Swiftech H2O-220 Apex Ultima Plus Water Cooling to the Max!

Author: Jouni 'Jipa' Vasama Published: 17.02.2009 Manufacturer: Swiftech Product Group: Cooling In English Suomeksi

Installation - The modder's way!

The platform was made from a piece of 8 mm thick scrap acryl and some aluminum L-profile and turned out pretty nice. The pump intake and the reservoir output are a bit off align on purpose, this makes routing the reservoir input easier. The construction came out pretty sturdy and shouldn't resonate.

With the so-called cooling platform installed one can see how nicely the radiator inlet and pump output line up. Getting these three components to fit in reasonably small space was the hardest task of the installation, but I also do think it was worth doing this step properly. The only modification done to the actual case so far is the removal of the tool-less optical drive installation brackets that still can be just installed back. There still is room for atleast one, maybe two 5,25" devices so overall the platform was a success.

If I were to re-plan the loop any time soon I would pay more attention to the ease of filling. You can also separately purchase a fillport that connects the reservoir and adds an additional hose that runs to the roof of the case.

After the parts were in place it was time to connect the components with the supplied hose. This part is crucial to get right in order to prevent kinks and unnecessary amount of torgue on the hoselines, so I suggest either using the actual components or printing a paper model of the motherboard (like I did) and placing the blocks on exactly the right places.

The thick-walled hose sits so tightly especially on the beefier plastic barbs it almost felt unnecessary to use any clamps, but for added security they were used. After getting all the hoses in place I ended up with 90 centimeters of tube left, so overall it took 1,6 meters to finish the loop.

After getting the hoses in place it was time to take it all apart again and fill the system. Getting the parts out of the case isn't necessary if you can fill the system in place, but taking it out makes seeing and fixing possible leaks easier. Before putting the water cooling in use it has to be bled from any air inside the tubes and radiator for maximum performance and minimal noise. This step is also easier to do when the system isn't inside the case. For coolant a litre of distilled water was bought.

Pages:   1 2 3 4 5 6