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Swiftech H20-220 Apex Ultra

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Packaging & Manual

When the Swiftech kit arrived I was rather shocked by the size of the box. I couldn't believe that Swiftec could fit all of the components specified in such a small space. I was almost certain that they had forgotten to include the radiator or something essential to that effect. The Swiftech package is actually half the size of Alphacool's offering!

Swiftec Box Swiftec Box

Swiftec have packaged their kit in a plain cardboard box, with a printed card sleeve to liven it up a bit. The sleeve really doesn't contain much information on the kit, but instead has a long list of review awards displayed along the top and down the left.

The packing material is minimalist, with most components being protected by bubble wrap. This could cause a problem if a courier handled the box roughly, but I'm glad to say that my kit arrived in perfect condition.

Another reason why this kit was so easy to fit into a small box is that it doesn't come with the necessary fluid to fill your water-cooling loop, only some anti-algae/corrosion coolant, which needs to be mixed with de-ionised water.

Swiftec Kit

No expense has been spared when selecting the components for this kit. Already I can see a Laing D5 pump and a Swiftec Apogee, both of which are highly regarded components among water-coolers. Lets take a look at exactly what is included:

"The Apex Ultra liquid cooling kit is the first kit in the industry to offer truly extreme dual use: maximum performance and minimum noise in the same package. Thanks to the new Apogee water-block, it benefits from a superior thermal performance and very low restriction characteristics. This makes the Apex Ultra a true high-flow system, capable of cooling multiple high-end CPU's and VGA's with optimum thermal performance and low noise..".

- Swiftech MCR220 Dual 120mm Radiator.
- 2x 120mm Fans + Fan Guards.
- MCB120 Radbox + mounting hardware for mounting radiator externally.
- 2x 12v to 7v fan adapters for reducing fan speed/noise.
- 2x 12v to 5v fan adapters for reducing fan speed/noise.
- Swiftech MCP655 12v Pump + mounting hardware & hose clamps.
- Swiftech MCRES-Micro + mounting hardware & hose clamps.
- 8ft 7/16" flexible PVC tubing.
- 2oz bottle of HydrX concentrated coolant.
- Syringe of Arctic Ceramique compound.
- Swiftech Smartcoils 625 to reduce hose kinking.
- Manual.

Swiftech Manual Swiftech Manual

I was slightly disappointed to find that the Swiftech manual was nothing more than a stapled A4 leaflet, however, the manual is thorough and does cover all aspects of setting up the water-cooling system. I was also impressed at the way the manual even covered subjects such as the assembly of the water block.


Water Block & Accessories

Swiftech are renowned among the water-cooling crowed for their water blocks. Their Storm G4 and Apogee blocks are some of the best blocks on the market at the present time, and no expense is spared during the construction process.

Swiftech Apogee Swiftech Apogee

Swiftech Apogee Swiftech Apogee

The Apogee block included is the very same one you would receive if purchasing it separately from a retailer. The block comes in a plain cardboard box, and is protected by a thick plastic wrapping that prevents the copper base from oxidisation.

Included in the box is all the necessary hardware for mounting the block on pretty much every socket imaginable as listed below:

- Socket 478 (Intel® Pentium® 4),
- Socket 775 (Pentium® 4 "Prescott"),
- Socket 603/604 (Intel® XeonTM - 400 and 533 FSB)
- Socket 462 (AMD® Athlon®, Duron®, MP, XP)
- Socket 754, 939, 940 (AMD® 64 bit processors)
- Socket AM2 (AMD® 64 bit processors)

The Apogee is a high-flow block as it does not employ any kind of jet impingement design. Instead water passes through a diamond pin matrix cut into the centre of the block. The Apogee is based on Swiftech's older MCW6000 block and has been tweaked for much improved performance, which many would argue is near to (if not better than) that of the Swiftech Storm G4 block.

You may notice that the Apogee doesn't have a mirrored surface like the Alphacool NexXxos block, however I must say that the surface of the Apogee is flawless, and appears very flat.

Swiftech Accessories Swiftech Accessories

As previously mentioned, the Swiftech kit does not include the fluid for filling your water loop. This shouldn't pose a problem for most of us, as a quick trip to your local supermarket or car store should be all you need to pick up a large bottle of de-ionised water for only a few pounds. This then needs to be mixed with the HydrX solution to prevent corrosion and algae from forming in your water loop.

It's good to see that Swiftech have included a funnel for filling your water loop, as it can be very hard to get the water inside the reservoir without spilling it everywhere (I speak from experience!).

Most of the accessory pack is pretty standard, with hose clamps, sticky mounting pads and fan screws. Also included is a Radbox and PCI bracket which allows you to mount the radiator outside of the case providing your case has a 120mm fan hole at the rear.

One thing that impressed me was the inclusion of some fan extension cables that reduce the fan voltage. By using these extension cables, you can reduce your radiator fans down to 7v or 5v for near silent or totally silent operation. I was slightly confused why Swiftech didn't include a fan rheobus on the on the PCI bracket as this would have allowed users to dynamically adjust the fan speed to suit the situation - but a good idea never less.


Pump & Reservoir

Swiftech are big fans of the Laing pumps, having relabelled both the D4 and D5 models under their own name. This is no surprise really, as the Laing Ecocirc pumps are quite possibly the best performing 12v pumps available - and in comparison with other 12v pumps on the market are also remarkably quiet.

Swiftech Pump & Res Swiftech D6 Pump

Swiftech Micro Res Swiftech Micro Res

Included in the Kit is Swiftech's MCP665 (aka Laing D6) 12v pump. The pump connects directly to a molex connector on your power supply, however despite this, the pump voltage can actually be adjusted from the back of pump by means of a small rheobus.

The following specifications have been taken directly from Laing's website:

- Nominal voltage: 12 V DC
- Operating voltage range: 8 to 24 VDC
- Nominal power (@ 12 V): 24 W
- Nominal current (@ 12 V): 2 amps
- Motor type: Brushless, microprocessor controlled
- Maximum head: 10 ft (3.1 m)
- Maximum discharge: ~ 317 GPH (1200 LPH)
- Connection size: ½" barbs
- Maximum pressure: 50 PSI (3.5 BAR)
- Temperature range: 32 °F to 140°F (0 °C to 60 °C)

The Swiftec MCRES-Micro reservoir is different in many ways to its 'BayRes' counterparts. Rather than being mounted in a 5¼" or 3½"drive bay, the MCRES can be mounted in a multitude of locations. Using screws or the included velcro pads, the reservoir is often mounted on the side of drive bays which can be seen here.


Radiator & Fans

Probably the hardest part about installing a water-cooling system is finding a place to install the radiator. Normally you would be forced to sacrafice some drive bays or hard disk cages in order to fit the radiator inside your case. Swiftech have come up with a solution to this problem by allowing the radiator to be installed outside of the PC, and affixed to the case using what they call a Radbox.

Swiftech Radiator Swiftech Radiator

Swiftech Radiator Swiftech Radiator

The MCR220 measures in at 128x284x34 (WxLxD) which is slightly larger than the Alphacool model, but is still very compact for a high performance radiator.

The included 120mm fans are Delta WFB1212M's, which push a hefty 86.5cfm at 34dBA when running at 12v. These fans could prove to be too loud for some people, so it's a good job that Swiftech included some extension cables to reduce the fan voltage down to either 7v or 5v.

A nice touch by Swiftech was to include fan grills on the side of the radiator without fans. This may seem strange at first, but it has been done in order to prevent any damage to the radiator fins when it is installed outside of the case.
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Most Recent Comments

09-08-2006, 19:31:09

PapaLaz
Yes, it was the Dual Xtreme kit I went for.
Long term I think I'll look at getting the holes cut into the top (and possibly get Kustom to do it - thx). All the kits arriving tomorrow, and as I'm sooo impatient I'll be setting it up right away.

Not sure if I fancy mounting it at the back of the case, on the 120mm mount, due to the jungle of cables that reside there, but I quite like the sound of having it external on the top. Wasn't aware the kit came with fixings for that - how does it mount exactly, you mentioned brackets, does it clamp across the top or something ?

The main reason I've decided to go water was for temps. My system is very quiet on air atm (120mm front & back, Scythe Ninja + 120mm, Zalman VF900 on the gfx), but I'd like the temps more stable. With the E6600 @ 3GHz-ish it idles@39-40 and loads@60-65. I can get the E6600 stable @ 3.6GHz, but I have to pump around 1.6v into it, and that gets me idle@48-50 load@65-75... waaay too warm.

Haven't been able to find any review of the XSPC VGA block, but it was stated for the x1800/1900 so should be fine. If I start enjoying the wc lark I might get one of the complete gpu/mem blocks, but thought i'd start out gradually :)

Thanks again for all the help/advice !!

09-08-2006, 19:37:16

Mullet
Welcome aboard bud...

I am going to be hacking lumps out of my eclipse 62 shortly....will post up some pics for you to digest to help you make the decision re. rad install. Personally for cleanest look I'm going for an internal fitting (in top of case)..will be using a PA120.2....and the thermochill grill will be used as a cutting template....

09-08-2006, 20:16:56

PapaLaz
Thx - that'd be excellent.

You think it's possible to get it all under the top, with just grills on the top, whilst leaving room for PSU (presume you'd have to forget the 1st 5.25 bay). Was thinking it would have to go half/half, with the rad under the case level, and the fans above... not a great explanation, but you get what I mean :)

Love the case, there's so much room for keeping all the cables tidy, and I'm sure i can get the pump etc tucked at the bottom to the right of the case.

My Mrs just said "whats the point in having it inside - dont you want the radiator outside to cool down the water".. maybe I should just get her to put it together for me :D

09-08-2006, 20:54:27

Jim
[quote=PapaLaz]
Not sure if I fancy mounting it at the back of the case, on the 120mm mount, due to the jungle of cables that reside there, but I quite like the sound of having it external on the top. Wasn't aware the kit came with fixings for that - how does it mount exactly, you mentioned brackets, does it clamp across the top or something ?

..

Haven't been able to find any review of the XSPC VGA block, but it was stated for the x1800/1900 so should be fine. If I start enjoying the wc lark I might get one of the complete gpu/mem blocks, but thought i'd start out gradually :)

Thanks again for all the help/advice !![/quote]

The radiator actually comes with 4 polished steel brackets. Normally these would be used for fitting the radiator over an 80mm fan hole, but i found them equally as effective for mounting the radiator on top of a case. They give the radiator around 5cm space from the case, so airflow is not a problem.

You'll see what i mean when you get the kit tomorrow ;)

10-08-2006, 17:51:06

Mullet
Not sure what the thickness is on your rad but I know I will lose the use of 2.5 drive bays. The PA120.2 is 64mm thick...but pretty much pwns on the cooling front!! The thermochill grill provides a good template for cutting and looks nice too!!

http://www.thermochill.com/

10-08-2006, 17:58:51

PapaLaz
Well the kit arrived, and I'm one very unhappy bunny !!!

Everything inside was perfect, except this forgot to ship one vital ingredient - no tubing. I've sent a couple of emails through the contact page at watercoolingshop and also fired one off to Paul at XSPC (his addy was on the back of the manual)... sent them about 4.40pm, hoping someone would sort it out and get tubing in the post to me... still no replies.

More annoyed as I'd taken tomorrow off work to get it all built, after intending to assemble and leak test tonight. Shocking - how can you miss out such a vital piece.... No contact numbers for the store or XSPC so all I can do is send them mails.

Sorry, just venting, obviously I'm pretty gutted. :(

Also, FYI, the retail pack is shipping in the same brown box you recieved, and the manual is still based on the single 120mm rad.

Update - as I write this Paul has just emailed me to apologise, and he's gonna try and get some tubing in the post for me tonight. Fingers crossed.

Having now had a good look at the rad, I'm probably gonna mount it on the back 120mm for now - mounts look pretty sturdy. Will go inside eventually but think I'll leave the hacking to the pro's ;)

10-08-2006, 18:43:56

Jim
Hi Papalaz,

Thats a bit of a bummer. Paul is normally really quick at replying to e-mails. I imagine he was probably just rushed off his feet at the time.

It's a shame they havn't got the manual and packaging sorted yet, but if you need any help - just ask :)

Fingers crossed for the arrival of your tubing tomorrow :cool:

10-08-2006, 18:57:46

PapaLaz
I think to be fair to Paul, he said he'd just got home, so was probably travelling around 4.45 when I sent the mail. He's since mailed me back to say he had some tubing at home which he's got out in the last post for me, and will send the original stuff tomorrow. Fair play to him, that's a decent enough response - was just gutted when I got home "ready for work" :)

Not too bothered about the manual and packaging, looks simple enough to install. Only thing which will take some working out is the VGA block (I got the XSPC one to match the rest). Bundle of strange tiny washers to clamp in onto the supplied backplate... sure it'll all make sense once I whip the VF900 off, and if not I can polly use the nipples/clamps from the 900.

Overall though the kit looks awesome, really is a nice rad. Also the fans are now supplied with 3-pin connectors which is a real result - they're nice long cables too to get inside the PC (and can then go on my akasa fan controller).

Lol - last thing to slow me down will be the filler cap on the pump/res, think it was put on by Superman !!

Thanks again for the advice and offers of help... will probably make some posts late on tomorrow.

Oh, one last thing... as I'm putting the rad on the back, I was gonna build it all up, then leave it outside the case to leak test. Think I'll have to put long tubing on the rads, as that'll have to stay near the case, with the tubing going through the pci backplate. Yeah, only way to do it... sorry, thinking out loud :)

10-08-2006, 19:42:32

Mullet
[QUOTE=PapaLaz]Well the kit arrived, and I'm one very unhappy bunny !!!

Everything inside was perfect, except this forgot to ship one vital ingredient - no tubing. I've sent a couple of emails through the contact page at watercoolingshop and also fired one off to Paul at XSPC (his addy was on the back of the manual)... sent them about 4.40pm, hoping someone would sort it out and get tubing in the post to me... still no replies.

More annoyed as I'd taken tomorrow off work to get it all built, after intending to assemble and leak test tonight. Shocking - how can you miss out such a vital piece.... No contact numbers for the store or XSPC so all I can do is send them mails.

Sorry, just venting, obviously I'm pretty gutted. :(

Also, FYI, the retail pack is shipping in the same brown box you recieved, and the manual is still based on the single 120mm rad.

Update - as I write this Paul has just emailed me to apologise, and he's gonna try and get some tubing in the post for me tonight. Fingers crossed.

Having now had a good look at the rad, I'm probably gonna mount it on the back 120mm for now - mounts look pretty sturdy. Will go inside eventually but think I'll leave the hacking to the pro's ;)[/QUOTE]

Aye....my EK blocks arrived without barbs!! Not so worried tho...not Paul's fault....a balls up at EK's end of things...he has already responded and 6 shiny barbs are making their way to me.

PapaLaz.....what rad did u go for in the end? Here's a pic of another install done by someone I know on an eclipse 62 using the PA120.2

[IMG]http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f11/Dazbo110903/P7300004copyLarge.jpg[/IMG]

Measurements are included......

Looks very nice IMO

16-11-2007, 12:09:59

tsinc80697
Just about to dabble inwot watercooling and a change of case. Been looking at the Antec P182 and the H20-220 Apex Ultra. Just been asking in another thread if they will fit together.

As this review is quite old, are there any newer kits out there that will out perform the Swiftech kit for around the same price?
Looking for performance/silence really but not at an silly price!
x

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