Swiftech H20-220 Apex Ultima Water-Cooling Kit Review

Cooling/Water Cooling by leeghoofd @ 2009-01-15

Swiftech´s latest water cooling kit comes with a brand new high performance water block (Apogee GTZ), a revised compact reservoir, a dual 120mm radiator and silent water pump. We test its performance on three different overclocked systems, going from a Dual Core E8500 to a 4Ghz overclocked Core i7 920 CPU. How does it compare a high end HSF? Is it worth the extra cost? Find out in this review.

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Introduction and Specifications

Introduction

Today I received the Swiftech H20-220 Apex Ultima watercooling kit. This is one of two high end kits from Swiftech, specially designed for those that seek the lowest temperatures AND be able to achieve those temps with the lowest possible operating noise… A win win situation if you ask me… the question is: does it indeed perform as advertised…Only one way to find out: let’s rip the nice cardboard box apart. I’m feeling really spoiled here; as I’ve always been a huge fan of their cooling products and support via Sir Gabe is also top notch.

About Swiftech

Before we continue a small word on the Swiftech company :

Madshrimps (c)


Founded in 1994 by Gabriel Rouchon, Swiftech™ has emerged in the last seven years as one of the leading forces driving the high-end thermal management scene in the personal computer industry.
Pioneering work, innovation, and an uncompromising dedication to high performance and quality have resulted in award winning products setting standards for others to follow.

In the seven years, Swiftech has demonstrated leadership through innovation on the high-end thermal management scene despite intense pressure from heavyweight industry players with powerful sales and marketing acumen. Swiftech has worked hard, and succeeded in creating a name recognized worldwide for quality and performance.


Visit them at Swiftech website for more info on their entire range of air and water-cooling products. I promise you, you won’t be disappointed…


Kit Specification

What Swiftech has to tell us about this specific kit :

The H20-220 Apex Ultima CPU liquid cooling kit continues our long established tradition of bundling our top performing components to produce the best cooling kit the market has to offer. A declination of this kit for complete system cooling is also available under the part number Apex Ultima Plus.

Featuring what many consider as the world's best water-block: the Apogee GTZ, the recently released MCRES-Micro Revision 2 , the classic MCP655-B pump and MCR220 dual 120mm radiator, the Apex Ultima receives a quantum boost in both performance and versatility.

As a result of the substantial cooling headroom afforded by this combination of top performance components the Apex Ultima kit will satisfy both extremes of the enthusiast market spectrum:

Overclockers in search of the lowest CPU temperatures AND Silent computing users in search of the lowest possible operating noise. Whereas an increasing number of cases can now accommodate dual 120mm radiators internally, users convenience was not forgotten, and the Apex Ultima is shipped standard with our MCB120 "Radbox" Revision 2 which allows the radiator to be bolted-on at the back of practically any mid-or full tower cases. Overall thermal performance also clearly benefits from the use of our Radbox demonstrated in a number of field tests.


Madshrimps (c)


Platform Compatibility

  • Intel® Core™ processor family (Core™2, Quad, Duo, Extreme) in socket 775 form factor (installed as factory default)
  • Intel® Core™ processors family (Core™i7) in socket 1366 form factor with included hold-down plate, for both Desktop and Server versions
  • Intel® Server processor family (Xeon™) in socket 603, 604 and 771 form factors (free hold-down plate sent factory-direct on demand worldwide)
  • AMD® Athlon™, Opteron™, Phenom™, and Turion™ in their respective socket form factors - 754, 939, F, and AM2 (free hold-down plate sent factory-direct on demand worldwide)
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    Comment from zerotol @ 2009/01/19
    nice review

    it may be interesting for the belgian readers to indicate where you can buy swiftech in Be/NL/DE. I have searched and found very little , too say the least.
    Comment from leeghoofd @ 2009/01/20
    All providing fast delivery to Belgium :

    Germany : www.aquatuning.de
    France/Belgium : www.bacata.net
    Netherlands : www.salland.eu, www.highflow.nl

    Just to name a few...

     

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