Swiftech MCW5002 comments

[Sin22]

First up, this is my....hmmm....shit I've lost count of how many watercooled systems I've put together now. This is my 7th block that I've tested thats all I know. Components are the Swiftech MCW5002 waterblock. Silverprop Silverstorm 3 radiator. Heto 2800 Pump (1200lph @ 2.0m head). Fan used is a simple Dick Smith 120mm 108CFM @ 42dbA ball bearing fan.

Now, onto the Swiftech MCW5002. I've received so many blocks, but this and the Silverprop Cyclone 5 stand out as the best packaged ones. The Silverprop one leads overall to me. This came in a nice little brown box, fax-type paper on the front stating its a MCW5002A waterblock. inside you find the block nestled and sandwhiched between styrofoam and a small instruction manual.

The first thing that you will be struck is how small it is really. It always looks like a chunk but it aint that big. The next thing is the finish of the Class 2 anodisation. Very nicely done in the dark blue.



The plastic barbs are seperate and you are required to screw them in. Small note, remember to use a wrench or something similar to get the last few turns in so its nice and tight and wont leak. I didnt and had to do it whilst I assembled the components and the water was flowing, wasnt too fun, should have known better.

Oh something else, the package comes with a small satchel of Arctic Alumina thermal paste as well. Pleasantly surprised to see it included.

Bad points. I believe this is a shipping incident, but a line of anodisation was scraped off on one of the inside threads of the barb holes. That doesnt make me feel all peachy seeing that bare aluminum can come into contact with water. Next up, the white styrofoam gets all over the palce, including inside the block. So remember to give it a wash out. But, this is the worst one. There is a decal on the side that indicates which way the block ought to point, that decal is not waterproof, so it comes off in your hands. Bad , I would have expected more from Swiftech. The base had no marks on it that I could feel, but there were specks on it and it wasnt a mirror finish in comparison to what I've had or seen but still good.



Thirdly, a small edge of the copper diamond style pins was bent out of place, also a shipping or handling mistake I believe. Fourthly, those who want to make this a peltier block as it would be a great one may only do so with the Intel version. There are 4 small 2mm holes in the corners to accomodate an intel conversion kit, and if you were to bolt a coldplate and peltier to it, those are the only things I can see that you could use as mounting points, but they are pretty small. I'll see what I can do about it later, but hmm...slightly dissapointed in that, but nevermind, I'm sure I'll be able to get around it somehow.

On to setting up.



Leak testing ? What leak testing. Well, in the end leaks from the barbs on the wb and my friggin reservoir. So in went my T-line instead.



In it all went. Pardon my toe, it wanted some time in the limelight



If you are wondering what that white speck is above my NB cooler. Well, thats my NB ! Luckily this wasnt on yet. Well its happened several times to me actually. The heatsink is a Zalman ZM-NB32J and is fixed with push pins. Thats why I am very reluctant abt the new Silverprop Nexus NB waterblock. Push pins are just too fragile and not very user error forgiving at all.

Well, now after the installation, what other comments ?

Using the three mounting lugs is very useful and so much easier and faster than the mounting holes. But I feel that you cant get a lot of pressure on the core. I find that even when I unscrew the screw to a large degree, more than the 1.5mm that Swiftech recommends, I still get a fair bit too much movement of the block for my liking. Taking it off and checking the imprint. The imprint is there, but there is a bit of uneveness. Could be due to the torsion that my tubes are exerting on it but this is a temp setup anyhow. I will be putting a few washers on the end of screw to allow it to get slightly tighter if possible. That is another thing that can be done in future if a peltier can be mounted. Use a longer bolt and just place a nut on the approx. same place as where the previous screwhead was.

So to sum it up.

Pros:

• 1) Easy to install
  2)Finish and manufacturing very professional
  3)Good flow through the system due to true 1/2" barbs in comparison to the quick disconnects in the MCW5000
  4)Arctic Alumina Thermal paste included

Cons:

• 1)Shipping and handling (i.e. packaging) need to be better as the block came slightly damaged.
  2)Waterproof the Cam box instruction sticker
  3)Allow peltier assembly for AMD systems (this is still an unknown at this stage, need to play around a tad more with this aspect)
  4)Mounting pressure is too light for me

So how's the performance now ? Temps have gone down approx ~10deg from before when I was utilising the stock heatsink. I havent o/ced yet but I plan to do so in a while.

Aye, temps are nothing to go by with all the inaccuracies, but I do know my setup and nothing else has changed cept for the cooling. Position of the temp probe hasnt changed either so in relation to my previous results this is a viable answer for the time being.

Addition: I tried to overclock it this morning and the mounting issues that I mentioned above came into play.

The system displayed immediate instability with any Vcore above the default 1.65V or gg above 2.3GHz (Which this Barton can do at stock volts - 0330 RPMW "Y" [My old one of the same stepping did 2.7GHz in my Cascade setup]).

To me it reads that I've got a bad mount and that the connection between the core and waterblock base just isnt good.

I believe that the socket lugs are definitely a bonus for most people as it plays the field on both sides, but I do think it takes a while to get the hang of mounting it. I'll redo it later this arvo when I have the time.

In hindsight, a temp drop of <10deg from a stock AMD HSF to a Swifty wb and an ambient of 22deg is a tad small in comparison to what I've achieved in the past.