Case: Swiftech H20 Q Power Review :: Installation

This was one easy case to work with as it comes ready to rock right out of the box. Unlike a lot of the solutions out there the Q Power is pre-assembled at the factory and requires the user to do absolutely nothing but install their motherboard and system parts and away you go. This is good for you the user, but it really bites from the writer's aspect, as it doesn't give me a lot to ramble on about as far as set-up goes.

The case ships with all the needed items required for installing your motherboard without problems and if you have ever built a system before you will find yourself in familiar territory here. Gabriel was a gentleman's gentleman and actually helped me modify his system to accommodate my desire to cool my video card as well as my CPU since I am an overclocking die-hard. Thanks Gabe you rock big daddy.

Even though it was not a project he had currently market ready he was very pleasant about the whole thing and helped me quite a bit in customizing his case. I believe he may have finished that project by now and have it as a viable option available for this case. I know he has options available for dual processor system configurations.

One thing to remember is that the Q Power requires two separate power connectors. One is for the power supply and the other located on the bottom back of the case is for the water pump. I actually forgot to plug the bottom one in the first time I used the case and still got good results. It would be cool if the design could be modified to work off the systems power supply and have only one plug.

If you do find yourself in a situation where you have drain the system for whatever reason it can be done, but it is a bit tricky, so you might want to be careful. The main issue is remembering to change the wiring on the bottom plug that allows you to run the pump independently without the system actually up and running.

I watched Gabe perform this procedure twice and then due to an unseen air bubble in the system I had to do it again a third time and it was a bit trickier without his fill and bleed kit. You will need a place to expend (bleed) the old liquid into and another to hold and disperse the new. There are sets of knobs located on the bleed kit where air bubbles can get trapped and you must play around with these to make sure none get trapped there. But coming from the factory this is a piece of cake to work with and is perfectly safe for your system and can be tackled by anyone with basic computer skills.