Test: Corsair Nautilus 500

Konklusion

Jeg må sige, at det har været en fornøjelse, at køre med Corsair Nautilus 500. Selvom jeg ikke før har prøvet vandkøling, gik installationen hurtigt og smertefrit. Derudover kølede enheden rigtig godt, uden at støje ret meget.

Innovation/Teknologi:3
Selve idéen med ekstern vandkøling er langt fra ny - så hvor innovativt det er, kan diskuteres. Men Corsairs sorte box virker godt, uden at være banebrydende på sit felt. Dog er den meget mindre end den forgænger, så det går den rigtige vej.

Bundle/Tilbehør:3
Der medfølger ikke ret mange ting, hvilket er helt forståeligt. Det ville trods alt være lidt underligt, hvis der var bundlet alt mulig software osv.
Efter min mening er det helt fint, at de vedlægger de ting der er nødvendige, for at få systemet op at køre. Undtagen destilleret vand, som havde været rart at få med.

Design/Layout:4
Den sorte boks fra Corsair, modtager nok aldrig en pris for design. Men trods den er forarbejdet i plastik, er den efter min mening meget pæn. Kølehovedets polering er der virkelig gjort noget ud af, og får ene og alene hele sættet til at udstråle kvalitet. Derudover har jeg aldrig set vandkøling, der var så nemt at samle og montere. Corsair har valgt at benytte Intels eget monteringssystem, hvilket indebærer at det ikke er nødvendigt at afmontere bundkortet, og at monteringen rent faktisk er noget nemmere, end langt de fleste highend luftkølere.
Kort sagt, det tager ingen tid at montere.

Software/BIOS:
N/A

Ydelse: 4
Sættet yder virkelig godt, og kan helt sikkert køle de største processorer uden problemer, selv med et pænt overclock.
Om det kan trække et fuldblods SLi-setup ved siden af, som Corsair lover, er svært at vurdere. Men hvis vi antager at en athlon64 fx60 bruger strøm i nærheden af vores Pentium 521@3,5Ghz, har vandet i reservoiret en temperatur på omkring 40 grader - altså har sættet kapacitet til en del mere.

Pris: 3
Da sættet ikke fås i Danmark, må jeg gå efter de amerikanske priser. Og umiddelbart lader det til at sættet er prissat meget fornuftigt i forhold til sine konkurrenter. Dog er Thermaltake bigwater 120kr billigere, men det er intern køling og kan derfor ikke rigtigt sammenlignes.
Med Nautilus 500 får man et fornuftigt og nemt vandkølesæt, med mulighed for at køle grafikkort senere hen, til en fornuftig pris.
Grunden til at karakteren på området ikke helt kommer op at ringe, er at man kan få en virkelig god luftkøler til 3-400kr.

UK Conclusion

I must say it has been a pleasure to test the Corsair Nautilus 500. Although I have never tried water cooling before, the installation process was quick and pain-free. In addition the unit cooled very well and made very little noise.

Innovation/Technology: 3
The idea of external water cooling is far from new, so how innovative it is can be debated. But Corsair's black box works very well without being cutting edge in its field.

Bundle/Accessories: 3
There are very few accessories, which is completely understandable. It would after all be little strange if the cooler came with all sorts of software etc.
In my opinion it is fine that they include the things that are necessary to get the system up and running. Except distilled water, which it would have been nice to have included.

Design/Layout: 4
The black box from Corsair is not likely to win any awards for its design. But despite the fact that it is made from plastic it does, in my opinion, look very nice. The finish of the cooler head is extremely nice and it alone makes the entire set radiate quality. In addition I have never seen a water cooling system that was this easy to install. Corsair have chosen to use Intel's own installation system, which means it is not necessary to dismantle the motherboard, and the installation is actually far easier than with most high-end air coolers. In short, it takes no time at all to install.

Software/BIOS:
N/A

Performance: 4
The set performs really well, and it will surely be able to cool the largest processors without trouble, even with a nice overclock.
Whether it can run a fullblood SLI-setup as well, as Corsair promise, is difficult to tell, but if we assume that that an Athlon64 FX60 is running near our Pentium 521@3,5Ghz, the water in the reservoir has a temperature of about 40 degrees celsius. Which means the set has the capacity for more.

Price: 3
As the set is not sold in Denmark I have to judge it by American prices, and it seems the set is reasonably priced compared to its competitors. The Thermaltake bigwater is 120DDK less, but that is an internal cooler, so the two cannot really be compared.
With the Nautilus 500 you get a reasonable and easy water cooler set, with the option of cooling your graphics card, later on, at a reasonable price.