 6 mm all copper with black nickel mixture
Heatsink	Aluminum
RGB lights	No.
ICUE consistency	No.
Warranty	Five years

This Corsair A500 is presented as the most important product choice to date, and that is that the attributes are lacking, as it comes in a large size of 137mm x 169mm x 103mm giving it an unbeatable weight of 1460 grams, about a kilogram and half of the heatsink's efficiency.

Part of the name is not only for this, but for two Corsair ML120 fans with magnetic levation and devilish performance, as they will reach 2,400 RPM providing 75 CFM and 4.2 mmH2O of pressure.

We are obviously dealing with fans prepared for the radiators and heatsinks of this cigar, as they will have to go through an amazing aluminum body that is based on 4 copper sheets with 8 and 6 mm nickel coating respectively.

The compatibility of this Corsair A500 is almost complete, leaving only the Threadripper bases in the 1000 to 3000 series, because due to their small size they require some heatsinks.

As a good premium heatsink, Corsair offers up to 5 years warranty on this A500.

Inbox and outbox updates

With this Corsair A500 the brand has followed the line drawn in terms of packaging aesthetics. And that such a familiar yellow color for Americans is easily recognizable everywhere.

At the forefront of it, we find the highest wisdom, for we are once shown the breadwinner and after his program, where we are told that we are dealing with a high quality product.

The rear section is more restricted, introducing the size of the heatsink, its technical features in several languages ​​and its brief introduction.

Gone is the sign of what we'll see first, it's a small box where the accessories will go, ready to roll out the protagonist.

Once out of the box, the Corsair A500 is protected by a clear plastic, so that it does not get crushed. Plus, it seems like Corsair has figured it all out and is giving us a screwdriver for free.

Accessories include a special AM4 installation system and one of the other AMD pins other than Threadripper. At Intel, however, it divides these anchors into two groups: the 115X and the 20XX, thus supporting all existing bases.

Taking a closer look, we can see that without the proper pins, Corsair offers us a split divider, three flanges and a complete syringe for its TM50 structure, which is details as we will have at most meetings.

The details of the screwdriver are not underestimated, and the fact that they are held in the same plastic heatsink is also great. As if that weren't enough, the personal logo of Corsair is made and even though it is not of a high quality, it is appreciated for a simple meeting.

As soon as the clear plastic has been released, the Corsair A500 is shown in full size, where the first impression makes sense. It shows at first glance that we are facing a premium product: good stuff, good finish, heavy and big.

A preview reveals some interesting facts. Starting with the closed frame where the fans are wrinkled, the system we will see more in depth later and secondly, the size of the heatsink body in front of the mentioned fans.

As we can see, Corsair has used the rest of the world to expand its air-to-air contact with the aprons, leaving no one outside the fan base.

The rear fan is in a pull-out arrangement, allowing air up to the front fan to be driven through the heatsink at higher speeds, thus improving the flow of air through the pines and reducing the time of hot air in the heatsink.

The frame system is almost the same as the one we saw on the front, so we will highlight the fact that Corsair does not specify their model rather than the two of them, though the specs prove they are ML120.

The side of the heatsink indicates that its magnitude is quite high and that the GAP between the wings is well defined, thus allowing good air flow.

As you can see, the heatsink center is useless, something we will understand later.

One of the strong points of this Corsair A500 is its base. Although it does not have a cold plate and the product type has opted for direct contact, as we can see, it also includes pre-used active adhesives as standard and over a wide range, thus reaching any IHS and achieving a better result without the user having to resort to pressure testing.

In addition, we can see the last two points that will adjust the heatsink on the motherboard baking and the 4 heat pumps that cross it.

Here you can clearly see the pressure system using a screw-sized screwdriver and a loading spring that will be responsible for moving the pressure between the two scales.

The four heat pipes available to them are uneven, since the two cents are about 8 mm in appearance, while the outside ones are 6 mm. The design and rotation are all symmetrical, allowing you to place a heatsink on one side or the other.

Finally at this stage we have a network of fans, both PWM as expected in the heatsink of this quality and finishes.

An internal review

The upper part of the heatsink comes with a high quality aluminum cover with an inside slider with a triangular grid and a logo logo on the center. This feature is available as shown below.

The plastic part of the back of the clip extends to the other part of the plastic ABS, which is eventually repaired. As you can see, the clip also maintains the internal heatsink design, which will allow not only the installation, but also optimize the heat transfer to the top of the heatsink.

This one piece of plastic at the same time that serves as an important sign is essential for the proper storage of the four frames that hold the fans.

Starting with the removal of the Corsair A500, fans can be removed by removing the 4 scales that connect them to the plastic that supports them to make the heatsink frame, all light and light, and even more with the installation of a series screwdriver.

This heatsink is curious that both frames can change, a program that Corsair has called HoldFast. We will have to drag up or down just to change them, which is ideal for users with high profile memories, as this system allows them to skip without problems.

Height will not be a problem, since we can remove or trim through its frame and leave a single follower system, or automatic system as long as our processor does not have high TDP or if it has underuls or undervolt.

The system used by Corsair in this A500 is not easy, because it is based on a composition that acts as a guide while the face is light 90º having a series of eyelashes is what gives that feeling of clicks when lifting or lowering frames.

These tabs are inserted into other frames, allowing them to stay in that position and not shrink due to power shortages.

Pull frames both look harmless, when you see them, both are equal, but they keep the same position to fit, because the upper and lower parts are not the same.

The frame guides also have a unique shape, otherwise the frame will not fit properly. They are rolled up and down.

To save and configure the guides these have wings that sit well on the heatsink pins. In this way between this support and the two screws that hold it up we can pull without fear of up or down the frames.

Already with the heatsink body in the air and without this feature to be highlighted, similarly good ends are noted, emphasizing in this case its triangular peaks in the ceiling to dissipate the chaos from the lover and bring out the action of fresh air.

It also helps break down the sound waves, and reduces the airborne dBAs by fins. Looking up you can see exactly how the anchor system uses two screws and why Corsair installed a screwdriver.

Entering the concrete steps, effectively the central heating is 8 mm, which is unusual but which will improve the cooling of the processor, while the two sides are 6 mm.

Internal measures show the type of heatsink and body we get: 13 x 10 x 15 cm, a giant that is not suitable for all crickets without a doubt.

Meeting

The first thing we'll have to do is lay a backdrop that includes this heatsink and that for us it's Intel 1151.

Holding it so that it doesn't escape or fall, we will wrap 4 holes in their holes. These bolts can be measured and of the same length, so there is no risk of error when installing them.

When done, you will still anchor the two heatsink screws, which are then bolted into blocks with four main straps.

Now you just have to tighten both screws with the heatsink body. Due to the high pressure they release, we recommend that you tighten each of them, which will also increase the thermal insulation.

Once installed we see how we should increase the fan, so that saves the height of our Corsair Vengeance RGB.

This causes some flow to be lost in the body of the heatsink, since the last part of the fan blants is at the top of the structure.

Once the top cover has been made, this effect is minimized by talking about beauty. Now the composition of the said cover is understandable from its profiles to the center, which helps the air to flow more freely than when we had the same height.

As for the height from GPU to heatsink, we will get only 0.6 mm in the frame, 0.9 mm if our graphics card doesn't have a backplate. Little GAP but enough.

Problem

After the meeting we did the proper tests, because the heatsink was so ready, and the first thing we realized was that the data was wrong, not everything we saw on this Corsair A500.

After many tests and tests, the performance was no longer effective, the fans went up and pressed a lot of air, but this was not enough. After rendering the tests and after checking that everything was set correctly, we started to find a possible problem without the software.

The answer came from the physical part, where we saw a major problem in the design of a heatsink that had never been seen before.

Our ASUS Maximux X Formula, as a high-end board, has a series of strong capacitors near the CPU and power phases to control the charge output voltage, as well as current fluctuations.

Well, as can be seen in the pictures above, some hpp of Corsair A500 crashes.

As can be seen, it is the two plants that interact with the two condensers, especially the right pipe. This is not just a heatsink problem, but it can force the capacitor into a position that compromises its performance.

Here the contact with the condenser is much appreciated, as we say, is small but sufficient so that contact with the IHS may not be worth it.

All of this is evident when we see the functionality of the hot plate. It goes without saying that the IHS side that is hitting the capacitors is less marked, which leaves you with the impression that communication in that area is not enough.

The problem is that tightening the twist that rests on the anchor heatsink can cause damage to our plate. Luckily we are cautious and never get to the ends of the pins, because they tend to be very aggressive and often cause bending problems in the CPU area.

We rotate the 180-degree heatsink to see if it was just a problem for the hot spots when folded, but what we find is a similar problem, a completely equal error indicating a problem in the design and know-how of the heatsink.

With the information already in place we didn't want to doubt whether that would really give you a heatsink, because although not all motherboards have capacitors close to the socket, many do.

What we did was to convert the heatsink position and turn it to 90º, which puts the air toward the roof of the tower, but which allows solving the condensers problem. At the same time it produces one, and that is because of the height of the heatsink wings itself it takes the first two memory, so we lose the ability to have the Dual Channel in over 40 mm modules.

The anchor itself has since turned around so that it can put the heatsink in its new position is not a problem, but the heatsink is also within the limit of other capacitors.

Above 3 mm does not affect the high capacitors, which indicates that we are looking at the design that should be improved, as these are in a safe distance from the measurements and instead the distance is small.

To make matters worse, literally placing heatsinks on our board loses the first GPU slot, which isn't a problem because we won't play like that, but for users it will go straight to the bandwidth part of your graphics card, which depends on what games and when we talk about -PCIe 4.0 with Navi GPU, depending on the card you lose a lot of performance.

After this turn the contact is complete, complete, so that even if the amount of coating has always been the same, the pressure shown is outstanding.

As can be seen in the picture above, the pressure is so good that it almost leaves the IHS with no adhesive, excessive pressure at the edges, and all without excessive pressure on the remaining four points or on the base plate, a real surprise when working properly.

You have seen and commented on this problem, we have appreciated its effectiveness.

Thermal and acoustic performance

We logically took several samples of it regarding the configuration of this Corsair A500, because the distrust has made us more accountable when we detect problems. Because of this we are able to confirm two things:

• There are many differences in performance and acoustics between the right assembly and the wrong assembly due to the angle of firepipes.
• Due to the number of passes and samples collected, the information is correct at both meetings.

With this in mind, let's get to know our test equipment to evaluate its thermal performance.

• Intel Core i7-8700K (without confusion, stock)
• ASUS Ryujin 240
• ASUS Maximus X Formula (UEFI 2203)
• Corsair Revenge RGB 2 X 8 DDR4-3200 MHz Cas 16 (XMP ON)
• Corsair AX1200i Platinum
• Corsair MP510 960 GB
• ASUS STRIX Helios
• EK Vardar EVO RGB (x 6)
• Tacklif HM02 (thermometer and hygrometer)
• Ckeyin DNM-51 (sound level meter)
• Aquaero 6 PRO

As you can see, maintaining a constant and constant temperature of 20 ° C, the idle difference between the two surfaces is halved, indicating that the heatsink is sufficient and not sensitive enough to keep our 7-8700K at bay.

But when the CPU gives the size the difference is more than 4 degrees on average, it becomes the second worst sign of comparison.

In clustering the same thing happens more or less, because with the wrong assembly and communication in the idle everything looks normal, but as soon as the CPU is pressed the dBAs shoot up to 42.4, a difference of 4.5 dBA against the right contact, the difference many.

To give us a more accurate view of what we are talking about, with negative correlations the fans travel between 70 and 80% of PWM, affecting between 1846 RPM and 2030 RPM.

With proper assembly these figures drop to 40 and 50% of PWM, between 1074 RPM and 1352 RPM at regular intervals. This means that from a small amount of research to being clearly informed when this happens.

At this point we have to say that the fact that IMC is not working at 100% (Single Channel at 90º) can and should have an impact between one or two titles in the data shown.

This is very difficult to measure out loud, perhaps not a single decibel or maybe a tenth of a single may be noted, but in any case when viewed by the sonometer.

Excessive entry

When the CPU is swallowed it seems that this Corsair A500 is removing all of its muscle, which is where we're looking at the new king of HardZone. It even surpasses the Arctic Freezer 50 TR and Freezer II 240, and is the Noctua NH-D15S (far).

The problem comes when the contact is wrong, when the temperatures are too bad, not so much in the idle space where it retains the type again, but in its entirety, where it gets the worst data for meaningful comparison.

The lack of contact extends to about 85 degrees, leaving a difference of more than 8 degrees between the two adjustments.

The sound does the same and copies the effects of heat, even though it does not manage to be the worst of all. The problem is that underclock fans keep their speed up, because the temperature is bothersome.

Here we have to say that the noise level is worse than the 54.8 dBA our audio level is rated on average. And that the fans have a very sharp sound, which is evident in the human ear that it is greater than the one taking the audio level as such.

Similarly, there are more than 8 dBAs competing for the right meeting with the contact, which is really frustrating, since it goes from being a big deal to being a quiet comparison.

Conclusion

Too many shadows and too many lights over this Corsair A500, too many without any good taste and originality, as they mean "one for lime and one for sand." So we can summarize what has happened with a heatsink that will undoubtedly reign over what others cannot achieve.

Starting with standard quality, we are undoubtedly dealing with a product that separates the main product from all the pieces, but that would be circular if the frames were ultimately aluminum as its central cover.

The fans are ML120 with magnetic levation and reach 385 RPM and go above 2,400 RPM, so the range is quite wide. Obviously at high revolutions it is very noisy, but as a rule you will never get to such a distance since the heatsink does a pretty good job.

With this A500 Corsair shows that a double tower system does not have to be the starting point to use good results, something that Thermalight Le Grand Macho has long been convinced of, for example, by one follower.

The HoldFast system is excellent, very useful for all types of modules, but makes the fan out of the heatsink body, losing relentless pressure to flow and flow. A rating system such as Thermalright or Noctua itself, for example, works in a similar way and does not require fans to move.

It is true that these products are very limited in memory height, but as of now it is difficult to find modules over 6 cm in total height, the optimums are likely to be marked and the design changed.

In this regard (formation), it is clear that there is a serious problem with this Corsair A500. It is understood that turning the 8mm heat edges to a certain distance may cause cracking problems due to the size, but it is also true that by using a cold plate they would have added those two or three millimeters the height needed to avoid condensers, Preserving any problem.

Failure to do so includes converting the heatsink 90º, losing the original PCIe 3.0 or PCIe 4.0 X16 slot and the Dual Channel of the CPU, so, from that point it is poorly viewed as allowing two input options, namely on it certain plates may not happen.

Therefore, this heatsink needs some clear review, as we are not the only one with obvious problems.

At TechPowerUp they did not go with the minutes and opted to put resources straight, which makes sense for the warranty being absent and at the same time pointing out the problems that this Corsair A500 suffers, where across the board we may have major adhesion issues.

This is arguably a shame, because the heatsink is really a work of art, on the other hand it would have to be completed and updated to solve these problems.

Its current price is currently out of range, because even though Corsair's website is available at 99.90 euros, it's a cost we don't see in other stores, probably because of the lack of available stock.

Amazon counts 113.82 euros, apparently with enough stock. PcComponentes has no stock until Thursday 27th and is up to 96 euros, which is a reasonable price though still high, at the height of the Noctua NH-D15 Chromax.black.

In our opinion, Corsair can save a tube of hot coating, screws and screws, save the euros, and subsequently install a cold plate to solve the problem, which involves installing adjusting screw height.

As an unpleasant last point and knowing that we emphasize the bad rather than the good (since this is very obvious), adding RGB fans would have been the point in favor of Corsair, even if it was an ML120 Pro at 1600 RPM, since most PWM fans have the same changes even under load.

This may mean additional costs due to the fact that Lightning Node Pro installation is true, but it can be two different versions and that the user chooses when looking for an RGB or standard version.