Swiftech unveils Apogee XT new flagship waterblock

[Main]

I received mine a while ago but haven't found a fitting "tool" for lack of a better English word to open it up. The base looks really nice at least

The tool that came with my GTZ wont fit and neither all the others I have at home.

That tool is called allenkey

there you go

[woffen]

Yea, and apparently the XT uses a inch version of the allenkey which might be a little harder to find here in Finland. I'll sort it out somehow though

[JoeBar]

C'mon gabe. Replace the screws or provide an actual allenkey that works...

[PiLsY]

Im gutted to have to report that the replacement block I received today from chilledpc also has a failed backplate mount. Emailed Gabe and Tom to find out what's going on.

All im doing to test is screwing down the 4 mount screws, holding the backplate and giving each screw a quick wiggle to see if it moves. 3 out of 4 on this new block were rock solid, the 4th had a lot of movement and popped free from the backplate very easily.

Trying desperately to keep the faith...

[gabe]

Im gutted to have to report that the replacement block I received today from chilledpc also has a failed backplate mount. Emailed Gabe and Tom to find out what's going on.

All im doing to test is screwing down the 4 mount screws, holding the backplate and giving each screw a quick wiggle to see if it moves. 3 out of 4 on this new block were rock solid, the 4th had a lot of movement and popped free from the backplate very easily.

Trying desperately to keep the faith...

Based on the above, I would like to issue the following statement:

We have randomly tested 12 back-plates at Swiftech USA following the same method that was described in an email received by this user reading as follows: "held the backplate and gave the mount screws a *gentle* wiggle"; we found none to come loose. We will also be conducting the same test on 100 of these plates at our manufacturing facility.

Below are additional comments providing some insight with respect to the use and general specifications of this product.

In general, there are two functions to a motherboard back-plate:

1. To provide a fastening mechanism to the waterblock
2. To prevent/reduce excessive bowing of the circuit board

In the case of socket LGA1366 and 1156 motherboards, the second function is really secondary/superfluous because the Intel standard already specifies a rigid built-in back-plate that is installed at the back of the socket. So only the first function is considered critical.

The fastening function of the back-plate can be summarized by a mechanical means to hold together 4 nuts in a single assembly with the purpose of (by order of importance):
• preventing the nuts from spinning freely upon assembly or disassembly
• simplifying user intervention by installing one device only instead of the typical 4 posts with nuts/counter nuts, used by many OEM's.

The primary mechanical requirement for the PEM nuts is that they stay in place during repeated installation of the screws. There are no lateral forces being exerted on the nuts during these operations.

We have manufactured several thousands of these plates since the introduction of the LGA1366 socket form factor; they are the same plates that have been used with the Apogee GTX and this issue is the first report of its kind to be brought to our attention.

We believe that while one plate could be found defective, two in a row from the same user could either indicate: 1/ incredible bad luck, 2/ misuse, or 3/a bad production run. There is no indication of a bad production run so far based on the random check performed at Swiftech USA, and there are no similar complaints from other users at this time.

We will replace the plate under warranty, with instructions to the user NOT to attempt to exert lateral forces on the PEM nuts.

[dejanh]

I doubt it is misuse, though I would not discount this being just plain bad luck. I have not seen this problem before either (with GTZ backplates).

[gabe]

I doubt it is misuse, though I would not discount this being just plain bad luck. I have not seen this problem before either (with GTZ backplates).

No one has that's been reported to us so far, reason why I'm theorizing.

We'll know quickly if it's a bad run by checking 100 parts. But after checking 12 here, my concerns have been appeased, for now.

[PiLsY]

Never underestimate how unlucky I can be .

I'd also like to say that whilst 3 PEM's were loose on the orginal plate only 1 was loose on the new one. If there was a problem with the run I would've expected both plates to be in exactly the same condition.

I agree - my bad luck.

[gabe]

Never underestimate how unlucky I can be .

I'd also like to say that whilst 3 PEM's were loose on the orginal plate only 1 was loose on the new one. If there was a problem with the run I would've expected both plates to be in exactly the same condition.

I agree - my bad luck.

Update

We checked 200 pcs of the 1366 backplates: one nut came out easily, and two had gaps which could weaken the part in a lateral effort situation, for a total of 3 pieces out of 200, (1.5% defect rate). While this is a small number by all accounts, our aim is zero defects. Therefore, we have asked our sub-contractor to re-qualify assembly line QC criteria to handle this better, and we are systematically counter-checking all back-plates from this production run.

As far as resolution of your current issue, I have given instructions to replace your back-plate; it will have been checked before hand.

[PiLsY]

Very impressed .

[brammers]

<-- says it all.

[Sadasius]

Yeah Gabe is the man. See that....No excuses. See's the problem and fix's it! Now that is how you build a customer base. Nvidia could take a couple pages out of Gabe's book in doing business.

[JoeBar]

One of the reasons why swiftech has dedicated fans...

[Garu]

Hello Gabe,
Any updates on support for AMD folks? (AM2+ and AM3)

Thanks

[gabe]

Hello Gabe,
Any updates on support for AMD folks? (AM2+ and AM3)

Thanks

The brackets for AM2 are on their way to us now.

[darkstar757]

This level of customer service is why I will continue to buy swiftech products. Kudos for acknowledging a problem and fixing it. I am a very happy XT owner myself. I hope to be posting my first build thread very soon.

[nsx241]

Just wanted to post I actually encountered the same issue with the backplate. One of the pins, once tightened beyond a certain point, would just pop out again. Luckily, I had another backplate that I used earlier for my GTZ, and that one works fine. Not going to bother with an RMA on this.

[Bodkin]

@gabe, just a note about the backplates, I had the same problem on three plates wich were each RMAed, and the forth failed when I installed my new XT, the nuts just wont hold the block on even if I dont wiggle them at all. Luckly my xt backplate seems to be better

[Onoff312]

there out of stock in all my favorite US stores i cannot get one of these for ages it seems.
Going to have to stick to my Dtek V2 on my 1366 for a while although i really want to try this XT the temps should be impressive.

[PiLsY]

I'm not alone!

Im hoping to get my XT back today. I sent it back to tom @ chilledpc to check out the baseplate which had 4 parallel marks forming deflections across it from the pin machining process (towards the outside of the block running parallel to the 3 bolt side). He's of the opinion it should be fine and won't affect performance and has also hand tested a backplate for me, they should both be winging their way back to me (fingers crossed) for delivery today so I can install over the weekend.

Would like to say a big thanks for the excellent customer service I've had from all @ swiftech (and chilledpc).

[shazza]

Good Luck, PiLsY - also wanted to commend you on your great attitude. I'm sure Swiftech will make it right for you - one of the reasons I try to support vendors who participate on the forums is because we have access to them when we need it.

[Makubex_GB]

I received my XT yesterday from Petra's and installed it today. Luckily all the screws held tightly to the back plate, no popping out. So far so good.

[PiLsY]

Cheers Shazza . Its easier to keep your chin up though when you get support as good as this. As long as you know someone is looking at your problem and working towards fixing it then you've no real reason to go slating manufacturers/products on the internet.

Its obvious Gabe knew nothing about failed backplate inserts being an issue prior to this, since he found out he has done everything possible to find the cause and fix it. I honestly can't find any cause for criticism there.

[xslix]

Hello All:

It is with considerable excitement that I am presenting to you our new flagship waterblock, the Apogee XT.



The block is fully optimized for Intel Ci5 and Ci7. Test results, and techical data are fully disclosed on our web site.

We are shipping to the channels this week.

MSRP is $79.95

Due to the late hour, I have to attend to my family, but I will do everything I can to answer more questions tomorrow.

does it clog up fast like the gtz waterblock lol..... one bad thing bout this waterblock so far imo. always clogs up in inlet port mostly .... can i take out that black spacer or does it wreck the flow( that half of moon looking black spacer)

[Mazlov]

clogging? WTH are you using in your loop, maple syrup?