Are swiftech's radiator/pumps any good?

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mrmylanman

[H]ard|Gawd
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Jul 13, 2008
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Hey all, I am thinking about getting into water cooling, and have some ideas floating around in my head, I currently have a Lian Li PC-A05N which I love, but the only problem is it's a little cramped for water cooling.

I came across Swiftech's radiators with the pump included (it says there's also a reservoir included too, but would that be enough liquid?)

Here's a link:

http://www.performance-pcs.com/cata...e=product_info&cPath=59_709&products_id=27102

I guess essentially I'm wondering if I should add another reservoir for good measure (and help with bleeding etc) or if that would be overkill.

I'll be watercooling my current rig, and initially probably just watercooling the CPU and maybe chipset. I don't think there's enough room for radiators to do GPUs as well on my case. Unless 450W (2X120 and a single 120?) would be enough, but I think the i7s have a TDP of 135 without overclocking, and GPUs can get on up there. Would it be fine?

Thanks for all the help, I looked over the FAQ and it cleared a few things up for me, but it's still a bit much to jump in to.
 
It's expensive but very convenient.. and yes, Swiftech rads / pumps are good. The 2x120mm rad is good for a CPU and the chipset will be fine in the same loop too, i wouldn't add a video card in though. I'd get the 3x120mm one if you want to add one. (Only a single GPU card, not a GTX295 for example)
 
Thanks man. I'm debating on whether I want to go the all-in-one route or not still. It is expensive, and if I go with a seperate pump and radiator if it's cheaper by a significant amount I could perhaps buy a waterblock for my chipset and keep that nice and cool since I understand X58s run particularly hot (my board doesn't have a temp sensor for it though so I am going by hearsay).

I'm sure I could find the room somewhere, but I'm hoping I can avoid it being ugly.
 
So far I have been very happy with them. What has really done it for me has been thier customer service. The first pump i bought from them ended up being doa. I recieved a brand new replacement from them within two days and they paid shipping both ways
 
I always like to have a seperate res, it makes filling / bleeding easier and looks cool.

If you're not hurting for space in your case then i would get seperate parts, get a swiftech pump and at least the swiftech 2 x 120mm rad, i cant see the rad and pump costing more than about 110 bux plus shipping. I think my last swiftech pump was about 70 bux for a 655, and about 35-40 for a 2 x 120mm rad. Plenty left over for a res / tubing / liquid / or even a block.

You'll be happy either way though.
 
Thanks for the info, all. I realized that watercooling my chipset will mean I should probalby watercool my mosfets as well, since they're connected to the chipset by a heatpipe, so if I take the northbridge heatsink off then I kinda have to take the mosfet heatsinks off, so there's some more money lol.
 
Enzotech makes some nice mosfet heatsinks for many popular motherboards, and they're inexpensive. WC the mosfets is a beautiful extravagance which I endorse, but cannot bring myself to actually purchase.
I'm running a GTS 120.2 and a QP320 in serial. This is my first Swiftech rad, and while the price is great, and it performs flawlessly... the build quality wasn't impressive. The shroud wasn't tapped straight, and a couple holes were off slightly. Some were packed with paint.
Certainly not deal breakers, but my Black Ice rads have always been perfect, so I had high expectations.
Regarding the integrated rad/pump. It's an interesting idea, but it requires pretty specific mounting orientation and I would worry about starving the pump. I doubt it can use the DDC to it's full potential.
I would suggest using an integrated pump/res to save space and get a separate rad.

I have 3 computers, rarely overclocked, and all 3 are watercooled.
It's a nasty addictionn
 
One thing you can take into account on cost is the savings in tubing, fittings, and mounting hardware. Depending on funds I plan to get into WC with a MCR320 Drive sometime this year. For a separate res that's your decision but I would not see it being necessary. You would spend more time mounting the res than the extra time bleeding the system due to less capacity. The entire radiator acts as a res if you mount it in the upright position or on it's side with the pump on the lower side. If you are not mounting in one of the suggested orientations then I would go with separate components.
 
If you are mounting it flat in the roof, don't get the Swiftech combo. I'm going to mount mine externally off the back of the case.
 
Yeah I just saw that it's against the rules as it were to mount it how I wanted to. So instead I decided to get a regular radiator and put a pump/reservoir combo that'll replace my CD drive. I hardly use it anyway. If there comes a time where I really need it I can always do a network share or something. All my stuff should get here by the end of the week or so, hopefully, so I can get it done this weekend.
 
It was a little daunting for me the first time as well. I bought the Swiftech kit that came w/ an Apogee GT block, MCRES, 2x120mm radiator, bought tubing, etc. It's pretty straight forward to put together as long as you prep your case (had to mount the rad outside on my old case, so had to drill 2 holes). Also, I busted a hole in my original radiator by accident the first time around but picked up the Swiftech 3x120 and have it mounted in my Cosmos S.

I know there are a ton of ways to set it up ... but I kept it simple.

- figured out the flow order, correct input/outputs of the pump, res, and cpu block
- measured out the tubing and cut 'em.
- dipped the tube ends in hot water to soften them and connected to the barbs
- I went a little ghetto here, and used zip ties to tighten the tubes on the barbs
- prepped the coolant liquid
- filled the loop, cycling the pump to get the liquid through the loop
- let the loop run overnight outside of the case to check for leaks
- mounted everything in the case

I'll be replacing the apogee / q9650 w/ an apogee xt / i7 this weekend so I'll get some more practice after a year :)

Just be careful w/ the rad and screws lol :)
 
Just curious, prasvt. How much do you think you will gain going from the Apogee GT to the XT? I'm thinking about getting the 6-core AMD thuban CPU and WCing it and the GT appears to come with AM2/AM3 mounting hardware but the XT has a separate kit for $10 extra. If I'll only lose a few degrees and save some good money I'll snag a used GT and call it good.
 
mrmylanman said:
Yeah I just saw that it's against the rules as it were to mount it how I wanted to. So instead I decided to get a regular radiator and put a pump/reservoir combo that'll replace my CD drive. I hardly use it anyway. If there comes a time where I really need it I can always do a network share or something. All my stuff should get here by the end of the week or so, hopefully, so I can get it done this weekend.
Click to expand...

Re: Your cd/dvd drive...

How about using esata? If your board doesn't support it you can always get a slot solution and run it from a regular sata port. You can get a cable that integrates power into a neat bundle.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...55&cm_re=esata_bracket-_-17-994-055-_-Product
http://www.performance-pcs.com/cata...oduct_info&cPath=34_348_351&products_id=20469

You might even be able to run power over esata for a more elegant solution, but I haven't looked into that much
 
expensive but no problems at all beside normal wear and tear i had an mcp650 pump start making noise after 5 year but it still works.

I have 2x pumps, 2x 120mm rads, 1x320mm, 2x apogee gt, 1x mcw20, 1x mcw30 and going to start adding video blocks
 
Nice.

I ordered all my stuff and most of it is here, I'm just waiting on the pump/reservoir (which is replacing both optical drive bays). I also need to cut the top of the case still for the radiator (2x120), but I'm waiting on the res first, to see how far back I have to take it and still fit everything.

Can't wait, it's all starting to come together!
 
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