Swiftech H20-220 Apex Ultra+ Watercooling Kit

Combat squirrel

Combat squirrel

Combat squirrel

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Is this kit any good ? im going to bite the bullet and get it if its any good, will it all fit this setup??:

Antec P180 Case (will it fit easly in this case?)
S939 x2 4200+
ATI Radeon x1900XT

Whats the max volts I can run through my CPU with the Swiftech H20-220 Apex Ultra+ Watercooling Kit??, also (assuming it fits ?? ) What temps will I be expecting on my x1900 with the kit ?? Currently my ATI card runs at 89c load (665mhz core speed).

Finally What temps should I expect out my cpu ?? Currently its on a xp-120, 2.5ghz 1.475v at 29c idle, 49 load

My Case Has very good air cooling, thats to take into consideration, so......if anyone can answer the above ponderments that would be great :)
 
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I just installed one. I think it's very good indeed. But allow a lot of time for the build. It's really a collection of Swiftech parts rather than a simple kit. The performance is very good though. I have the rad attached to the back of my case. A few points:

1) The ramsinks for the GPU are not great. They work fine but the glue on mine just wouldn't hold them on and I don't fancy epoxying them on.

2) The PCI slot blanking plate adapter to allow for the tubing to exit the case constricts the tubing a little. It's not too much and probably fine but I haven't yet put it on (just left an empty PCI plate).

3) On my system the chipset waterblock won't fit because it fouls the graphics card. So again I didn't fit it.

But overall I'm extremely pleased. At full speed the fans are noisey but you really don't need them on full speed. Mine are very quiet as they are turned right down. I run mine from a fan controller (not supplied - although they do supply 12v, 7v and 5v adapters).

I run a dual core Opteron 165 overclocked to around 2.5ghz. It's also cooling my 7800 GTX 512 (@611mhz core - up from a stock 580). But as mentioned it is not cooling the chipset so that will help my temps. At idle my CPU is 28 to 31 degrees depending on ambient temps. Under load it's around 35 degrees, possibly a little higher (not seen it above that yet but I have only just installed it so not really tried too much with it yet). The beauty of water is not the idle temp but the temp under load. It can soak up much more heat. If I recall, my GPU temp is in the 40's or 50's now but I've no idea what it was on air because I didn't look.

Another slight downside is that, having a small case (ATCS 111) the pump is where the HDD's were in the 3.5" bays (now moved into the 5.25" bays to allow room). This fits fine but it blocks my two front 80mm fans. This, combined with the empty PCI blanking plate means the airflow in my case isn't as good as it was. But conversely most of the heat is being expelled outside the case by the rad so it doesn't need to be. I am, though, getting a warm chipset because of it. This is not an issue specific to the Swiftech Apex and would happen for most watercooling. But it's something to bear in mind - you still need airflow in the case.

Would I buy this kit again? Yes I would. I had not watercooled before and although I'm very experienced with PC's, I was a n00b at this. There are lots of small parts and it takes some planning to get the tubing right too. However, if I were to buy again I probably wouldn't get the Ultra+ version. The ramsink glue is weak and the chipset waterblock can't be used on my system due to obstructing the gfx card (DFI SLI DR with a large gfx card). So I'd probably get the non-plus version and add a suitable GPU and chipset block.

But for a first watercool build I've very happy with it and don't regret it.

EDIT: It didn't help me clock my CPU further but I'm probably at the limit of it anyway. It did help push my GPU a little further. Funny enough I also had an XP120 HSF and found the same - good idle temps but they raised quickly under load. My case cooling was ok but not brilliant and I was easily getting into the 60's under load - that's why I went with water.

EDIT2: Get some distilled water from a nearby Halfords and also a PSU tester is handy for filling and leak testing.
 
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I have recently purchased one of these kits I agree the gpu stick on heat sinks are pants and could short out your mb :eek:
I also found ithis kit difficult to mount on my p5w dh northbridge.
The 1/2 inch tube also is difficult to bend because of its tensile spring in my case it pushes the swiftech northbridge cooler out of contact with the northbrige chip when in a loop with my 7900gtx.
I have currently removed this part of the wc loop until I can find a fix I am happy with so my mofsets and northbridge and gpu are currently cooled with fans and H/sinks.
I dont think the two clip system used by asus on the p5w dh is a good feature for wcooled systems. screws or four clips would be the better solution in my mind.
 
the tubing is a pain to install, especially over the pump, just make sure you get some tygon tubing and your all ok. (I tried boiling and buttiring the tubes)
 
Combat squirrel said:
Hmmm interesting inputs, also interesting it didnt increase your clocks, tried a higher voltage ?
Click to expand...

I could already clock to 2.6ghz even on (very noisey) air. Moving to water quietened it down a bit as my CPU is already maxed out. But, having said that, I just tried again and managed to get it to 2.7ghz with s lot of extra voltage. Air cooled wouldn't have been able to keep this cool now so it has allowed to me clock further.

Regarding the tubing around the pump, that is a pain. But I found putting the tubing in boiled water for a few mins really softened it up. I then just bent it appropriately and put the coolsleeves on it to keep the tubing from collapsing inwards due to the bend.
 
cool, good input here :) thanks a lot guys........one more thing, iv been trying to figure out in my head all night what order to put the loop in ? no matter which way round, it never seems good, iv come up with:

Rad--->CPU--->GPU---->Chipset--->Res---->Pump---->Rad etc

But then that would be a very long length of tubing from the chipset all the way up to the Res :( any ideas? :D lol
 
i have the older swiftech kit which came with the storm block (h20 apex extreme) and the only thing i had to change was the piping for tygon, you will have one hell of a time trying to get it on the pump (also if your planning on using uv die the swiftech piping aint much use as its only cheap and not very clear) :mad:

ive always been told it has to go res > pump > cpu though so would be
Res--->Pump--->CPU---->Gpu--->Chipset---->Rad---->Res etc
 
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