Swiftech H2O-120 Compact and Corsair Nautilus 500: Is Water Better?
by Wesley Fink on September 17, 2007 6:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
Cooling at Stock Speed
Some users will never overclock their CPU, but they still want to run the coolest CPU temperatures possible to enhance stability and extend CPU life. It is conventional wisdom that water cools better, but is that really true? The Swiftech H2O-120 Compact and Corsair Nautilus 500 both use high-output and relatively quiet 120mm fans - the same fan configuration used in the best air coolers. Both water coolers are reported, with the Corsair results in red and the Swiftech in orange.
The very good Intel stock air cooler keeps the X6800 at 41C at idle, compared to the Corsair Nautilus 500 and Swiftech H2O-120 Compact which both kept idle temperature to a very low 26C. The 26C results are the best ever seen in AnandTech idle cooler benchmarking and match the top-performing Thermalright Ultra-120 eXtreme. The Tuniq120, the Ultra-120, and the Ultima-90 with a 120mm fan are one degree higher at 27C. All these results are dramatic improvements over the Intel stock cooler performance at 41C, and they represent an excellent performance by the water cooling kits, which match the best air cooler tested at stock idle.
Test results under the same conditions on the Intel P35 platform show the same pattern, but Intel TAT results are generally 1-2C higher than the NVIDIA Monitor results with the same CPU. CoreTemp shows idle temps about 2C cooler than NVIDIA Monitor.
It is more difficult to effectively simulate a computer being stressed by all of the conditions it might be exposed to in different operating environments. For most home users CPU power is most taxed with contemporary gaming. Therefore our stress test simulates playing a demanding game. The Far Cry River demo is looped for 30 minutes and the CPU temperature is captured at 4 second intervals with the NVIDIA Monitor "logging" option. The highest temperature during the load test is then reported. Momentary spikes are ignored, as we report a sustained high-level temp that you can expect to find in this recording configuration. This test configuration roughly equates to an 80% CPU load test using Intel TAT.
Cooling efficiency of the Corsair and Swiftech water cooling systems was then compared under load conditions at stock speed to the retail HSF and other recently tested CPU coolers.
The Corsair Nautilus 500 and Swiftech H2O-120 Compact under load at stock speeds both reach a maximum temperature of 35C. This is one of the top performances under these conditions, but the Thermalright Ultra-120 eXtreme (32C), Ultra-120 (33C), and Tuniq Tower 120 (34C) all do a bit better in this test. The Thermalright Ultima-90 with an S-FLEX 120 fan matches the 35C as does the Scythe Ninja Plus B with a SilenX IXTREMA fan. This compares to the stock Intel air cooler at 56C under load.
It was really expected that the water coolers would outperform the best air coolers under load, since they can theoretically dissipate more wattage. The water cooling performance is still excellent under load, but a few top air coolers do even better than water cooling.
The temperature pattern with TAT and CoreTemp on the P35 is a bit different under load conditions than Idle. All four results are higher (poorer) than the NVIDIA Monitor results on the 680i. CoreTemp results under the same test conditions are a couple of degrees higher than NVIDIA Monitor, while TAT results were a surprising 5C higher with both water cooling systems compared to the same system test results measured with NVIDIA Monitor.
The purpose of these comparisons of the same tests measured using three different core temperature utilities is to get a better understanding of how each program compares in temperature measurement under different test conditions. This will hopefully provide the insight needed to select a standardized program for temperature measurements on our new cooling test bed.
Some users will never overclock their CPU, but they still want to run the coolest CPU temperatures possible to enhance stability and extend CPU life. It is conventional wisdom that water cools better, but is that really true? The Swiftech H2O-120 Compact and Corsair Nautilus 500 both use high-output and relatively quiet 120mm fans - the same fan configuration used in the best air coolers. Both water coolers are reported, with the Corsair results in red and the Swiftech in orange.
The very good Intel stock air cooler keeps the X6800 at 41C at idle, compared to the Corsair Nautilus 500 and Swiftech H2O-120 Compact which both kept idle temperature to a very low 26C. The 26C results are the best ever seen in AnandTech idle cooler benchmarking and match the top-performing Thermalright Ultra-120 eXtreme. The Tuniq120, the Ultra-120, and the Ultima-90 with a 120mm fan are one degree higher at 27C. All these results are dramatic improvements over the Intel stock cooler performance at 41C, and they represent an excellent performance by the water cooling kits, which match the best air cooler tested at stock idle.
| Intel P35 Idle Stock Speed - Temperature in Degrees Celsius | |
| Swiftech H2O - TAT | 28 |
| Swiftech H2O - CoreTemp | 24 |
| Corsair Nautilus 500 - TAT | 27 |
| Corsair Nautilus 500 - CoreTemp | 24 |
Test results under the same conditions on the Intel P35 platform show the same pattern, but Intel TAT results are generally 1-2C higher than the NVIDIA Monitor results with the same CPU. CoreTemp shows idle temps about 2C cooler than NVIDIA Monitor.
It is more difficult to effectively simulate a computer being stressed by all of the conditions it might be exposed to in different operating environments. For most home users CPU power is most taxed with contemporary gaming. Therefore our stress test simulates playing a demanding game. The Far Cry River demo is looped for 30 minutes and the CPU temperature is captured at 4 second intervals with the NVIDIA Monitor "logging" option. The highest temperature during the load test is then reported. Momentary spikes are ignored, as we report a sustained high-level temp that you can expect to find in this recording configuration. This test configuration roughly equates to an 80% CPU load test using Intel TAT.
Cooling efficiency of the Corsair and Swiftech water cooling systems was then compared under load conditions at stock speed to the retail HSF and other recently tested CPU coolers.
The Corsair Nautilus 500 and Swiftech H2O-120 Compact under load at stock speeds both reach a maximum temperature of 35C. This is one of the top performances under these conditions, but the Thermalright Ultra-120 eXtreme (32C), Ultra-120 (33C), and Tuniq Tower 120 (34C) all do a bit better in this test. The Thermalright Ultima-90 with an S-FLEX 120 fan matches the 35C as does the Scythe Ninja Plus B with a SilenX IXTREMA fan. This compares to the stock Intel air cooler at 56C under load.
It was really expected that the water coolers would outperform the best air coolers under load, since they can theoretically dissipate more wattage. The water cooling performance is still excellent under load, but a few top air coolers do even better than water cooling.
| Intel P35 Load Stock Speed - Temperature in Degrees Celsius | |
| Swiftech H2O - TAT | 40 |
| Swiftech H2O - CoreTemp | 37 |
| Corsair Nautilus 500 - TAT | 40 |
| Corsair Nautilus 500 - CoreTemp | 37 |
The temperature pattern with TAT and CoreTemp on the P35 is a bit different under load conditions than Idle. All four results are higher (poorer) than the NVIDIA Monitor results on the 680i. CoreTemp results under the same test conditions are a couple of degrees higher than NVIDIA Monitor, while TAT results were a surprising 5C higher with both water cooling systems compared to the same system test results measured with NVIDIA Monitor.
The purpose of these comparisons of the same tests measured using three different core temperature utilities is to get a better understanding of how each program compares in temperature measurement under different test conditions. This will hopefully provide the insight needed to select a standardized program for temperature measurements on our new cooling test bed.
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rallycobra - Monday, September 17, 2007 - link
I'm building a new quad system, and I was going to go with the swiftech kit, and upgrade to a 120x3 radiator in the future. For now, I'm going to stick to air.Can you run the test again with a quad? Another site says that the swiftech outperforms all air solutions, but I trust your methodology a lot more.
Watercooling is elegant if you have the radiator outside the case, and you can cool the cpu, chipset and vga. It keeps the inside cool, and gets all of the heat out.
aigomorla - Monday, September 17, 2007 - link
Your upgrading to 3x the cooling power this article previewed.So if there saying a 120x1 will match a ultra120extreme, your saying 3x that cooling power isnt worth the migration.
*scratches my head*
This is what i mean about this article screwing people up in water migration.
poisondeathray - Monday, September 17, 2007 - link
Thanks for the interesting review.Given the increasing prevalence of quad-cores, it might be interesting to repeat the tests with an overclocked quad core configuration.
Although the testbed was different, at least 1 other hardware site got better results with similar watercooling vs. Tuniq.
gingerstewart55 - Monday, September 17, 2007 - link
I wonder what was wrong with your setups and your pumps. Having had the Corsair Nautilus 500 unit, and the pump the Swiftech kit is based upon, something is/was seriously wrong with your setup or pumps.The Corsair unit's fan, at least in the one I used, drowned out the pump completely.
The Laing pump in the Swiftech kit, the same pump in the Corsair kit by the way, is sitting in my computer and is utterly silent....completely drowned out by any of the four fans in the case....three Scythe S-Flex "E" fans, at 22 dBA on full speed, and an Antec SpotCooler on lowest speed (the Antec is the loudest fan in the case, btw.)
I'd almost hazard a guess that both kits, after being set up, still had a bubble/pocket of air in the pump. The Laing pump can get quite noisy if no completely bled of air.
Otherwise, there was a mechanical fault in both your kits' pumps as the Laing is almost completely silent when working as attested to by the hundreds of people using those pumps and hearing absolutely nothing from them when being used.
Nickel020 - Monday, September 17, 2007 - link
You need at mod top for the Laing pump, it's unbearable without one, but if decoupled almost unhearable with a good top.Wesley Fink - Monday, September 17, 2007 - link
We tested both systems as provided by Swiftech and Corsair. Both units are provided as complete kits and both manufacturers are familiar with our cooler test methods.Modding everything we test defeats the purpose of our comparative testing.
We are not finished with water cooling reviews, and we will be reviewing more water cooling systems in the future.
Nickel020 - Monday, September 17, 2007 - link
That's not hwo I meant it, of course you shouldn't mod the kits for testing. I was just saying that the Laing is not a bad pump for custom setups, in fact, it's pretty much the best pump for most setups if you use a mod top, which makes a big difference. I don't think I've ever seen a pic om someone using it without a mod top, but dozens with all kinds of mod tops.Wesley Fink - Monday, September 17, 2007 - link
I first thought there was a pump defect as well. So I acquired FIVE Apogee drive blocks from different sources and all measured similar dbA noise levels. There was also the 6th pump in the Corsair Nautilus 500.Subjectively the pumps were relatively quiet because the noise frequencies appear to fall in a freqency range that is not particularly annoying. However, our standard sound meter said measured noise was pretty high. We stated this in the review and also commented the pump noise was not annoying to our ears, but it may be to others. Measure the noise of your system and let us know what you find.
psychotix11 - Monday, September 17, 2007 - link
These two set-ups do not represent the top end of water cooling. It's long been past the point where a single 120mm rad is enough for a CPU.Toss these out and replace them with a custom set up with a dtek fuzion CPU block, 2x 120mm fan rad, ddc pump with petras top, and 1/2 id tubing and then see where it gets you.
Also liquid cool the chipset and then see if stock air can keep up (after), it won't.
You're taking two premade kits made for the user that has never water cooled before. It's simply not in the same category as the higher end custom kits.
Wesley Fink - Monday, September 17, 2007 - link
We did not state water cooling was always inferior to the top air coolers. We said, based on these test results and others we have run recently, that you would need to spend more than $300 on a water cooling system that might outperform the best air coolers.At more than 4 to 6 times the price of a top air cooler most readers would not conseder that good value.
I actually agree with your comments, but please tell us the total cost of the water cooling setup you say is needed to beat the best air coolers.