Production Aquanaut Basic/Extreme - Ultra Low Profile CPU Block & Pump Mount Combo

[cennis]

Would velocity cold plate be any different?

 

[matique]

Would velocity cold plate be any different?

Probably not, it should have a depth like the supremecy too I think. Someone else correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[Post-Newt]

Alright so this did not work at all, and upon closer inspection i'm kind of disappointed at Nouvolo. Your coldplate fins are absolutely horrible. I knew they weren't good, but i did not expect them to be this bad, the fins are uneven in depth and sometimes even thickness. Not as bad as Cennis's copy, but still pretty bad compared to other coldplates.


The reason why the supremecy won't fit is because it has some depth to it to account for the EK jetplate and protruded inlet. Here's a comparison of the two to show the difference in depth.


Nouvolo, if you are making a revised coldplate, I hope you could link up with other vendors that have been making coldplates for awhile or have the machinery to do so properly. Your fin area is smaller than other coldplates, and the density simply isn't there. I hope you guys manage to figure out a method to integrate a forward flow system + a better coldplate. I do not mind paying more if you need to oursource your coldplate to say, barrow/bitspower/bykski. I think it's a good first attempt at a AIO and it has allowed to make a very competent sff system, but there is much room for improvement.

EK Supremecy on the left, Aquanaut on the right.

On a related note, I opened my Apogee II cold plate for the first time ever to clean it out before testing and almost burst out laughing at how horrible their fins are. It's much more noticeable in person and my camera is having a hard time focusing, but the groove spacing and depth are a complete mess. This dual groove idea caused the "fins" to be way too flexible resulting in them bending all over the place.

Matique, have you privately emailed Nouvolo yet asking for a replacement or refund? My fins are decent so you probably got hit with a defect. Defects happen no matter the product and I think the real test of a manufacturer/supplier is how they handle the defective product.

 

[Allhopeforhumanity]

On a related note, I opened my Apogee II cold plate for the first time ever to clean it out before testing and almost burst out laughing at how horrible their fins are. It's much more noticeable in person and my camera is having a hard time focusing, but the groove spacing and depth are a complete mess. This dual groove idea caused the "fins" to be way too flexible resulting in them bending all over the place.

Matique, have you privately emailed Nouvolo yet asking for a replacement or refund? My fins are decent so you probably got hit with a defect. Defects happen no matter the product and I think the real test of a manufacturer/supplier is how they handle the defective product.

Yeah, my coldplate from the beta looks way better as well. Still had some minor issues like burs on the ends of a few fins, but everything was evenly milled both spacing and depth wise. Probably just got a defective one.

 

[Qzrx]

Suspect this might just be a plate or two slipping through QA—mine (ordered 9/30) is fairly well made

 

[fabio]

BTW, I don’t understand why the Supremacy Coldplate is not working!! Doesn’t matter so
Much how far the fins are! This block use an inverted flow, so it sucks the coolant from the central channel!!

 

[matique]

BTW, I don’t understand why the Supremacy Coldplate is not working!! Doesn’t matter so
Much how far the fins are! This block use an inverted flow, so it sucks the coolant from the central channel!!

Yeah but the outlet port isn't close enough to the fins, and since water follows the path of least resistance, it won't flow through the fins well.

I didn't try it as it would be impossible to close the side panel with the supremecy plate as it's almost twice as thick as the aquanaut plate, and I barely have any clearance to close as it is.

 

[matique]

On a related note, I opened my Apogee II cold plate for the first time ever to clean it out before testing and almost burst out laughing at how horrible their fins are. It's much more noticeable in person and my camera is having a hard time focusing, but the groove spacing and depth are a complete mess. This dual groove idea caused the "fins" to be way too flexible resulting in them bending all over the place.

Matique, have you privately emailed Nouvolo yet asking for a replacement or refund? My fins are decent so you probably got hit with a defect. Defects happen no matter the product and I think the real test of a manufacturer/supplier is how they handle the defective product.

Nouvolo replied saying that my plate is within specs and will not be moving forward to an RMA, which is a little disappointing. They said if shouldn't affect performance.

I've asked if I could purchase a better plate instead. If that can't be done I'll just bear with this a little longer till I can get a reference 3080 & block short enough that I can put a ddc pump by the side, and then use a TechN block for the cpu.

 

[cennis]

Nouvolo replied saying that my plate is within specs and will not be moving forward to an RMA, which is a little disappointing. They said if shouldn't affect performance.

the beta version seems to have fins cut way deeper, almost directly into the base of the cold plate. While your version consistently only goes to 70% of the depth. Maybe something changed in the manufacturing preventing them from cutting deeper fins?

 

[smik]

Finally got a chance to check out the block I ordered early December; unfortunately the finish on mine is also disappointing.

There is similarly poor milling on the coldplate fins.
I'll be interested to see if anyone can source a better, compatible plate.

Spoiler: poor fin milling

There are two tiny dents on the contact surface, which prevents it from sitting perfectly flush against the CPU
Might need to hit it with sandpaper.

Spoiler: tiny dents

The acrylic came covered in oily fingerprints and scratches.
The oil washed off but the scratches did not.
Fortunately, they are not really visible from a distance.

Spoiler: scratches

Spoiler: assembled

 

[matique]

the beta version seems to have fins cut way deeper, almost directly into the base of the cold plate. While your version consistently only goes to 70% of the depth. Maybe something changed in the manufacturing preventing them from cutting deeper fins?

Precisely! That's why I am quite annoyed. Surely having deeper cuts in the fins would result in better temps, and here they are saying it wont affect performance.

Finally got a chance to check out the block I ordered early December; unfortunately the finish on mine is also disappointing.

There is similarly poor milling on the coldplate fins.
I'll be interested to see if anyone can source a better, compatible plate.

Spoiler: poor fin milling

There are two tiny dents on the contact surface, which prevents it from sitting perfectly flush against the CPU
Might need to hit it with sandpaper.

Spoiler: tiny dents

The acrylic came covered in oily fingerprints and scratches.
The oil washed off but the scratches did not.
Fortunately, they are not really visible from a distance.

Spoiler: scratches

Spoiler: assembled

Wow yours is pretty appalling. I hope they find out what's causing these defects and rectify them. If i had seen this before purchasing I would have turned away to be honest. The nouvolo size is great and compact, and I am glad they are active on the forums and trying to improve the product via talking to end users, but their execution leaves one wanting.

 

[Nouvolo]

Finally got a chance to check out the block I ordered early December; unfortunately the finish on mine is also disappointing.

There is similarly poor milling on the coldplate fins.
I'll be interested to see if anyone can source a better, compatible plate.

Spoiler: poor fin milling

There are two tiny dents on the contact surface, which prevents it from sitting perfectly flush against the CPU
Might need to hit it with sandpaper.
The acrylic came covered in oily fingerprints and scratches.
The oil washed off but the scratches did not.
Fortunately, they are not really visible from a distance.

Would like to remind again: For warranty issues please email us directly.

@Aquanaut users: out of the numerous sold, we have only had a few issues with the cold plate. It is understandable but also very unfortunate that majority of recent posts here seem to be answering for the same 2-3 warranty claims (spawning to 4-5 pages....seriously bruh?). But few and far between with photos of community builds and experience sharing.

Based on what I see on reddit posts/photos, clearly there are many successful builds out there. Sadly, that would be a better place than this thread to find out more about Aquanaut.

Please be reminded that this thread is for community to share their builds and experience with Aquanaut, but not for RMA service. Email info@novuolo.com if you have issues. As mentioned, I will not answer individual's specific problem here. And for sure nothing will be consider as RMA submission here. Lets not make this thread out to be a place to bash the product...

 

[Nouvolo]

By posting photos of the issues that you have. Some users may reuse those photos to claim spare parts from us. Not cool.

Nouvolo is always here to help solve real problems in a reasonable manner. Just email us.

 

[matique]

By posting photos of the issues that you have. Some users may reuse those photos to claim spare parts from us. Not cool.

Nouvolo is always here to help solve real problems in a reasonable manner. Just email us.

I've removed photo as suggested. Didn't think of it being used as a copy, my apologies.

I've already emailed your CS and they replied saying it is within tolerances, but I feel that your tolerance is pretty wide :/ but that's just my opinion, you guys have the final say anyway.

That being said, I still think the aquanaut is a revolutionary product and I congratulate you for bringing it to market.

Your product has allowed me to have this config, which I couldn't get elsewhere. I just hope y'all have picked up enough experience to develop another iteration that has evenly cut fins, denser in amount/spacing, and larger in overall size.

I will probably move on to another solution soon though, seeing there's not much alternative plates.

 

[SpaceJuice]

I got my aquanaut some days ago and I'm just getting leak testing done and overall I'm happy with my Aquanaut. Mine also came with scratched acrylic and some fin imperfections but with the block fully installed you can't see the scratches. My EK pump heat sink has more imperfections than the aquanaut so no complaints here.

I'm no expert on the subject but seems like scratches are from the acrylic sheets rubbing each other during shipping. Perhaps a protective sheet between the acrylic blocks would help? I'm not bothered by them but I could see why someone would be pissed off that a brand new product has scuffs all over.

My biggest gripe with Aquanaut was with installation of the cold plate o-ring. It was the jankiest part of the installation as the mounting plate had way too much play and wasn't holding the o-ring in place. Little sucker would slip out and had to be as annoying as possible.


My dream version of Aquanaut would be in acetal and one that accepts aftermarket cold plates like the Optimus cold plates. One could only hope right?

 

[spooky]

Alright so this did not work at all, and upon closer inspection i'm kind of disappointed at Nouvolo. Your coldplate fins are pretty bad. I knew they weren't good, but i did not expect them to be this bad, the fins are uneven in depth and sometimes even thickness. Not as bad as Cennis's copy, but still pretty bad compared to other coldplates.

EDIT removed photo as per Nouvolo suggestion.

The reason why the supremecy won't fit is because it has some depth to it to account for the EK jetplate and protruded inlet. Here's a comparison of the two to show the difference in depth.


Nouvolo, if you are making a revised coldplate, I hope you could link up with other vendors that have been making coldplates for awhile or have the machinery to do so properly. Your fin area is smaller than other coldplates, and the density simply isn't there. I hope you guys manage to figure out a method to integrate a forward flow system + a better coldplate. I do not mind paying more if you need to oursource your coldplate to say, barrow/bitspower/bykski. I think it's a good first attempt at a AIO and it has allowed to make a very competent sff system, but there is much room for improvement.

EK Supremecy on the left, Aquanaut on the right.


edit: seems like this was from a bad batch as others have had good milling. Will proceed to ask nouvolo about it.

Given that the issue is space between inlet and fins, I wonder how feasible it would be to 3D print a shim to bridge the gap. I wouldn't expect the block to get hot enough to melt the plastic, and it just needs to be good enough to direct water through the fins rather than over them. A simple square of the correct thickness with a hole in the middle sandwiched in there might work.

 

[JDuval]

I've removed photo as suggested. Didn't think of it being used as a copy, my apologies.

I've already emailed your CS and they replied saying it is within tolerances, but I feel that your tolerance is pretty wide :/ but that's just my opinion, you guys have the final say anyway.

That being said, I still think the aquanaut is a revolutionary product and I congratulate you for bringing it to market.

Your product has allowed me to have this config, which I couldn't get elsewhere. I just hope y'all have picked up enough experience to develop another iteration that has evenly cut fins, denser in amount/spacing, and larger in overall size.

I will probably move on to another solution soon though, seeing there's not much alternative plates.

This looks great, nicely done.
Are those Barrow rotary fittings on the aquanaut? Any side panel bulge when closed?

 

[matique]

This looks great, nicely done.
Are those Barrow rotary fittings on the aquanaut? Any side panel bulge when closed?

yep barrow rotary. Slight bulge, but it's because of the ddc heatsink than the barrow fittings. maybe a 1mm bulge? I can still close panels without issue.

 

[Poblopuablo]

What is the lowest profile pump/block combo one can acheive? (Hoping to be less than 41mm)

 

[thelaughingman]

What is the lowest profile pump/block combo one can acheive? (Hoping to be less than 41mm)

Someone can confirm if I got a measurement wrong, but IIRC 41mm 44mm is lowest possible:

• Aquanaut itself is 21mm 24mm tall
• Pump, without top, is 20mm tall -> absolutely no heatsink and just the thin plastic cover
• Fittings installed height less than 20mm tall -> the only fittings I know are Koolance Elbow rotary and Alphacool TPV 90 degree rotary

EDIT: revised to 44mm as I missed the 3mm coldplate