Swiftech Kit: Premium or Apex?

Hi all,

This would be my first WC'd PC. I want to try for both "quieter" and "lower tempature" reasons. I think I have hit the wall with air cooling and water cooling is the answer. I would prefer not to drill/mod but can and will if I must.

Kits seem like the best place to start for KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid) guys like me. After lurking and searching, I have a coupla questions about Swiftech kits...

The Apex:
I don't understand how you can plug in a DVI/VGA cable with this fan/radiator deal hanging off the back, especially since a PCI-e card is closest to the fan. Am I missing too many brain cells? My Lian Li PC-7 has one 120mm fan in back. Can I use this kit as advertised without any modifications?

The Premium:
I like that the res and pump fit together in one drive bay. It says here that it is OK to cool CPU and VGA with this kit. I realize that the Apex is the preferred kit (7/16" ID tubing, better pump, small res, lower temps, etc.) but is the Premium really that bad to start off with? Will I kick myself for not getting the Apex?

GPU?:
Is the Swiftech MCW55 a good GPU block to start with? The beginners guide says that Silverprop Cyclone is best but I'd like to get all this from one vender if possible. Also, is it better to start off with a single CPU block, get that working and then add a GPU block? Or, should I just do em both together?

Thanks for reading my first post to the OC Forums!!!

I haven't used one before but my understanding is that the radbox is able to slide back and forth so you can plug cables in and such.

Also, you could cool a CPU + GPU with the premium kit, but your temps will suffer. Just about any modern CPU would push most single rads fairly hard..

If you dont plan on overclocking and dont mind only slightly better than high end air temps then I'd go with the premium.. otherwise the apex looks better.

Btw you dont have to mount the radiator below the rear exhaust hole, you could mount it with the hanging-off portion above the fan hole coming up toward your PSU instead of you wanted. Or even mount the radiator facing toward one of the sides of your case I guess..

If you plan on cooling both CPU and vid card, you better go with a 2X120mm rad. Hard to beat the Apex kit. The downside is you'll probably have to mod the case. The other alternative is the Premium kit and a second 1X120 rad. Yeah, the Swiftech MCW55 is a good GPU block.

Thanks for the replies!

I ordered the Apex kit and MCW55.

I have no complaints with the APEX kit. Just had some bad luck on other parts. I get about 17C idle 20C load with just the cpu now. When I had my gpus in the loop, i was still only getting about 19C idle and 23-25C load

my054runner said:

I have no complaints with the APEX kit. Just had some bad luck on other parts. I get about 17C idle 20C load with just the cpu now. When I had my gpus in the loop, i was still only getting about 19C idle and 23-25C load

Click to expand...

Some questions...
What "other" parts did you have bad luck with?
Why did you take your GPU's out of the loop?

koolance stuff busted after I added a second pump. The swivel fittings couldn't handle the pressure and started leaking. I just order some DD stuff yesterday though so it should be back to wc by the end of next week.

[EDIT]
Also worth noting is that I went from 1/2 to 1/4.