Corsair Nautilus 500 Radiator Modifications Improved Cooling

[Bio-Hazard]

Not at all a bad fan, plus a included speed controller.

SilverStone 9 Blade White 120 mm Fan with Controller - Sleeved

http://www.performance-pcs.com/catalog/ ... ts_id=2888

With the trend towards silent, alot of the highspeed 120 mm fans have become harder to find, but they are still out there.................

[Apoptosis]

Well i just got in my Type G 3/8" elbows from Danger Den and they are what I needed. They flow better than anything I can find locally and thread in with no resistance at all.



I noticed that one corner was going to hit the water line so I took a hack saw and cut off the mounting bracket on one side of the fan. The cut can be seen in the image below. Nothing vibrates or makes noise with the corner being cut off, so either I got lucky on that or tightened the other three corners up enough for them to hold everything tight.



Now everything fits in the original housing and my Nautilus 500 now cools 4-5C cooler under load.

Words of advice for those following in my footsteps. Order the 90 degree elbows in place of the straight fittings when you order the radiator from Danger Den and they wont cost you anything extra! The Aerocool fan doesn't improve cooling, but does look damn cool at night with the blue LED's.



In closing...

Before:


After:


If anyone reading this tries this or has already improved their Nautilus 500 their own please post up what you did to help others.

[Bio-Hazard]

The cooler came out looking pretty good, good job............

[Apoptosis]

The cooler came out looking pretty good, good job............

Thanks Steve!

I wanted something that cooled better and that's what I ended up with!

[Bio-Hazard]

I've always liked Corsair water cooling units except for their aluminum radiators. By using aluminum it required you to use a higher percentage of additive in the unit, now with the standard BI radiator, you can really drop the mixture way down (5% or so) which should also help out with performance a little..................
You also might want to think about modding that top mesh, either opening up the holes or replacing it with something with better airflow. It'll at a minimum reduce the fan noise a little as well as help to increase airflow through the radiator.

[eva2000]

my i ask how tall is the nautilus water block ? it's height in mm ?

Just wondering if it would be useable with Big Typhoon mounting gear like

[Apoptosis]

it looks like it is roughly 3/8" thick... so I believe that would be 9.5 to 10mm

[aivikrames]

Nice Job! I also PM'ed you with the following questions, but I figured it would be more beneficial for everyone to see:

- Was it fairly straight forward to remove the original radiator since it is glued?

- What did you use to mount and secure the new radiator into place?

- Outside of the Danger Den type g elbows, hacking off the corner ofthe fan, etc., were there any other quirks that you ran into?

- Outside of what has been posted, do you have any other advice now that you have completed this that you can give to someone who is considering this mod?

[eva2000]

it looks like it is roughly 3/8" thick... so I believe that would be 9.5 to 10mm

thanks sounds like it might fit okay

[Apoptosis]

Nice Job! I also PM'ed you with the following questions, but I figured it would be more beneficial for everyone to see:

- Was it fairly straight forward to remove the original radiator since it is glued?

- What did you use to mount and secure the new radiator into place?

- Outside of the Danger Den type g elbows, hacking off the corner ofthe fan, etc., were there any other quirks that you ran into?

- Outside of what has been posted, do you have any other advice now that you have completed this that you can give to someone who is considering this mod?

#1) yes very easy as the glue doesn't stick to metal, just pull it off the plastic with your fingers... LOL

#2) more double sided tape --- the current one is held in also by double sided tape

#3) I'd not use the xtreme rad as it's too thick and a larger cfm fan... Sometime when I get some free time I'll do this on my own.

[stev]

my i ask how tall is the nautilus water block ? it's height in mm ?

Just wondering if it would be useable with Big Typhoon mounting gear like

exactly 10.80mm

[stev]

Nate,

I love those mods !

OK, for another boost, take about 1mm off of the cold block base. Of course you will need a CNC lathe and a surface flatnessness gauge to square the block up prior to grinding the base.

If you can get a base lip down to 1.5mm, then the preformance increases. It should be worth another 1C or 2C under extreme loads. Roscal over at ProCooling has done this to micro-channel cold blocks. So, this isn't anything new.

You'll then need to shim the hold-down a little to make up the difference, but that isn't hard to do either.

[sbinh]

...

I called up the folks and Danger Den and placed an order with them last week and just got the parts in on friday. I ordered in the Black Ice Xtreme Radiator for $33.95 to replace the radiator that Corsair ships in the Nautilus 500.

When you ordered Black Ice Xtreme Radiator, which Fitting Size/ Barb Style did you choose to fix Nautilus500?

Thanks for the tips... I will mod mine also to cool down my CPU ...
I replaced the stock fan with this
SILVERSTONE FM121 120mm 2 Ball Case Cooling Fan
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6811999344

It drop the cpu temp down few *C

[Apoptosis]

I used 90 degree Type G elbows from Danger Den! If I had to do it again I wouldn't get the extreme though.... I'm either going to make a fan shroud or get a different radiator for mine. I almost think the Xtreme is too thick!

[sbinh]

I used 90 degree Type G elbows from Danger Den! If I had to do it again I wouldn't get the extreme though.... I'm either going to make a fan shroud or get a different radiator for mine. I almost think the Xtreme is too thick!

What do you think about this
http://www.xoxide.com/thermaltake-aquab ... iator.html

[Apoptosis]

will it fit? 166 X 122 X 35mm is pretty long

I know my Black Ice Extreme fits just fine and it's 153 x 133 x 45mm.

Something like the black ice pro would be a nice upgrade and it's cheap... Since it's thin you can stick a 100+ cfm fan on it...

[eva2000]

exactly 10.80mm

thanks stev

[sbinh]

will it fit? 166 X 122 X 35mm is pretty long

I know my Black Ice Extreme fits just fine and it's 153 x 133 x 45mm.

Something like the black ice pro would be a nice upgrade and it's cheap... Since it's thin you can stick a 100+ cfm fan on it...

I am planning to add another radiator connect directly into stock one and have separate fan for it. Don't know if the stock pump can handle it or not ... With system pressure =22 psi .. it won't be a problem, will it?

[aivikrames]

In terms of the black ice xtreme radiator, I found these two comparisons and in short it seems that the black ice pro is more efficient with a lower cfm fan

http://www.overclockers.com/articles1158/
http://www.overclockers.com/articles1140/

It should be noted that the article did not test a higher cfm fan on the xtreme radiator due to noise concerns. Thus, I would wonder if a 100+cfm fan was used, especially with the corsair unit, if it would outperform the black ice pro.

Thoughts?

[Bio-Hazard]

A Extreme will out perform a Pro with the correct fan, no questions there.......;) The question is, do you want to live with the noise from that fan.............;)