Testing - Corsair Nautilus 500



In July I tested the Corsair Nautilus 500 external cooling system. In that review I had considered the possibility of mating other waterblocks with the external cooling unit. The Nautilus 500 is supplied with a waterblock made especially for Corsair based on the Swiftech MCW6000. The external unit is based on a single aluminum radiator mated to a Vette 120MM fan rated at 74.4CFM at 1800RPM when the dual speed switch is set on "high." All tests were run at 1800RPM. The pump used in the Nautilus 500 is the Laing DDC-1 running 420l/h, 3.7m H at 12V (approx). Comparative testing began with AMD stock HSF and the Nautilus 500's included CPU block, then switching to the XSPC X20 an above average performer we tested in 02/06. Finally the Viscool V2 was installed as seen in the photos above and below.



The V2's mounting hardware is so simplistic as to be ingenious. While it does take a few moments to align and re-tighten all the screws and hand fastener?s, the ability to mount the V2 on just about every motherboard in production with holes for through-mounting is well worth it. It took me approximately 5-minutes to install the waterblock. As with all my H20 reviews I re-mount the waterblock several times and compare results determining the best mount by the lowest temps (all things (ambient room temp) being equal). As I began recording temps I realized how far behind I am in the Dual Core department. It wasn't until I found an extraordinarily large discrepancy in my water-temp measurements and on-die results I realized how important it is to utilize a monitoring program capable if reading both on-die thermal diode readings in a Dual Core environment. Asus AI-Booster and PC-Probe fail to differentiate since the software doesn't distinguish in DC. Therefore I chose the Beta program Core Temp, thanks to the knowledgeable Enthusiasts at thecoolest.zerobrains.com a very interesting forum website. The current version may be downloaded from the following; Core Temp v0.9.0.91 (zip). This program accurately measures both Conroe and K8 DC processors simultaneously which is explained here.

Test System

AMD Test System
CPU	Althlon64 3800X2 AM2 Retail
Mainboard	Asus M2N-SLI Deluxe
Memory	Crucial PC2-8000 2x1024MB DC CL5-4-4-12
Graphics	Leadtek 7950GX2
Power Supply	PCPower&Cooling Turbo Cool 1KW
Cooling	Corsair Nautilus 500 XSPC X20 Viscool
Operating System	Windows XP

To summarize testing consisted of running our AM2 3800X2 at default speed and voltage 2.0GHz = 10x200FSB / 1.35Vcore, and overclocking the CPU to 2.85GHz = 10x285FSB / 1.40Vcore. CPU Temperatures were recorded with AMD's stock HSF, Corsair's Nautilus 500 waterblock, XSPC's X20 waterblock and Viscool's V2 waterblock all waterblock's shared the Nautilus 500's external cooling unit. To simulate processor LOAD the stress test utility S&M was used. The original website for this program can be found at testmen.nm.ru and the current version may be downloaded directly at S&M 1.8.1 (160). Maximum temperatures were recorded running S&M at 100% and as stated above the program Core Temp allowed me to record both temps in the results chart. Thermal paste used throughout was Arctic Silver Luminere a special electrically non-conductive thermal paste with a rapid cure rate made specifically for product testing. In the chart below the results for air-cooling at 2850MHz were left blank due to the system crashing at 100% LOAD under stock cooling. Ambeint temps were maintained between 18C ~ 20C throughout testing.



Summary
I was able to find just three tests on the Viscool V2; Watercoolplanet and as I stated earlier Joe at Overclocker's who recommended a pump with a minimum flow rate of 300gph or 1135l/h. Admit tingly the pump I chose was under powered in the flow-rate department at 110gph. While I most definitely concur with Joe's assessment, based on the block's design I chose to use the LAING DDC-1 for two reasons:
1st.) flow-rate does not account for pressure as in DOOMPC's waterblock roundup an XSPC DC1000 pump was used which is most likely a Hydor L25. While this pump's flow-rate is around 1000l/h it's Height (pressure) is very low at 1.35 m/Height. The DDC-1 specifies a 3.7m/Height.
2nd.) based on the waterblock's low price it's most likely the case this block will end up in a system using a "budget" type pump such as the Laing DDC-1 which is relatively inexpensive. The popularity of the DDC-1 based on its size alone has made the pump an attractive alternative to OEM manufacturers, not to mention off-the-shelf sales.
In the very near future I'll be retesting the V2 in my next waterblock comparison against XSPC's new direct impingement version of the X20. In that test the pump used will be the LAING D5 Strong.

PRO
Price!
Innovative design.
Perhaps most universal mounting system available.
All copper baseplate high quality machining/finish.
Solid performance.

CON
Channel from barb restricts flow (direct impingement is best).
Limited availability.

The V2 can be purchased through Viscool for just $24 (USD) Viscool V2.

Conclusion
Viscool has given us a truly exceptional waterblock in the V2 for so many reasons. I decided to mate the V2 with the Laing DDC-1 simply because it's so widely used and given Viscool's limited "watercooling kit" option I would expect those looking at the V2 would be switching out a waterblock they're not satisfied with for the V2. Even with a flow-rate handicap the V2's performance speaks volumes. At $24 Viscool has produced what is most likely the best "budget" waterblock available, only further testing will tell. I would like to thank Viscool for submitting their product, stay tuned for the next test.

Questions/Comments: forum thread