Tyrou
01-12-2007, 03:26 PM
:wave:
I've had the chance to be one of those Swiftech chose to test their latest (and best to date) waterblock, the Apogee GT !
This is a new revision of the well known Apogee, designed to help you lose *those* degrees which prevent you from passing one guy on the ORB :D Some modifications have been done to enhance the efficiency on high output cpus, especially quadcores so, but it will still be an excellent waterblock for any other cpu.
The following review is not as detailed as this waterblock would deserve, but a full review will come later. That doesn't mean it was done without any seriousness: air temperature was controled to 26°C at the intake of the radiator's fans, and waterblocks were monuted and unmounted twice to ensure a proper installation. Temperatures were measured on the internal cpu diode, then I kept the average of the four cores.
http://img295.imageshack.us/img295/8469/00hj1.jpg
http://img367.imageshack.us/img367/7196/01yx6.jpg
The following rig was used:
Intel QX6700ES "Kentsfield" - rev A0 (a lil' bit hotter than B3s)
nVidia NF680i SLI
Corsair 6400C3 2*1GB
BFG 8800GTX SLI
PCPower 850SSI
CPU and GPUs are overclocked, vmodded and, of course, watercooled:
CPU @ 3500MHz, 1.73v
GPUs @ 700/1100, 1.62v
Watercooling loop is made of:
Swiftech Apogee GT
Swiftech Storm
Swiftech MCW60 *2
Swiftech MCP655
Black Ice X3 + 3*120mm Silverstone
1/2"ID Tygon tubing
I made those tests, because I think they represent quite well what I do of my rig:
- Idle : how do you make a proper maxscreen without a good idle temp !
- SuperPi 4M : single thread
- 3DMark06 CPU Test : multithreaded
- wPrime 1024M : full load on the four cores !
- Flight Simulator X : high cpu load game (+ gpu load)
Now, let's focus on serious numbers:
Apogee GT
--Idle :
1: 66.50c ; 2: 65.50c -> 66c
--wPrime :
1: 80.25c ; 2: 79.00c -> 79.625c
--Flight Simulator X :
1: 71.25c ; 2: 70.50c-> 70.875c
--3DMark06 :
1: 72.50c ; 2: 72.00c -> 72.25c
--SuperPi :
1: 68.50c ; 2: 68.00c -> 68.25c
Storm
--Idle :
1: 68.50c ; 2: 69.00c -> 68.75c
--wPrime :
1: 83.00c ; 2: 83.75c -> 83.375c
--Flight Simulator X :
1: 72.50c ; 2: 73.50c -> 73c
--3DMark06 :
1: 75.25c ; 2: 76.00c -> 75.625c
--SuperPi :
1: 70.25c ; 2: 71.00c -> 70.625c
T(Storm)-T(Apogee GT) :
Idle: 2.75c
wPrime 1024M: 3.75c
Flight Simulator X: 2.125c
3DMark06 CPU: 3.375c
SuperPi 4M: 2.375c
So, the Apogee GT gives temperatures 2.675°C (average) lower than the Storm does. Swiftech said this waterblock will be top notch, in fact... it is !
Overall performance is really impressive, we're not comparing to some crappy block, but to the former top waterblock, and the difference grows with load applied, the Apogee GT is really well designed to support very high loads, with current or future cpus.
Some words about packaging and details: as always with Swiftech, quality is excellent, the base is really flat, we hope one day Intel's IHS will be as flat :D
This waterblock uses the same mouting kit as the older Apogee of as the Storm, so it's really easy to install. Everything you may need is embedded in the bundle, from 1/4" to 1/2" fittings to Artic Ceramique, even the tool to open the waterblock is in the kit.
The only issue i've seen is the diameter of the LGA775 mouting holes, which was too little to fit the screws easily, but as this is only an early sample of the block, we can hope it will be solved before it hits retailers.
Availabity is supposed to be in the next days...
-- More pics, and some screenshots will be added as soon as possible.
I've had the chance to be one of those Swiftech chose to test their latest (and best to date) waterblock, the Apogee GT !
This is a new revision of the well known Apogee, designed to help you lose *those* degrees which prevent you from passing one guy on the ORB :D Some modifications have been done to enhance the efficiency on high output cpus, especially quadcores so, but it will still be an excellent waterblock for any other cpu.
The following review is not as detailed as this waterblock would deserve, but a full review will come later. That doesn't mean it was done without any seriousness: air temperature was controled to 26°C at the intake of the radiator's fans, and waterblocks were monuted and unmounted twice to ensure a proper installation. Temperatures were measured on the internal cpu diode, then I kept the average of the four cores.
http://img295.imageshack.us/img295/8469/00hj1.jpg
http://img367.imageshack.us/img367/7196/01yx6.jpg
The following rig was used:
Intel QX6700ES "Kentsfield" - rev A0 (a lil' bit hotter than B3s)
nVidia NF680i SLI
Corsair 6400C3 2*1GB
BFG 8800GTX SLI
PCPower 850SSI
CPU and GPUs are overclocked, vmodded and, of course, watercooled:
CPU @ 3500MHz, 1.73v
GPUs @ 700/1100, 1.62v
Watercooling loop is made of:
Swiftech Apogee GT
Swiftech Storm
Swiftech MCW60 *2
Swiftech MCP655
Black Ice X3 + 3*120mm Silverstone
1/2"ID Tygon tubing
I made those tests, because I think they represent quite well what I do of my rig:
- Idle : how do you make a proper maxscreen without a good idle temp !
- SuperPi 4M : single thread
- 3DMark06 CPU Test : multithreaded
- wPrime 1024M : full load on the four cores !
- Flight Simulator X : high cpu load game (+ gpu load)
Now, let's focus on serious numbers:
Apogee GT
--Idle :
1: 66.50c ; 2: 65.50c -> 66c
--wPrime :
1: 80.25c ; 2: 79.00c -> 79.625c
--Flight Simulator X :
1: 71.25c ; 2: 70.50c-> 70.875c
--3DMark06 :
1: 72.50c ; 2: 72.00c -> 72.25c
--SuperPi :
1: 68.50c ; 2: 68.00c -> 68.25c
Storm
--Idle :
1: 68.50c ; 2: 69.00c -> 68.75c
--wPrime :
1: 83.00c ; 2: 83.75c -> 83.375c
--Flight Simulator X :
1: 72.50c ; 2: 73.50c -> 73c
--3DMark06 :
1: 75.25c ; 2: 76.00c -> 75.625c
--SuperPi :
1: 70.25c ; 2: 71.00c -> 70.625c
T(Storm)-T(Apogee GT) :
Idle: 2.75c
wPrime 1024M: 3.75c
Flight Simulator X: 2.125c
3DMark06 CPU: 3.375c
SuperPi 4M: 2.375c
So, the Apogee GT gives temperatures 2.675°C (average) lower than the Storm does. Swiftech said this waterblock will be top notch, in fact... it is !
Overall performance is really impressive, we're not comparing to some crappy block, but to the former top waterblock, and the difference grows with load applied, the Apogee GT is really well designed to support very high loads, with current or future cpus.
Some words about packaging and details: as always with Swiftech, quality is excellent, the base is really flat, we hope one day Intel's IHS will be as flat :D
This waterblock uses the same mouting kit as the older Apogee of as the Storm, so it's really easy to install. Everything you may need is embedded in the bundle, from 1/4" to 1/2" fittings to Artic Ceramique, even the tool to open the waterblock is in the kit.
The only issue i've seen is the diameter of the LGA775 mouting holes, which was too little to fit the screws easily, but as this is only an early sample of the block, we can hope it will be solved before it hits retailers.
Availabity is supposed to be in the next days...
-- More pics, and some screenshots will be added as soon as possible.