Switech Apex Ultra & MCW60 Review

madmat · 05-04-2006, 11:15 AM

In computing we have many cooling options. Air, water and phase change being the most common in the enthusiast arena. Today we will be looking at a top grade kit from Swiftech and comparing it to a similarly configured kit from the competition and see if there is a clear winner or loser.

You can read the review here and discuss it here.

werty316 · 05-04-2006, 02:18 PM

Damn thats one bad ass WC kit and it looks like it goes great with a TT case like the Armor or Kandalf. Great read.

Jakal · 05-04-2006, 03:36 PM

Hey now that's a nice wc kit! Even the high and mighty Danger Den fell to it's powah!

Swiftech has done very well with their water cooling setups. I guess you pay for performance though. The $260 price tag is a tad much to me, but definitely on par with DD's kits. Speaking of, what's the plans for the previous components?

madmat · 05-04-2006, 05:14 PM

The D.D. kit belongs to Vince who was kind enough to allow me to use his PC as a testbed.

The $260 is the kit itself, the MCW60's tip the scales at $63.00 each but they do include $19.95 worth of ramsinks with each one so that offsets the price back to $44.00 for the block alone. Which you can get them sans ramsinks.

Thanks for the kind words guys, this was a bugbear of a review.

sbrehm72255 · 05-05-2006, 08:19 AM

Good read ....

Glad to see more people liking the Swiftech stuff, I'm a huge fan of Swiftechs parts if you couldn't tell already.............

Swiftech might not be as pretty as Danger Den (no plexi tops) but I've also found that Swiftech products come with eveything you could ever need to install the kit and their mounting method takes all the guess work out of the install.
Strange that you didn't get both sets of barbs with the kit though, I got both with tne APEX kit when it first came out.

madmat · 05-05-2006, 08:50 AM

The only 3/8" barbs I got were with the MCW60's. None with the kit itself. You do know why Swiftech will never have plexi tops as long as Gabe's there don't you?

sbrehm72255 · 05-05-2006, 09:39 AM

I haven't really asked, but I would expect because they do crack from time to time. But other than that, I have no idea...........

madmat · 05-05-2006, 09:47 AM

Gabe says that milling acrylic causes weakening and it's just a matter of time until those weak spots will fail. He doesn't want to have failures with his product line.

Machined Delrin doesn't have that problem so that's why they use Acetal for the Storm. Now that's a block I'd like to get my hands on

sbrehm72255 · 05-05-2006, 06:16 PM

I've got a original version of the Storm, but I don't use it anymore. With multi blocks in the loop, I get better temps with the APOGEE/MCW60 combo than I did with the Storm/MCW60 combo. Granted it's not large differance, but it is measreable. The version 2 of the Storm isn't as restrictive as the frist, so maybe it will improve performance in a multi block loop.

05-04-2006, 11:15 AM	#1
madmat Soup Nazi Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: No soup for you! Posts: 1,636	Switech Apex Ultra & MCW60 Review In computing we have many cooling options. Air, water and phase change being the most common in the enthusiast arena. Today we will be looking at a top grade kit from Swiftech and comparing it to a similarly configured kit from the competition and see if there is a clear winner or loser. You can read the review here and discuss it here. __________________ M4N82 Deluxe Phenom II 940 Black Edition quad core @ 3.5Ghz 2x1 gig OCZ PC26400 Platinum, 2x1gig GSkill PC26400 EVGA GTX260 Buncha drives, Some other stuff, Even more stuff, If the automobile had followed the same development cycle as the computer, a Rolls-Royce would today cost $100, get a million miles per gallon, and explode once a year, killing everyone inside. --Robert X. Cringely, InfoWorld magazine Sign Me!

05-04-2006, 02:18 PM	#2
werty316 Partition Master Join Date: Mar 2006 Posts: 431	Damn thats one bad ass WC kit and it looks like it goes great with a TT case like the Armor or Kandalf. Great read. __________________ Chuck Norris doesn't go hunting.... CHUCK NORRIS GOES KILLING

05-04-2006, 03:36 PM	#3
Jakal Tech Monkey Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Missiskippy Posts: 634	Hey now that's a nice wc kit! Even the high and mighty Danger Den fell to it's powah! Swiftech has done very well with their water cooling setups. I guess you pay for performance though. The $260 price tag is a tad much to me, but definitely on par with DD's kits. Speaking of, what's the plans for the previous components? __________________ Intel C2Quad Q9400 @3.6Ghz \| Asus PM5Q Deluxe \| OCZ Reaper HPC PC2-8500 8GB \| XFX Black Edition 260/216\| knobs are great for twisting, turning, squeezing and pulling... especially your own..... that's how doors open \| Chaos Havok: grrrr im lagging me \| <@Deathspawner> I wish I was in Windows :-/

05-04-2006, 05:14 PM	#4
madmat Soup Nazi Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: No soup for you! Posts: 1,636	The D.D. kit belongs to Vince who was kind enough to allow me to use his PC as a testbed. The $260 is the kit itself, the MCW60's tip the scales at $63.00 each but they do include $19.95 worth of ramsinks with each one so that offsets the price back to $44.00 for the block alone. Which you can get them sans ramsinks. Thanks for the kind words guys, this was a bugbear of a review. __________________ M4N82 Deluxe Phenom II 940 Black Edition quad core @ 3.5Ghz 2x1 gig OCZ PC26400 Platinum, 2x1gig GSkill PC26400 EVGA GTX260 Buncha drives, Some other stuff, Even more stuff, If the automobile had followed the same development cycle as the computer, a Rolls-Royce would today cost $100, get a million miles per gallon, and explode once a year, killing everyone inside. --Robert X. Cringely, InfoWorld magazine Sign Me!

05-05-2006, 08:50 AM	#6
madmat Soup Nazi Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: No soup for you! Posts: 1,636	The only 3/8" barbs I got were with the MCW60's. None with the kit itself. You do know why Swiftech will never have plexi tops as long as Gabe's there don't you? __________________ M4N82 Deluxe Phenom II 940 Black Edition quad core @ 3.5Ghz 2x1 gig OCZ PC26400 Platinum, 2x1gig GSkill PC26400 EVGA GTX260 Buncha drives, Some other stuff, Even more stuff, If the automobile had followed the same development cycle as the computer, a Rolls-Royce would today cost $100, get a million miles per gallon, and explode once a year, killing everyone inside. --Robert X. Cringely, InfoWorld magazine Sign Me!

05-05-2006, 08:19 AM	#5
sbrehm72255 Tech Monkey Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Back Woods of MO Posts: 785	Good read .... Glad to see more people liking the Swiftech stuff, I'm a huge fan of Swiftechs parts if you couldn't tell already............. Swiftech might not be as pretty as Danger Den (no plexi tops) but I've also found that Swiftech products come with eveything you could ever need to install the kit and their mounting method takes all the guess work out of the install. Strange that you didn't get both sets of barbs with the kit though, I got both with tne APEX kit when it first came out.

05-05-2006, 09:39 AM	#7
sbrehm72255 Tech Monkey Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Back Woods of MO Posts: 785	I haven't really asked, but I would expect because they do crack from time to time. But other than that, I have no idea...........

05-05-2006, 09:47 AM	#8
madmat Soup Nazi Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: No soup for you! Posts: 1,636	Gabe says that milling acrylic causes weakening and it's just a matter of time until those weak spots will fail. He doesn't want to have failures with his product line. Machined Delrin doesn't have that problem so that's why they use Acetal for the Storm. Now that's a block I'd like to get my hands on __________________ M4N82 Deluxe Phenom II 940 Black Edition quad core @ 3.5Ghz 2x1 gig OCZ PC26400 Platinum, 2x1gig GSkill PC26400 EVGA GTX260 Buncha drives, Some other stuff, Even more stuff, If the automobile had followed the same development cycle as the computer, a Rolls-Royce would today cost $100, get a million miles per gallon, and explode once a year, killing everyone inside. --Robert X. Cringely, InfoWorld magazine Sign Me!

05-05-2006, 06:16 PM	#9
sbrehm72255 Tech Monkey Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Back Woods of MO Posts: 785	I've got a original version of the Storm, but I don't use it anymore. With multi blocks in the loop, I get better temps with the APOGEE/MCW60 combo than I did with the Storm/MCW60 combo. Granted it's not large differance, but it is measreable. The version 2 of the Storm isn't as restrictive as the frist, so maybe it will improve performance in a multi block loop.

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
Enermax Aurora Lite Ultra-Thin Keyboard Review	Rob Williams	Reviews and Articles	2	08-19-2011 03:50 AM
Upcoming Trend in Notebooks: Ultra-Thin and Ultra-Low-Voltage	Rob Williams	Mobile & Small Form-Factor Computing	0	04-15-2009 04:21 AM
NVIDIA Announces APEX, PhysX Made Easy for Developers	Rob Williams	Video Cards and Displays	1	03-30-2009 11:19 PM
AGEIA Unveils PhysX APEX Development Components	Rob Williams	Video Cards and Displays	0	11-16-2007 02:24 AM
Ultra Fan Commander Review	Rob Williams	Reviews and Articles	5	09-28-2005 10:21 PM