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Introduction

Corsair has been for many years one of the leading producers of top end memory for enthusiasts. In 2003 however, they released their first attempt at entering the mainstream watercooling segment. The product was dubbed the Hydrocool 200 and was met with only moderate enthusiasm for a product that had a number of shortcomings. With the Nautilus 500, Corsair is looking to boost the performance of their last model, compact the basic unit, and lower the entry fee. This unit is aimed at mainstream users not necessarily looking for the most performance, but interested in having a quiet, easy to use system to shave a few degrees off their cpu temperature.

Watercooling for many is prohibitive simply because it seems far too daunting a task to accomplish safely. Also, the cost of assembling a kit can get very expensive, very quickly, and the thought of having to maintain the system (replacing the liquid etc) scares off more still. In the past couple years, large companies (namely Coolermaster, Thermaltake and Gigabyte amongst others) have been trying their best to bring affordability, ease of use, and performance to the watercooling segment and have been met with fair success. Their products have generally been moderate performers, while prices have floated around acceptable at best. Corsair is attacking all three of these with their latest watercooling foray, and their choice of packaging sums up their intent perfectly.