Introduction

Today we are taking a closer look at one of Swiftech’s all-in-one water cooling kits. Aimed at the novice user out there it promises easy installation and decent performance. Can their H20-8600 kit deliver? Let’s find out.

The quality of the kit can but as high as its weakest component, so let’s take a look at the contents of the H20-8600 kit for AMD A64 (kindly provided by Bacata):


All decently packed and separated

MCW6000 CPU water block

MCP600 12v DC pump

MCR80-F2 radiator (including fan)

FBK525 fill and bleed setup

Very detailed manual

Other parts such as tubing, spiral wrap, …

These are the contents of the basic H20-8600 kit, you can add more components depending on your needs:

MCW50 graphic card water block

MCW20 chipset water block

Extra MCR80-F2 radiator (including fan)

A second MCW6000 CPU water block (for Dual CPU systems)

Today we are reviewing the “vanilla” version. Let’s take a closer look at the CPU block ->

The block

On the internet you find a large amount of water block reviews. Some of them have extravagant designs. What about this one?



The water block is the MCW6000. This is a 100% copper block (C110 copper). Inside there are 281 small pins for better heat dissipation. The block has not a perfect mirror finish, though it is very decently finished and lapped.

More technical information:

3/8" inlet and outlet tubes soldered to the housing

Tested up to 25 psi (1.7 bars)



This separate package contains:

MCW6000 (duh !)

Athlon 64 hold-down bracket

2 screws included the matching springs

Short manual with extra information

Parts needed nor connecting tubing to the block.



The installation of this block on an A64 setup is very easy, as you need to use the bracket that comes with the mainboard. This is a good thing because removing this can sometimes be a very hard (e.g.: on the MSI Neo the back plate is glued to the mainboard)

Place the block on the CPU, after you added the thermal grease, put the hold down clip over the block and screw it into the bracket. All this requires no mainboard removal, quite an advantage. There are two ways to attach the tubing. The first way is the classical way. Shove the tubing over the in-and outlets from the block and then tighten them with worm drive hose clamps.



The easier way is by applying the quick-connect fittings. Click one side over the block and push the tubing into the other end.



When pushing the tubing into the quick-connect fittings a decent amount of force is needed. You would ease this by greasing the ends of the tubing with soap. (This is also explained in the manual.)

When using a P4 or A64 it’s quite safe to install the block before actually connecting the tubing, but when using an Athlon XP it is recommended to mount the water block after the tubes have been installed.

With the CPU block installed, let’s take a closer look at the pump which will push cool air through the block ->

Pump



The MCP600 pump runs on 12v and takes its power straight from your PSU, making it start up whenever you turn on your PC, simple and effective! It is an inline pump so it does have not to be submerged in water to function, another welcome advantage.



More technical details:

Type: MCP600 – Mag drive pump

Size: 14 x 14 mm

Nominal output: 5 – 10 Watt

Nominal voltage: DC 12 V

Max discharge : 700L/hr

Speed : 2500 rpm

This pump is really silent and the first thing that caught my attention was its finishing, which is really excellent

The installation is straight forward; you can either choose the drill two holes through the bottom of your case and screw the pump in its place, or use the included soft neoprene mousse which makes the job even easier. *done* Simple, wasn’t it?

One of the vital parts of any good water cooling kit is the radiator, how does Swiftech’s measure up? Let’s turn the page ->

Radiator

The included radiator is build to match the size of a 80mm fan, so it’s quite compact. This is a radiator created to match 80 mm fans.



There is one fan included which spins at ~2700rpm and generates 28 dBA worth of noise, and manages ~32 CFM. In short: a decent fan.



Its small size is a real advantage as it won’t be too hard to find a suitable spot for this radiator. If your case features a rear exhaust fan then you simply swap it with this radiator. A well thought out method for plug and play installation, as radiator installation can be quite challenging sometimes. Connecting the tubing is quite easy, and also gives you the choice between using quick connects or with a metal clamp.



For those who are interested, here are the more technical details, found on Swiftechs site:

2-pass 80 mm radiator specifically developed for PC CPU and VGA water-cooling

Double-row high internal volume design

High-gloss acrylic paint finish

Tested in our labs and rated for 100 Watts with a 15°C coolant temperature rise.

80 mm (3 inch) Copper core consisting of flat tubes for maximum heat conductivity

High-density copper fin configuration for enhanced heat dissipation

Built-in enhanced depth plenum chamber for increased performance and noise reduction even when using high-speed 80mm fans.

The 3/8" OD inlet and outlet are fitted with our quick-connect adapters for use with 1/2" OD tubing.

There’s one specification which caught my eye over the other ones:

Tested in our labs and rated for 100 Watts with a 15°C coolant temperature rise.

CPU’s nowadays are very close to the 100Watt barrier, some even surpassing it. If you are into overclocking or want to add your GPU to the water cooling loop then you wills surpass the 100 Watt capacity of this unit, or suffer higher temperatures. In this case adding a second radiator will return performance within specifications.

With all the components laid out aren’t we missing something? Where will the water come from? Isn’t there a reservoir in this kit? ->

Fill and bleed system

Filling a liquid cooling setup that has no reservoir with liquid could be quit annoying and difficult. Swiftech has the perfect solution for this: Their Fill And Bleed Kit.

This is a combination of three cranes. First you close the middle one, and put the two ends into a temporary reservoir, such as a big bottle with the liquid. Start the pump. The liquid will start running through the setup. (Verify for leakage). After a while all the air will be vanished, and then it’s time for the last step, opening the middle crane en closing the two others. You can remove the tubing to the external reservoir.


Valve’s positions to fill the system


Then the bleeding starts

Finally you close the upper valves and the system is working without air in the tubes!

This is a great method for saving space as you don’t need to make room for a reservoir, transportation is quite easy also, and refilling the system is straightforward.

Other

HydrX by Swiftech. This a green product you pour into the water. It prevents the growth of algae and gives a small boost to the Heat transfer.

Tubing: Swiftech was really generous over here. A lot of tubing was added so there is space for mistakes. You can also see that some end of the tubing have a little gray thingy inside. This is to make the ends stronger and makes it easier to push them into the quick-connect fittings.

Coolsleeves: This spiral wrap needs to be wrapped around the tubing on places where you make a short turn. It prevents kinks in the tubing and thus interrupting the water flow.



With the system completely installed it’s time for some performance tests ->

Testing

The test setup I partially borrowed from JMke for testing:

JMke's A64 Test Setup
CPU	AMD Athlon 64 3000+
Mainboard	MSI K8n Neo Platinum (shipping BIOS)
Cooling	- Boxed AMD air cooling - Swiftech H20-8600 Kit
Other	- 2x256Mb PC3500 Corsair - Geforce 4 MX480

During the tests the ambient temperature was 25° C. No case was used, so your temperatures could end up a little bit higher when using exactly the same configuration and when you use a case. A no name thermal compound was used (white goop)



The higher temperatures you see were due to the fact that the mainboard used the first bios, which had high temperatures read-outs. A later bios version solved this problem but at the time of testing it was not yet available.

The difference between AMD’s boxed cooling and the Swiftech kit is 5°C at 2000Mhz, exactly the same amount I obtained in my previous test here versus the asetek Waterchill.

Swiftech H20-8600 kit further increases its lead when the CPU is overclocked; we see an improvement of almost 10°C, and all this without a lot of noise! The boxed cooler features a 70mm fan which can be quite loud when running at full speed. The 80mm fan Swiftech provides brings silence.

Conclusion

This is a very decent cooling kit and I would personally recommend it to anybody who is considering water cooling. The kit offers the end user excellent products which together form a quiet and effective solution for keeping your CPU, Graphics card and motherboard chipset running cool. For those who want to bump up the speed of their system with overclocking you won’t be disappointed, as long as you don’t exceed the radiator capacity.

PRO
Very detailed manual
Competitively priced
Lots of options for installation
Decent performance

CON
Quick-connect fittings can prove to be not water proof first time around. Re-installation resolves this
The small radiator is not enough when using a very high end computer, or you’re into extreme overclocking (high speed, high voltage)

We would like to thank JC from Bacata for sending this kit our way.

Questions/Comments: forum thread