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
Final Words
"Conventional wisdom" tells us that water cooling systems will always cool better than air coolers and water coolers will always be lower noise than the best air coolers. Any computer enthusiast has heard this ad nauseum and probably repeated these "truths" to their friends. Unfortunately these conventional wisdom maxims were coined a few years ago when air coolers were heavy blocks of copper, heatpipes weren't used on coolers, and the cooling fans were small, high-pitched screamers.
Whether everyone has noticed it or not, air coolers have been undergoing a revolution since these maxims were genuine truths. Fast forward to today and you will find the heatpipe tower the dominant design for top air cooling. The liquid-filled heatpipes provide many of the benefits of conventional water cooling and the fan most often paired with these heatpipe towers is a side-blowing, rear-facing 120mm fan with high output combined with low noise.
With these developments firmly in mind it was time to put "conventional wisdom" under the microscope again. The worthy test subjects for examining these water cooling "truths" are the Corsair Nautilus 500 external water cooling system and the Swiftech H2O-120 Compact. Both these water cooling systems are also the beneficiaries of the evolutionary development of water cooling since they both combine top water cooling components in simpler to install water cooling kits. They are also reasonable as water cooling kits are concerned, at around $130 to $150. However, even at these excellent prices the water cooling kits are two to three times the price of the top air coolers.
The cooling tests are now complete and it is time to look at each area where water cooling was considered superior to answer whether water cooling is still better than air.
Cooling Performance: Both the Corsair and Swiftech water coolers mirror the second tier of air coolers in cooling efficiency. They match the best air coolers we have tested at stock idle only. At all other speeds and load conditions the top three or four air coolers out-cooled water.
Overclocking: Seven air coolers tested by AnandTech overclock higher than the Swiftech H2O-120 Compact and the Corsair Nautilus 500. The Thermalright designs do use the convex (bowed) base plate which has been shown to increase cooling by 2C to 3C and therefore increase overclocks. Swiftech has been shipping bowed base plates on their top water blocks and they will add the bowed base to the H2O-120 Compact. That may improve performance of the Swiftech water system to near parity with the top air coolers. The operative term is near parity. We have yet to test a water kit below $300 cost that can match or outperform a top $50 to $75 air cooler.
Noise: The Swiftech and Corsair water systems were noisier than almost any air system we have tested. With air coolers the noise can only come from the fan and most fans can be replaced with a quiet, high-output fan. Noise from the H2O-120 Compact and Nautilus 500 water systems is mostly from the buzzing and humming of the water pump and it is not easily corrected. Subjectively the water cooling noise, while measuring high, is not particularly annoying in frequency. Many users will find it easy to live with. In this regard the Swiftech has the greatest potential for damping noise since the water pump is inside the case where the Corsair mounts the water pump outside the case.
Flexibility: Water cooling enthusiasts rightly point out that you can effectively cool hot VGA cards by just adding a VGA block to your water system. Or tame a hot chipset with a chipset block. That is true, and even these reasonable kits offer the option of driving additional VGA and system cooling blocks. Air can never offer this level of flexibility, but the cost will be higher than you expect and it might be cheaper to buy one of the new self-contained water-cooled VGA cards to use with your top-performing air cooler. Scaling of water cooling performance when it has to deal with GPUs and chipsets as well as the CPU is also something that needs to be considered.
Finally, there are two areas where air cooling is considered the superior solution. Do comparisons still show air to be superior to water in these areas?
Ease of Installation: In general air cooling is a much simpler installation. Also, if you're sloppy in an air installation your system might shut down so you can correct the problem. If you're sloppy with a water cooling installation your board may be fried. The two water systems tested here were designed for easier water installation. With the right case the Swiftech is fairly easy, but it is quite complicated if you plan to use it in a common top-mounted PSU mid-tower case and extra parts are required. The Corsair is an extremely easy install that works in every case we have available for testing. It's so easy it will take less time to install than top air coolers that require a motherboard removal to install the air cooler.
Value: Water cooling systems have been dropping in price while the prices for top air coolers have been increasing. Still any water cooling system that even has a chance to compete in performance with the top air coolers will cost $130 to $300 for the kit. Top air coolers cost $50 to $75. At one half to one sixth the price top air cooling is still a very good value by comparison.
The Bottom Line
The next time a computer friend tells you water cooling performs better or is quieter than air cooling, tell him his information is out of date. Air coolers have evolved to the point where a top $50 to $75 air cooler will normally outperform a water cooling kit at $300 or below. The best air coolers are much cheaper, easier to install, lower in noise, and provide better overclocking results than water cooling kits that are up to six times more expensive.
However, water cooling is still very desirable if you also want to cool a hot video card or a hot chipset, since almost every available water cooling kit allows the easy addition of VGA and chipset blocks. For many this one feature, the flexibility of additional water blocks, is reason enough to run water instead.
Our tests of the "Easier to Install" Corsair Nautilus 500 and Swiftech H2O-120 Compact show both systems to be worthy competitors at their price points. Both systems cool to levels just below the top air coolers, and both facilitate overclocks just below the top air coolers. Neither water system, however, can match the performance of the top seven or eight air coolers tested at AnandTech, which sell for one third to one half the price of either the Swiftech or Corsair water cooling kit.
If your planned install is a full tower case or a mid-tower with a bottom mount power supply then either the Corsair or Swiftech will be easy to install, with the Swiftech offering more flexibility in controlling water pump noise. If you plan to install in a more common top-mounted PSU mid-tower case the Corsair Nautilus 500 is the better choice, since the Swiftech will require additional parts for an external of split install.
In the end the only persuasive reason to buy a sub $300 water cooling system is if you want to add VGA and/or chipset cooling. There seems to be a trend by some enthusiasts to put together extremely large water cooling systems with multiple large banks of radiators and cooling fans. Some featured at enthusiast sites look more like car radiators than computer water cooling systems. These systems can undoubtedly cool better than a $50 to $75 top air cooler but they also cost substantially more than $300. You have to spend more than $300 on water cooling that might outperform the best air coolers.
We asked when we started this review "Is water better?". The clear answer is NO, after comparing the Corsair Nautilus 500 and Swiftech H2O-120 Compact to the top air coolers. Water cooling comes close to top air performance in current designs but it did not outperform top air cooling in any test results. Upcoming improvements in block design may bring water performance closer to the best air coolers but water is not likely to provide better performance than air in kits priced at under $300. Air is also much quieter than these water kits. For most enthusiasts air cooling is the better value, better performer, and lower noise system. Unless you plan to also water cool your video card and/or chipset there is no real reason to buy water cooling instead.
"Conventional wisdom" tells us that water cooling systems will always cool better than air coolers and water coolers will always be lower noise than the best air coolers. Any computer enthusiast has heard this ad nauseum and probably repeated these "truths" to their friends. Unfortunately these conventional wisdom maxims were coined a few years ago when air coolers were heavy blocks of copper, heatpipes weren't used on coolers, and the cooling fans were small, high-pitched screamers.
Whether everyone has noticed it or not, air coolers have been undergoing a revolution since these maxims were genuine truths. Fast forward to today and you will find the heatpipe tower the dominant design for top air cooling. The liquid-filled heatpipes provide many of the benefits of conventional water cooling and the fan most often paired with these heatpipe towers is a side-blowing, rear-facing 120mm fan with high output combined with low noise.
With these developments firmly in mind it was time to put "conventional wisdom" under the microscope again. The worthy test subjects for examining these water cooling "truths" are the Corsair Nautilus 500 external water cooling system and the Swiftech H2O-120 Compact. Both these water cooling systems are also the beneficiaries of the evolutionary development of water cooling since they both combine top water cooling components in simpler to install water cooling kits. They are also reasonable as water cooling kits are concerned, at around $130 to $150. However, even at these excellent prices the water cooling kits are two to three times the price of the top air coolers.
The cooling tests are now complete and it is time to look at each area where water cooling was considered superior to answer whether water cooling is still better than air.
Cooling Performance: Both the Corsair and Swiftech water coolers mirror the second tier of air coolers in cooling efficiency. They match the best air coolers we have tested at stock idle only. At all other speeds and load conditions the top three or four air coolers out-cooled water.
Overclocking: Seven air coolers tested by AnandTech overclock higher than the Swiftech H2O-120 Compact and the Corsair Nautilus 500. The Thermalright designs do use the convex (bowed) base plate which has been shown to increase cooling by 2C to 3C and therefore increase overclocks. Swiftech has been shipping bowed base plates on their top water blocks and they will add the bowed base to the H2O-120 Compact. That may improve performance of the Swiftech water system to near parity with the top air coolers. The operative term is near parity. We have yet to test a water kit below $300 cost that can match or outperform a top $50 to $75 air cooler.
Noise: The Swiftech and Corsair water systems were noisier than almost any air system we have tested. With air coolers the noise can only come from the fan and most fans can be replaced with a quiet, high-output fan. Noise from the H2O-120 Compact and Nautilus 500 water systems is mostly from the buzzing and humming of the water pump and it is not easily corrected. Subjectively the water cooling noise, while measuring high, is not particularly annoying in frequency. Many users will find it easy to live with. In this regard the Swiftech has the greatest potential for damping noise since the water pump is inside the case where the Corsair mounts the water pump outside the case.
Flexibility: Water cooling enthusiasts rightly point out that you can effectively cool hot VGA cards by just adding a VGA block to your water system. Or tame a hot chipset with a chipset block. That is true, and even these reasonable kits offer the option of driving additional VGA and system cooling blocks. Air can never offer this level of flexibility, but the cost will be higher than you expect and it might be cheaper to buy one of the new self-contained water-cooled VGA cards to use with your top-performing air cooler. Scaling of water cooling performance when it has to deal with GPUs and chipsets as well as the CPU is also something that needs to be considered.
Finally, there are two areas where air cooling is considered the superior solution. Do comparisons still show air to be superior to water in these areas?
Ease of Installation: In general air cooling is a much simpler installation. Also, if you're sloppy in an air installation your system might shut down so you can correct the problem. If you're sloppy with a water cooling installation your board may be fried. The two water systems tested here were designed for easier water installation. With the right case the Swiftech is fairly easy, but it is quite complicated if you plan to use it in a common top-mounted PSU mid-tower case and extra parts are required. The Corsair is an extremely easy install that works in every case we have available for testing. It's so easy it will take less time to install than top air coolers that require a motherboard removal to install the air cooler.
Value: Water cooling systems have been dropping in price while the prices for top air coolers have been increasing. Still any water cooling system that even has a chance to compete in performance with the top air coolers will cost $130 to $300 for the kit. Top air coolers cost $50 to $75. At one half to one sixth the price top air cooling is still a very good value by comparison.
The Bottom Line
The next time a computer friend tells you water cooling performs better or is quieter than air cooling, tell him his information is out of date. Air coolers have evolved to the point where a top $50 to $75 air cooler will normally outperform a water cooling kit at $300 or below. The best air coolers are much cheaper, easier to install, lower in noise, and provide better overclocking results than water cooling kits that are up to six times more expensive.
However, water cooling is still very desirable if you also want to cool a hot video card or a hot chipset, since almost every available water cooling kit allows the easy addition of VGA and chipset blocks. For many this one feature, the flexibility of additional water blocks, is reason enough to run water instead.
Our tests of the "Easier to Install" Corsair Nautilus 500 and Swiftech H2O-120 Compact show both systems to be worthy competitors at their price points. Both systems cool to levels just below the top air coolers, and both facilitate overclocks just below the top air coolers. Neither water system, however, can match the performance of the top seven or eight air coolers tested at AnandTech, which sell for one third to one half the price of either the Swiftech or Corsair water cooling kit.
If your planned install is a full tower case or a mid-tower with a bottom mount power supply then either the Corsair or Swiftech will be easy to install, with the Swiftech offering more flexibility in controlling water pump noise. If you plan to install in a more common top-mounted PSU mid-tower case the Corsair Nautilus 500 is the better choice, since the Swiftech will require additional parts for an external of split install.
In the end the only persuasive reason to buy a sub $300 water cooling system is if you want to add VGA and/or chipset cooling. There seems to be a trend by some enthusiasts to put together extremely large water cooling systems with multiple large banks of radiators and cooling fans. Some featured at enthusiast sites look more like car radiators than computer water cooling systems. These systems can undoubtedly cool better than a $50 to $75 top air cooler but they also cost substantially more than $300. You have to spend more than $300 on water cooling that might outperform the best air coolers.
We asked when we started this review "Is water better?". The clear answer is NO, after comparing the Corsair Nautilus 500 and Swiftech H2O-120 Compact to the top air coolers. Water cooling comes close to top air performance in current designs but it did not outperform top air cooling in any test results. Upcoming improvements in block design may bring water performance closer to the best air coolers but water is not likely to provide better performance than air in kits priced at under $300. Air is also much quieter than these water kits. For most enthusiasts air cooling is the better value, better performer, and lower noise system. Unless you plan to also water cool your video card and/or chipset there is no real reason to buy water cooling instead.
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Gul Westfale - Monday, September 17, 2007 - link
watercooling is still worth it ig=f you have th emoney; th etwo setups tested here are not exactly the best coolers available. also, the statement in teh article that watercoolers are quieter than aircoolers is ridiculous, after all a watercooler still has a fan thta blows air through the radiator, and that fan is jst as quiet (or noisy) as an aircooler... unless you go witth zalman's fanless reserator design.i'm afraid the conclusion of this article tries to tell you that all watercoolers perform like these two here, but that is simply not so. other, better systems include the aforementioned zalman reserator, the koolance exos, and several more advanced setups from swiftech. if you are interested in this, frozencpu.com is a good site to do some window sopping :0
Wesley Fink - Monday, September 17, 2007 - link
We state you will likely need to spend more than $300 to possibly outperform current top air coolers. We have recently tested several systems near that price point and stand by that statement based on our tests results.We did not say water cooling is quieter, we just said many reviews over the years have stated water cooling to be the quieter solution. As we showed in our review that is no longer thacase unless you buy a much more expensive water system. If you read carefully you will also see we found the water pump to be the biggest noise maker and not the radiator fan.
Finally, water cooling will have to be eons better than air if we need to spend more tha 6 times the top air cooler price just to match performance of the best air coolers. The only compelling argument in favor of water in our opinion is the ability to add video cooling blocks and possibly chipset blcos to a water system - but that cost is also high.
You CAN buy or build a superior water system if you spend big bucks, but as one expert water cooler showed me in his tests results he had yet to find a water cooling kit that outperformed the best air coolers. His own monster water cooler was a custom built and very expensive water cooling system. If I need to go to those prices I can buy phase-change coolers that have a chance of creating sub-ambient CPU temperatures.
haelduksf - Monday, September 17, 2007 - link
I'm sorry, but I don't believe you. I'm running a $200 loop, with CPU *and* GPU blocks, and getting 34 degree load temps (folding) on my q6600. Nothing special- 240mm rad, fuzion CPU block, Silverprop GPU block... frankly, you must be doing something wrong if you can't do better on water than on air.Plus, as others mentioned, this loop will cool any computer I own for the next 10 years, which no air cooler can claim.
mpc7488 - Monday, September 17, 2007 - link
Nice article Wes, and good way to phrase it - water cooling solutions under $300 cannot outperform top air coolers.Nickel020 - Monday, September 17, 2007 - link
But you also need to consider that you'll use watercooling for a long time. I just recently bought my watercooling, but my 45$ waterblock was already available 3 years ago, lots of people that bought it then for a Athlon XP/754 system are still using it on a Core 2 today, and it's still very good. In the last 4 years I've had 3 different 50+$ air coolers in my main rig, that kind of adds up as well.
Watercooling is a big initial investment, but pump and radiators will last you 5+ years and waterblocks last several years as well. If you're a guy that buys one 50+$ heatsink a year, then watercooling is only marginally more expensive (if at all) then air.
strikeback03 - Wednesday, September 19, 2007 - link
The only reasons to upgrade to a newer cooler (air or water) is if either the performance is significantly better, or the cooler does not support whatever socket you move to in the future. These factors are the same for air or water, so in theory both should have a similar lifespan. If water cooling sees improvements in the next few years the way air has in the past few years, you would probably upgrade your water setup sooner than you think as well.KeypoX - Tuesday, September 18, 2007 - link
that is not true i bought the koolance case/water cooler years ago and it was no match for my current air cooler. On top of that the water block i had bought the 200 koolance was dropped and no longer supported for newer chip sets.I had a athlon 2600xp OC with the water cooler but it wasnt as good as air. And it had to much upkeep and a TON of noise.
RamIt - Monday, September 17, 2007 - link
What happened to paet two of the micro atx motherboard roundup?