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Product:
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Swiftech H20-APEX Liquid Cooling System |
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Price:
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$303 (CAN) / $260 (U.S)
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Supplied By:
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Swiftech
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Author:
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Mars
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Date:
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December 5th, 2005
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Rating:
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MODTHEBOX would like to thank Gabe from Swiftech
for sending the H20-APEX Liquid Cooling System for review.
Introduction:
When it comes to water cooling there are two playing fields. On one hand we have the all-in-one systems that
are easy to buy, install, and usually contain everything a consumer would need, but these kits usually focus
only on a specific price point, and usually lack any real big cooling advantage over top quality air cooling
parts. The other route is to piece together a custom system by utilizing the best components from the same or
different manufacturers. Building a custom water cooling system is not for the novice nor average computer
user, and is usually sought after only by the enthusiast or hardcore computer user. These types of custom
systems begin with research in order to decide what is the best CPU and GPU block, water pump, reservoir,
tubing, thermal paste as well as specialized clamps and miscellaneous hardware. Once all the hardware and
water cooling blocks have been decided upon, now the user must decided on how and where to place such parts,
mainly the radiator in the case. Swiftech has taken water cooling to new heights with its new Storm water block,
and as if that was not enough, the company has taken the best it has to offer in water cooling hardware and
bundled it all in one box at a very reasonable price. Today in the MTB Labs, we will be evaluating the new
H20-APEX CPU Liquid Cooling Kit; a product that aims to take the complexity out of purchasing and setting up
a hardcore water cooling rig, by providing a top of the line water cooling system in one box.
Specifications:
The Swiftech H20-APEX Liquid Cooling Kit has been designed from the ground up to take full advantage of the new
Storm water block. It is the first kit in the industry to offer truly extreme dual use: maximum performance and
minimum noise in the same package. Here are the features and specifications taken directly from the Swiftech
website:
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Extreme Performance
Features
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Silent Computing
Features
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Capturing the heat
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Adjustable fan speed
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- The extreme performance STORM Universal water block is responsible for absorbing the heat generated
by today's hottest CPU's with incredible efficiency.
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- The kit is delivered with 12V to 7V and 12V to 5V fan adapters, enabling users to to reduce
the fan speed -and noise, to whisper quiet operations (~25 dBA).
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Moving the Heat around
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Adjustable Pump speed
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- The Extreme performance MCP655™
12 Volts DC industrial pump pushes the coolant throughout the circuit at high velocity.
- Larger 7/16" ID (5/8" OD) tubing is used to maximize the coolant flow rate inside the system.
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- The pump speed can be adjusted to virtually silent operation.
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Dissipating the heat into the atmosphere
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Minimum toll on performance in "silent" mode
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- The new MCR-220 copper and brass radiator doubles the surface area available for heat convection
into the air compared to a single 120mm radiator, and uses two 72 CFM 120mm fans, at a reasonable* sound noise
level of 37 dBA.
- The MCB120 "Radbox" optimizes cooling by using fresh air from outside the computer,
without adding any thermal load to other components.
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- The MCR-220 radiator fin density has been optimized to reduce air noise and operate at high
efficiency with low-flow fans
- At the lowest fan speed settings, the H20-APEX kit still delivers superb performance while
allowing substantial overclocks. For example, at 100 Watts, the CPU temperature is only 3°c higher than
at the highest fan settings
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SUMMARY OF BENEFITS
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Maximum overclock
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Minimum Noise
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Convenience and Reliability Features:
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| Kit noise/performance ratio can be fine-tuned at the user leisure |
| 12 Volt DC MCP655 pump plugs directly into computer power supply |
| High-reliability, no-maintenance industrial pump is rated at 50,000 hour MTBF (Mean Time Between Failure) equivalent to 5 year lifetime |
| MCRES-Micro reservoir fits in any small space available in the system without sacrificing a CD-drive bay |
| MCRES-Micro reservoir provides approximately 18 month of continuous operations without refills |
| Universal STORM water block is compatible with all current desktop processors, and ships with all the different mounting systems |
| The Patent pending MCR-220 radiator is completely self-bleeding in upright position, or when installed on its side |
| Coolsleeves™ 625 are included with the kit, to completely eliminate tube kinking for a safe and reliable installation |
| The 7/16" ID tubing features the same or better flexibility than 3/8" ID tubing; no distinguishable difference in terms of system flow rate compared to 1/2" ID tubing, but significantly reduces the bulk associated with 1/2" ID thick wall tubing |
| The MCB-120 "Radbox" provides a bolt-on mechanism to "hang" the radiator at the back of the case with minimum case modifications |
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Click image for larger view
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Click image for larger view
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The H20-APEX Liquid Cooling Kit Comes in a heavy duty corrugated brown box, with a colourful sleeve wrapper. There
is not much in the way of product description, just a few review logos from various sites, with our own MTB logo
in the top right.
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Click image for larger view
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Click image for larger view
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On one side of the box is a sticker that denotes what’s inside. Opening up the box we can see that every square
centimeter was used efficiently. The various components are protected by way of bubble wrap, and cardboard
dividers.
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Click image for larger view
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Click image for larger view
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Swiftech has included various bags of hardware for the mounting of the pump, a PCI pass through bracket
for the fan wires, rubber grommets for the coolant tubing to pass through the case, a cap for the
reservoir and screws, 2 x 3-pin 7volt fan connectors, as well as 2 x 4 to 3-pin 5volt fan connectors.
The installation manual is quite well presented. It is well laid out and includes step by step
installation instructions, with pictures, and even has exploded views of some of the key components.
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