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"Swiftech H20-8500 Watercooling Kit"
SUMMARY: Easy to mount in almost any case, good cooling performance at very low noise.
The good guys at Swiftech were nice enough to send out a sample of their latest product, the Swiftech H20-8500. This is an easy to install watercooling kit which requires almost no case modification - it is possible to install without any case cutting at all, if that's a problem. For those consumers who wish to get into watercooling but don't want to do major case surgery, this is worth a look. I'll take a close look at the kit, then test its cooling performance.
I received a box from Swiftech containing the kit; upon opening, I saw this:
Very neat package with all the goodies snugly packed for shipping - a very nice package (12" x 12" x 5"). The kit is comprised of three basic elements:
As a kit, the pump is designed to fit into a 5.25" slot. The pump assembly is higher than a CD ROM, so using the top slot is recommended; if there's not enough clearance, you will have to use the second slot - I would plan to use two slots to be on the safe side.
The pump assembly includes three valves - these are used to fill and bleed the system with water. I found this easy to do - just follow the instructions (very well done with pics and text). The pump itself (rated at 330gph, 0' head)
is mounted with velcro strips. Note also that the fittings (blue pieces) are machined aluminum, designed to accommodate the "Quick-connect" system; all tubing is pushed into the fittings (with the exception of the radiator) - no hose clamps required. The pump is rated at about 330 gph - actual flow will be less, depending upon the total system resistance due to waterblocks, radiator, tube radii, etc.
I found the pump to have a slight "rattling" noise - inside a case, it may be barely noticeable. However, there may be a "humming" noise radiated through the case - I would suggest that users might want to mount the pump on some sound absorbing foam if this is apparent
The radiator is small - there are two 80mm fans mounted on it (push-pull). As a kit designed for easy mounting, the radiator is designed to mount in a standard 80mm case fan port. The most logical place would be an exhaust port located at the rear of the case.
Both fans are powered by one four pin plug. The fans are Mechatronics G8015L12B, 80x15mm, each rated at 29 cfm at 3200 rpm, 32 dBA. They are VERY quiet - when I first powered up the kit, I thought the fans were off. Fan noise was less than 50 dBA, measured with a Radio Shack sound meter 8" from the fan's intake and side of the radiator.
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