Swiftech MCX775-V Cooling Review :: Swiftech MCX775-V

As usual, the package is in a small cardboard box with foam padding protecting the heat sink.

The included pack of accessories includes everything you need for proper installation. The instructions manual is pictorial as always, and the included thermal grease comes in a small tube. With the included Arctic Silver Alumina, Swiftech continues to provide slightly better thermal paste than their competitors.

The heat sink looks very much like the rest of the Swiftech air-cooling heat sinks. It's based on a combination of aluminum and copper. The aluminum pins are soldered to the base, and then spread out in an angle to maximize airflow and reduce noise levels. The copper base is half an inch thick and is angled to clear way of small capacitors.

Because Intel chose not to use retention brackets for heat sink installation, manufacturers will either have to design a bracket of their own, or go with a screw-nut solution. Swiftech was one of the first to use the screw-nut solution with the release of the old MC462, so they are very well aware of the use of this method. What is interesting is that they started to use nylon screws instead of the standard steel screws. At first I was a bit skeptical about the use of nylon since they bend easily, but after playing around with installation, I was convinced that nylon does work better. The use of nylon screws prevent users from over-tightening the screws, causing it to break or get stuck inside the nut. If the nylon screw was tightened too much, the included hex key will pop out of place. This means that the screws are tightened to the maximum allowed.

Much like the rest of the air-cooling heat sinks, Swiftech does not include a fan. They leave this for enthusiasts to choose a fan for their system purpose. Overclockers can go with high CFM fans while typical end users will go with a quiet fan. Although no fan is included, the recommended fan for a quiet system is a Delta fan, the same fan found on the recently reviewed MCX64-V. It produces 31.4 CFM and produces a decent 28 dBA. Swiftech strongly discourages the use of anything less, as the LGA775 CPUs produce an extreme amount of heat. The fan installs with the use of fan push pins and makes the work extremely easy.

Installing the heat sink is easy. Simply install the motherboard standoffs and then place the heat sink over the socket. The nylon screws sit directly below the fan brackets, so the heat sink needs to be installed first before attaching a fan.

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