Swiftech's new H220-X just arrived!

[Hippiekiller]

First off I just want to say that I'm in no way a professional reviewer. I just wanted to take some pictures along the way and maybe note a few things about my process. I don't have a fancy SLR and lighting, just a Galaxy Note3.

I ordered this unit on Sunday through Swiftech's website and payed the extra for priority 3 day shipping to put in my new rig i'm building. The unit was shipped on Tuesday and arrived here in Georgia today (Friday). Everything is installed and running great but with the stock cooler But I only I had to wait one more day for this to come in.

The unit arrived in great shape and double boxed with packing peanuts all around...

The first issue, which I don't really know if it's a real issue yet is debris floating inside the coolant from the factory. I had to use the flash to help it show. I also wiped off the viewing port with a microfiber cloth, then hit it with a blast of compressed air to ensure what you are seeing is actually whatever is floating inside. You can see some clearly resting on the flow channel. I'll probably be replacing the fluid to try and resolve this issue in the near future.

The heatsink looks like it's pretty well polished. Used a light to try and highlight their attempt at polishing.

Well, it's time to install this... I'll post more pictures soon!

 

[Hippiekiller]

The install went smoothly. HOWEVER, I did notice something else that bugs me a bit. If you see the pic below, from one angle you can notice rust and some bent fins. When you flip the radiator 180 degrees, you notice no rust. So, I'm thinking it's probably how they were stored with the rust side facing up or it happened during filling?

The install....

I noticed a little more rust around the pivotable fitting on the watercooling block.

Thermal paste that I used...

With the lights off...

There's a good amount of white light that shines from the side of the window, behind the front. The pic doesn't show it well but this is a completely blacked out room with no case lighting yet.

Here's where it's comming from. A bit of electical tape should fix that.

 

[RanceJustice]

Thanks for your review and input! Looking great, Swiftech! I'm very glad they've been able to create an "able to be shipped to the USA" product, and hopefully the performance/efeatures will one-up the CoolerMaster partnership version of the original H220.

The issues like the debris in the flow path and rust seems worrisome, but I have to admit I'm not knowledgeable enough about modern watercooling to know if this is within acceptable parameters. However, if I recall correctly many of these liquid cooling enthusiast companies are pretty receptive, so do you think it is worth contacting Swiftech with your findings? This is a new product after all, and if quality control isn't up to where it should be, they'll want to sort it out I gather.

I really like the new LED backlit, visible reservoir and the fact that they included their top-end Apogee XL waterblock. I'm curious about which pump it uses; hopefully this is the top-quality offering as well. However, the info page seems to suggest some sort of MCP30 pump variant, perhaps the MCP35X, but I'd have to wonder why not include the new MCP50X as well? Especially when it comes to expanding the system, it seems like they'd want to ensure the pump (and rad, for that matter) is as powerful as possible. Add in the included PWM splitter, and the ability to use any G1/4 compliant fittings (perhaps some neat compression fittings and a tubing upgrade?) and it seems like this may be my next cooling system come Haswell-E, if its performance and quietness is sufficient to keep it on top. I wonder if they'll be creating a 3x 120mm radiator variant however, for those with the room to spare.

Thanks again for your pics!

 

[Virtu]

Does the debris move...?

If it isn't than it is the acrylic/plastic window that has particles in it much like other users are experiencing, which seems to be normal per Swiftech reps and is being looked into even though it is purely cosmetic. Some have changed their fluid to more color-based to get rid of the particle visibility.

 

[Skripka]

Amigo I strongly doubt what you're seeing is rust on the exterior of the unit...more likely it is less-than-completely-coated copper. I'd almost guarantee it on the radiator fins. Those fittings being a bit bizarro it is possible they're steel...but more likely they're plated copper. Either that or that is some metal discoloration from soldering/welding.

 

[Hippiekiller]

So far so good... I've ran Aida64's stress test on my system consisting of a Extreme6, G.Skill TridentX and a 4790K OC'd to 4.6Ghz for 4 hours and the temp stays right at 70 C.

Amigo I strongly doubt what you're seeing is rust on the exterior of the unit...more likely it is less-than-completely-coated copper. I'd almost guarantee it on the radiator fins. Those fittings being a bit bizarro it is possible they're steel...but more likely they're plated copper. Either that or that is some metal discoloration from soldering/welding.

I'm not sure about the radiator fins. I'll inspect that later when I get back into it and flip the fans. I'll also look closer into that fitting. I believe you're right about the fitting being steel though because it attracts a magnet.

Does the debris move...?

If it isn't than it is the acrylic/plastic window that has particles in it much like other users are experiencing, which seems to be normal per Swiftech reps and is being looked into even though it is purely cosmetic. Some have changed their fluid to more color-based to get rid of the particle visibility.

Yes, the debris did move. I can understand the acrylic having imperfections in it, and that's fine. I do plan on changing from a clear to blue soon also, so that would probably help hide the acrylic imperfections. Or I can just stick with the red, white and blue theme that managed to happen. lol.

 

[Draconian]

What temps are you seeing? I may have to snag one of these, I like how its setup to be expanded upon.

 

[Erasmus354]

Amigo I strongly doubt what you're seeing is rust on the exterior of the unit...more likely it is less-than-completely-coated copper. I'd almost guarantee it on the radiator fins. Those fittings being a bit bizarro it is possible they're steel...but more likely they're plated copper. Either that or that is some metal discoloration from soldering/welding.

Yea the radiator issues you have are completely normal. No radiator is going to be 100% perfect, and the small issues you have are not going to effect your cooling performance at all.

 

[geok1ng]

anything plated on watercooling loops is bad news. a fitting that is not copper/brass is worst news. about the radiator: it could be paint, and it could signs of a leak.

this is a much expected product, and while the engineer had great ideas, the material quality does not make justice to the product. i would rather pay $20 more and have a guaranteed all copper/brass loop than steel fitting that are bound to rust and leak. a plated EK 4870x2 waterblock destroyed my $1500 machine. ain't no f way i would let anything plated inside my loop.

 

[sok0]

You do realize that pretty much every fitting used in watercooling is chrome plated brass. EK just tried to do the plating inhouse to save moneys and got shit plating in return.

And on the "rust" issue, that isnt rust, every swifttech radiator ive seen uses copper fins. And the way they paint it is so that you only cover enough to make the radiator appear black, but not to effect the performance of the copper fins by covering them in paint.

 

[WiSK]

You do realize that pretty much every fitting used in watercooling is chrome plated brass. EK just tried to do the plating inhouse to save moneys and got shit plating in return.

And on the "rust" issue, that isnt rust, every swifttech radiator ive seen uses copper fins. And the way they paint it is so that you only cover enough to make the radiator appear black, but not to effect the performance of the copper fins by covering them in paint.

This. The copper fins will also tarnish, which isn't bad for thermals, but actually protects the copper from corrosion.

Good to see the change in the Apogee XL waterblock, subtle maybe: the screws are now flush to the lower ledge of the block, rather than flush with the face. This allows greater compatibility with certain motherboards (esp. Asus) that have capacitors stupidly close to CPU.

 

[DarkStryke]

The pump should be quite a good improvement over the H220, certainly less DOA and other reliability issues.

We still have no real world testing or any reliability data over a few days, so as always with a brand new release on a new pump type, buyer beware.

 

[dgof09]

So far so good... I've ran Aida64's stress test on my system consisting of a Extreme6, G.Skill TridentX and a 4790K OC'd to 4.6Ghz for 4 hours and the temp stays right at 70 C.



I'm not sure about the radiator fins. I'll inspect that later when I get back into it and flip the fans. I'll also look closer into that fitting. I believe you're right about the fitting being steel though because it attracts a magnet.



Yes, the debris did move. I can understand the acrylic having imperfections in it, and that's fine. I do plan on changing from a clear to blue soon also, so that would probably help hide the acrylic imperfections. Or I can just stick with the red, white and blue theme that managed to happen. lol.

any resolution to the debris in the res. I just received mine with debris that moves and don't want to install it if its going to mess up my pump. Should i drain it first and replace the coolant?

 

[Skripka]

any resolution to the debris in the res. I just received mine with debris that moves and don't want to install it if its going to mess up my pump. Should i drain it first and replace the coolant?

It is probably just dislodged solder flux and dust which happens with any new radiator (until you really flush it). To really get it out, you'll have to flush the radiator repeatedly...which may or may not be easy due to that reservoir tank. I wouldn't be that worried about it....if you are just email Swiftech and ask Gabe, odds are you are anything but the first person to ask about it.

 

[dgof09]

It is probably just dislodged solder flux and dust which happens with any new radiator (until you really flush it). To really get it out, you'll have to flush the radiator repeatedly...which may or may not be easy due to that reservoir tank. I wouldn't be that worried about it....if you are just email Swiftech and ask Gabe, odds are you are anything but the first person to ask about it.

I posted pictures on overclock.net and BramSLI1 swiftech hardware rep responded "The small particles that you're seeing are simply from the dye used in the coolant settling in the fluid. This is normal and once you run it for a few minutes these will dissolve again in the coolant. This is pretty normal for any coolant that has a dye or color additive." Quick response from theses guys at swiftech, so i'm cool with it, i'll be expanding it soon to my gtx780 once i get some money for a full block.

 

[geok1ng]

I posted pictures on overclock.net and BramSLI1 swiftech hardware rep responded "The small particles that you're seeing are simply from the dye used in the coolant settling in the fluid.

worst news: dyed fluid. what the f hell

a wizard should know better. every f idiot knows that the best coolant is water, and if you need biocide, 3 drops of copper sulfate are more than enough. the destiny of dye is to precipitate and become gunk.

why do we need dye on a f AiO with f black tubing?

flush this f gunk ASAP!

any chance we could replace the fittings with decent ones?

 

[WiSK]

That's a bit 2008 Geok1ng. Nowadays the market wants coloured liquid and stuff like Mayhems Pastel is one of the top selling coolants. Most of what we thought was dye "gunk" in the past turned out to be plasticiser.

Can you explain what you dislike about the fittings?

 

[tikiman2012]

I would definitely flush the system. Pop the rad apart from the rest of the system & flush the hell out of them. Both my H220's, the original & the RMA had black plastic shavings from the pump body machining process in the fluid. (it's the only thing that they could have come from) Bryan at Swiftech let me just swap the pumps since i had already flushed the hell out of my radiator. Absolutely amazing customer support they have at Swiftech.

 

[MrJerico]

Must be incredibly loud with the pump on the radiator right?