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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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?