Swiftech Quiet Power Case with MCW40 Review - Performance page 6

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Alright, we now have our QPower system filled with our precious PC, we are overcome with more than just a little fear about turning this thing on and sending 600 liters per minute rushing thru our case and over our system.  As long as you FOLLOWED THE DIRECTIONS included and tested the water integrity of your QPower before you installed everything (as the directions told you to do!) you should have nothing to worry about.

The question that is on everyone's mind (mine included) is what is there to gain from running a water cooled system.  Swiftech claims you'll get a quieter system with performance that will rival the best (and loudest) air cooling solutions.  Is that the experience we had? 

Performance

Let me set the stage for performance and admit to what I've run primarily as a cooler for a while now.  I've been running the retail heat sink fan that came with my Pentium4 1.6a. (gasp!)  Yup.  I ran it because it was quiet as hell, and it cooled adequately to run the 1.6 at 2.13Ghz (16x133) every day without over heating.  Or so I thought. 

CPU Temperature Performance.  CPU clocked to 2.13Ghz and ambient temp of 77.7 deg F.

                  * Deg in Fahrenheit

Now I'm no genius, but I can tell that this is a HUGE difference.  When I fired up the system and heard it, I didn't think there was any way something this quiet could cool worth a damn.  I placed my hand behind the radiator to feel the air flow thru it, and while there was certainly air moving and not slowly, it was far from the rip roaring wind I've come to expect from anything that cools worth a damn.  I was flat out impressed.  This solution not only quieted the 4 high output 80mm fans I had running, it completely blew the whole thing away in temperature.

System (motherboard) Temperature Performance.  CPU clocked to 2.13Ghz and ambient temp of 77.7 deg F.

                  * Deg in Fahrenheit

You'll notice that with the QPower that the case actually stays a little bit warmer.  Now this is 100% dependant on the type of case cooling you were running before, and the type of case you were using.  I was using an Antec 1030 with high out put fans in all the slots, to say it nicely my system was relatively loud.  If you were using a "normal" case cooling scheme then you will more than likely not see this change, but I wanted to mention it.  This is due simply to the fact that the Antec is a very efficient case when it comes to heat removal and I had some serious CFM's trucking thru it.

Video Card GPU Performance/Temperature.

This is an area where our findings are weakat best.  I have never been a big fan of measuring the heat from the back of the core and claiming that to be anything resembling an accurante reading.  That said, with the firm mount of the water block on the GPU there was no way to really get a thermal sensor in there to get a reading.  SOOO, the temperatures you see below are measured from the BACK of the GPU.

                  * Deg in Fahrenheit

Like I said, place as much credibility behind this reading as you wish, but I did want to throw it out there.  The big problem with the video card cooling is that memory speed is king when it comes to overclocking a video card, and the QPower does nothing to help the memory temperatures.  All the same, the water block DOES provide a gain in cooling performance of the GPU, and let's not leave out the fact that it looks hella cool.  :)

General Thoughts and Observations

The QPower system as packaged for our review while certainly having a few draw backs, has been all around impressive to say the least.  What Swiftech has done is taken high quality performance water cooling parts, and packaged them into a system that requires no more knowledge than an average PC builder to assemble.  There are several companies that are making the complete systems right now but not many that offer it at this price, and none that bring to the table the history and experience of water cooling your personal computer system.

My original fear was the "gosh, if that pump fails my system is toast".  Well, while that may be true, the same can be said for your fan.  If that CPU fan dies, goodbye CPU, it's really that simple. So both have equal risks attached when it comes to failure consequences.

There were a few things here that I think could have been done a little better.  I'm gonna list a few things here that I would have like to seen, but that don't really qualify as a "Con" in the conclusion as they're simply not deal breakers and just some things that would have been nice. 

* When they cut out the front fan grill on the case they could have grinded it down a little more to make it smoother to avoid lethal cuts. (if you think the word "lethal" is too strong then you've never cut yourself on a case!) 

* They could have included a power switch override for the pump which would have allowed you to run the pump after the system was off to allow your computer to cool effectively.  Granted, there are several aftermarket solutions for this and it's not a standard feature on most other systems, but with the quality Swiftech put into the QPower series it would have been nice.

* The mounting method of the GPU block is excellent, leaving minimal room for error with it's ingenious allen nut fastening system.  I would have liked to see the same thing available on the CPU block.  By having the literally turn a wrench (or in my case needle nose pliers) you are leaving open the possibility of damaging the motherboard if you're not extremely careful. Using the same style fastening as the GPU cooler would have been a very nice touch.

* The GPU water block has the water line connections on the ends of the cooler, this makes it a bit tougher to cleanly route the lines.  A block with side mounted water line access would be something I'd have liked to see..

* Occasionally you'll notice a slight hum.  After investigation I found it's actually just the case vibrating slightly.  The case is so silent I couldn't figure out what it was.  I guess when you're moving that much water it certainly has some energy.  While I have no CLUE what they could have done to avoid it, it still warranted mentioning.

These things aside, and like I said, they are not deal stoppers, Swiftech has outdone themselves.  The fact that the water circuit is already closed, primed, and bled was a terrific surprise.  That takes the number one thing people have a tendency to mess up out of the game and leaves you with a task only minimally harder to put together than a standard case.

Conclusion

Ah, the part of the review I've been dreading, the conclusion.  It is inevitable but to discuss price in the conclusion.  After a long review where I've done nothing but basically be impressed with what Swiftech has to offer in it's QPower system, I'm forced to tell you (in case you can't read the header of each page:)) that the price of this unit will run you a cool $400 us dollars.  I have to be honest, before I spent some time working with this system and using it (about 4 weeks) I was sure I was gonna end the review with a "it's nice but not worth the jack" conclusion, that actually isn't the situation I'm left with. 

After pricing some of the top notch cases available on the market, I'm finding most of them to be in the $150-$220 range.  Then go check out some of the bare bones water cooling kits on the market, let alone ones that include components of this quality, and you're looking at another $100-$175.  THEN throw in 4 120mm fans, the labor to test and assemble the entire unit, and all of a sudden that $399 retail price doesn't seem so bad.  As a matter of fact, if water cooling the easy and safe way (comparatively speaking that is) is something you're looking for, when it's all said and done you'll actually be getting a pretty good deal by purchasing a QPower system.  Like I said, if you'd have told me I'd be saying that a month ago I'd have called BS, but the facts have altered my opinion greatly.

Can I recommend this system to everyone?  Absolutely not.  Water cooling, albeit making it's way main stream quickly, is still far from something for your average PC user.  That said, if you're a PC enthusiast that is getting tired of the noise of the high end air coolers, and can't afford the substandard performance of the average coolers on the market, this system may be exactly the ticket for you.

In the end you are still the person in control of where your jack goes, if you're looking to water cool without the mess and risk of trial and error, I say buy a QPower system.  If you're willing to either build one from scratch or try your hand at one of the many bare bone water systems out there, hey there's nothing wrong with that either.  What Swiftech has delivered is something I'd have no problems recommending to someone looking for this type of system, and that in and of itself, considering my initial hesitation with water and my PC, is quite a statement.

Pros:

* Quality, quality, quality.  Very impressive workmanship.

* System is pre-primed, install your system and go.

* Excellent components and case selection.

* Price.  When you part out a system like this, the price is attractive.

* Performance.  Substantial boost from normal air cooling.

*  QUIET!  You'll never convince people you have 4 120mm fans running!

Cons:

* No removable motherboard tray. (though understandable)

* Slight vibration in case occasionally.

That about wraps up our look at the QPower system from Swiftech.  This was a hard review to write because something that has this many positive traits almost makes you worry about appearing biased.  After long consideration it dawned on me that I just had a negative attitude planted in me by so many products and companies that are cutting corners to save a buck at the consumers expense.  I must say, Swiftech appears to be the real deal, and if your looking for a water cooling solution (notice the if part) then you'd be foolish not to check em out.

If you want more information you can head to Swiftech's website, or if you'd like to purchase one of these I highly recommend heading to Sidewinder Computers where the shipping rates are excellent and the service is untouchable.  With a "10" reseller rating it's hard to deny it.

Thanks for checking us out.  If you have questions, concerns, props, or flames, feel free to head into the forums or check out our front page for more GooSH!™ from Dev Hardware.

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