| Corsair Nautilus 500 External CPU Water Cooling Unit
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Installation:
The Corsair Nautilus was installed in a system with the following additional components:
» Intel Pentium D840 (3.2 GHz Dual-Core) CPU
» ECS Elitegroup C19-A SLI Pentium 4 Motherboard
» 2x BFG GeForce 6600GT OC 128MB Graphics Cards
» 2x Seagate Barracuda 7200.7 80GB SATA 1.5 Gbps Hard Drives (RAID 0)
» Ultra Products 2nd Generation X-Finity 600W Power Supply
» Buslink DVD R/RW Optical Drive
» Windows XP Professional SP2 (current with all patches)
The below left image shows the system prepared for installation. The thermal paste is applied, and the four mounting clips for LGA 775 are installed. Although these clips installed onto the motherboard with ease and without need to remove the motherboard, removing them will require the motherboard to be removed in order to release the grip of the plastic barb. These mounting clips seem to do their job, but in my opinion they seem like less than a permanent solution. A few installations might have them worn out from being squeezed by pliers, so perhaps this want designed for use by a reviewer who might want to try it in a variety of systems over the course of its life.
 
The above right image shows everything assembled inside the system. The foam pad was placed onto the waterblock, and then the retention bracket was pressed in place onto the white barb in each of the four corners. Although the foam pad should absorb most of the pressure, I didn't like having to press down on the bracket in order to install it. I feared damaging the CPU or motherboard, and a more conventional design might have eliminated this concern and the one I had about the durability of the white plastic mounting clips.
Below we see all of the connections made to the main housing, ready for action. The tubing slips onto the barbed fitting of the quick connect coupling, and black grip clamp holds each in place.
Operation:
The images below show the system in action with the fluorescent green fluid flowing. The level indicator on the main housing is illuminated, so you get an eerie green glow that will tell you when it might be time to top off the fluid.
 
My first impression of the kit in operation was that it was louder than I anticipated, and switching the fan speed from low to high had a minimal impact on that. The pump seemed to generate the bulk of the noise, although the cooling fan was audible as well. Perhaps the fan would be a bit quieter with a bit less restriction on the air flow, but the pump really can't be helped by the end user.
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