Swiftech Apogee Ultimate Liquid Cooling Kit Review :: Installation and Configuration

This system was a pet project of mine that took awhile not only to get everybody on board to support it, but also gathering all the various components as well as allocating the time to make the long drive over to Swiftech, took longer than expected.  We all gathered one Saturday, myself, Gabe, Eric and Anthony to see what we could do to make a system that was not only designed well, but that would be a very good machine for overclocking and hence a power machine for the gamer and enthusiasts crowd. The case was the first thing that got whacked at on this day. We had to custom mount the front fan in order for it to fit in the system.

We really put the case through the motions as we cut out parts in an effort to reinvent the wheel and put stuff where stuff has never been before. Eric and Anthony went at this project like a chainsaw in action and made a mess in the process. You can see Gabe changing out the Black Pearl water block for the Stealth. We started to cut the top of the interior of the case out to put the radiator there and out of site, but we were in for a big surprise in that area. We had started out with ½ inch clear tubing and the Apogee GTX water block and were using the single smaller radiator. After the motherboard and system parts were installed we took a break and planned on getting together the next weekend to finish things up and do a bit of the old overclocking.

Gabe however got a wild hair and decided to just tear everything we did out and just start from scratch the next day. So what essentially started out as “our” project soon became Gabe’s personal project and when we cam back the following week, we were shocked to say the least, but in a very positive way. All that cutting and cleaning out the top of the case was for naught as everything form the ground up was redesigned, redone and implemented with Gabe’s ideas on what a system really should be. Customization is the key word here as this system is completely built to be the Ultimate Cooling System and great attention to detail was given to this task. As you can see in the pictures this is one very nicely built piece of machinery that shows the potential Swiftech has for going into the system integrator aspect of the market. In truth at first me and the team were rather pissed at Gabe for high jacking the project and going at it Han Solo style, but he did such a good job we soon got over it and began to admire the work done her. We are planning on even more mods to the case, such as added lighting effects and custom cut outs which will later add to this review.  

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