Asus Z170-A/Corsair H100i GTX installation question

[perseid]

Hi, where should I connect the 3-pin H100i GTX power cable? To the CPU Fan header in the mobo or
to the Water Pump header? I also read that it's advisable to connect it directly to the PSU via molex adapter
skipping the mobo's headers altogether, why?
Should I disable the CPU Fan header or Water Pump Header control from BIOS? Thanks

[Nate152]

Hello perseid I suppose you could connect it any of the three ways but it's preferable to connect it to the water pump header, then connect the fans to the cpu fan and cpu opt headers.

[perseid]

Thanks Nate, the water pump header has 4 pins and the H100i GTX power cable has 3 pins, when connecting it should I disregard
the ground pin header? I read some people advise connecting the H100i power cable directly to the PSU since connecting it to the mobo
might short ir or damage it plus the PSU supplies more reliable 12v power.
Also, I currently have the Noctua NH-D14, will I get better results with the H100i or should I stay with the Noctua? Thanks

[Nate152]

They're both good coolers, you won't damage anything by connecting it to the water pump header and you can control it with the corsair link software.

According to this the h100i gtx is a bit better although it's probably louder with the fans cranked up.

http://www.overclock3d.net/reviews/cases_cooling/corsair_h100i_gtx_review/7

Unless there is an adapter I'm not sure you can connect it straight to the psu.

http://www.corsair.com/en-us/blog/2015/march/h100i_gtx_how_to

[perseid]

Thanks again. Yes, I read reports that the NH-D14 is quieter than the H100i GTX:
http://www.pcper.com/reviews/Cases-and-Cooling/Corsair-Hydro-Series-H100i-GTX-and-H80i-GT-Liquid-CPU...

Also the H100i GTX wins in cooling performance over the NH-D14 but by a narrow margin. Plus, the H100i GTX brings the complexity of a water pump,
liquid,and its own control software via USB all of which introduce a higher damage/failure risk (I've read many users reporting
water pump failure after a few months of usage, Corsair control software being very buggy, etc).

Being that I'm not a gamer or intensive overclocker, I think that the above considerations suffice for me to conclude that I stay with the NH-D14 and
eventually upgrade to the NH-D15 in the future.

Nate152 wrote:
Unless there is an adapter I'm not sure you can connect it straight to the psu.

Yes you can, using a 3:4 pin adaptor such as the Noctua NA-AC1