Testing

     The 500 in the name of the unit is not just some number Corsair came up with to sound cool.  It actually has a meaning.  The 500 is the amount of heat the unit can dissipate in watts.  If you paid attention to the installation photos you noticed that the unit only comes with a CPU block.  CPU's do not produce 500 watts of heat so cooling a CPU is not going to task the Nautilus at all.  This should keep the CPU pretty cool and allow for some nice cool overclocking.  Testing consisted of letting the computer set idle and recording the temperature then looping Sisoft Sandra's Burn-in wizard and recording the load temperature.  I had planned on recording the temperature through and external temp probe, but that just ended up recording the temperature of the CPU water block.  So I fired up Asus Probe and recorded the temperature through that.  The test system used is listed below.

The water block temperature stayed at 29C idle and 33C load throughout the testing.

Conclusion

     The Nautilus 500 is a superb water cooling system.  The unit is targeted at entry-level enthusiasts that want a high quality, easy to set up water cooling unit.  Corsair pulls that off easily.  This is a great system for someone to start water cooling.  Plus, you can add more blocks as you get more advanced.  As a matter of fact, with 500watts of cooling power at your fingertips, you can even cool a dual video card system.  At only $159, the price is right to jump into water-cooling.  Club Overclocker recommended.

Club Overclocker Rating
Innovation:	9.5 out of 10
Performance:	9.5 out of 10
Quality:	10 out of 10
Stability:	10 out of 10
Overclocking:	N/A
Software/Drivers Pack:	N/A
Value:	9.5 out of 10
Overall Rating 9.5
Skill Level
Project Skill Level (10 being hardest)	4 out of 10