Engineered for ease of installation and outstanding price for performance, the new Nautilus 500 aims to replace standard air cooling and defines a new generation of watercooling solutions. Today Legit Reviews takes a look at the Nautilus 500 and checks out what $159 will get you today.
Corsair wanted to launch a low cost water cooler at $159 and that is what Corsair did. I give Cosair a hand for bringing enthusiast technology to the mainstream consumer and I believe the mainstream market is ready to embrace water cooling. I have been saying for years that water cooling is the way to go if you don't move around your computer a ton. With reduced noise levels and awesome temperatures water cooling is well worth the extra cost from my point of view. Decent water cooling was always over $200 and that the midnight oil burning over at Corsair and the end result is the Nautilus 500.
Awesome review...just to show I was payign attention, I found a typo on the bottom of the install page "easy once you figure out hoe it goes"
What about the sound?
fixed the typo and you have one in your post too ;) hehe
added this section on sound levels:
Noise levels of the Nautilus 500 are not bad and believe it or not the pump was the loudest item in the kit. This is the same pump used in the Corsair COOL 12V@18W and in the Apple OEM 2.5 GHz liquid cooling system. The pump is known at the Delphi DC pump (DDC), which was co-developed and marketed in North America by Laing. Delphi rates the pump at 24~26 dBA at two feet away in a silent room.
If it's only the pump that's causing the noise, then that can easilly be fixed. That pump doesn't make ANY noise from more than 1ft as such....It's the vibration that will cause the noise with that setup....
I'd guess and say adding a bit of foam rubber in as padding will help there.....
Great Review Apop.....!!!
I especially liked the "Areas Of Concern" page......!!!!!
Very clear and concise....
Some feel that I was unfair in the article and harsh against Corsair. I believe that this is a great water cooler, but if I bought one after reading one of the reviews that are already published i would feel shafted as a consumer. The whole point of a review site is to give honest feedback to the community. It's some of the best viral marketing that can be done today! Thanks for the comments!
Excellent review!! I am an idiot and I understood the good and bad!
I wish they would include the chipset and the video card blocks with these kits...yes I am just cheap I guess.
Mike
I dont think the $159 price point is good for beginners either, especially when you can buy a cpu with a fan/heatsink included. If they could figure out a way to keep the quality and get the whole thing below $100, then I would be REAL tempted
Remember, I am opinionated and nothing I say or do reflects on anyone or anything else but me
I agree with you 100% get a water cooler at around $100 and I think many will jump on the ship. But with an MSRP of $159 it will be interesting to see what Newegg and other retailers do with pricing. You will of course also have one day sales and rebates on it, so this kit could be less than the MSRP very soon.
The kit is a step in the right direction for mainstream water cooling.
Apoptosis wrote:The kit is a step in the right direction for mainstream water cooling.
When you think of it, $150 isn't too bad.....It will work with any setup.....If you got DIY, then you need to somehow fit a 120mm Rad into/onto your case......Alot of peoples cases only support 80mm fans...
This setup requires no modding and if you can install a Stock HSF you can install this kit!
the "Areas of concern" are just that, they can easilly be fixed, IF required....the noise can be fixed by adding some padding....the open Rad is not really a prob if your carefull and the water level? -> just make sure it's full the "old-fashioned way" and how the rad is secured is only a minor thing...most people won't be moving this kit much! ---> just my 2$
I'll have to agree with you on the "Areas of concern" , they are pretty easy to fix if it really bothers you or causes problems. Most users will never even look at the inside of the box, so I guess what they don't know, won't hurt them....................
I will add.......I and most users who watercool their rigs started out with kits....(@ least nowadays)
I ran my kit for about 4mths b4 changing the waterblock.....eventually I changed all the parts.........This hopefully will bring more users to the wonderfull world of H2O and electronics LOL
Thats why I didn't let the areas of concern weigh in on the conclusion of the article. It's a good kit that has room for improvement just like everything else on the market!
very nice review and thanks for the heads up on potential issues...
maybe part 2 of the review, the nautilus accidental dropping test to see how the unprotected radiator fins and radiator securing mechanism holds up to a decent fall ?
So I weas reading the other reviews on other sites (blasphemy I know) and not one of them (of the 4 or so I read) made any mention of the issues discussed in the LR article. Shame on them. Kidas again, Nate.
should be rather simple. Not having done it myself, but the installation seems rather straightforward from Nates right up. Just make sure all your connections are tight before you install and leak test, so if you do have a leak the water doesn't damage your components. That's the cardinal rule of watercooling
cool thanks, would anybody know if it has the traditional "clip" retention fixtures for the 478 socket or is it screwed to the board.
Sorry big Noob when it comes to water cooling
