Designed in the USA
One or more Patents Pending

DISCONTINUED VERSION

REPLACED BY APOGEE GT


 

Introduction

ap·o·gee: The farthest or highest point; the apex; a final climactic stage

The Apogee™ water-block succeeds our award winning MCW6000 series water-blocks with a quantum leap in performance, a universal installation design and competitive pricing resulting from economies of scale.

Using Computational Fluid Dynamics analysis, we optimized the structure -the Patent Pending Diamond Pin Matrix of our MCW55 water-block cold plate to match the thermal and physical characteristics of AMD® and Intel® latest microprocessors. In particular we took into account the trend for dual core processors which feature larger die sizes thus requiring a different treatment of the heat fluxes.

The resulting product achieves new heights in thermal performance with a lower pressure drop than that of the MCW6000 water-block which was known to be among the least restrictive high performance water-blocks on the market.

As a result the Apogee™ water-block may outperform our STORM model by a up to 1°C (at 100 Watts thermal load and 1.0 GPM), and further increase its lead in multiprocessor, multi-vga applications due to its low restriction characteristics as can be seen in our kit test results HERE.


Performance data

The Apogee™ was tested in our labs, using the same equipment and testing methodology as was used with the Storm and MCW6000/6002 water-blocks, and is compared to these products below. Test equipment and methodology closely follow Intel® recommended procedures. Actual CPU testing was also conducted, and the data is reported HERE.


Click on picture to enlarge - Lower is better

It can be seen that the pressure drop of the Apogee™ is lower than that of the MCW6002 at equal flow rates, and substantially lower than that of the Storm. In the real world where the range of flow rates is limited by the power of the pump, this will also translate into noticeable gains when multiple water-blocks are connected in series. A simple example illustrates this point quite clearly: using the same MCP350 pump, it will take three Apogee™ water-blocks in series to drop the flow rate to that of single Storm.

The next graph shows the thermal resistance (C/W) of the three water-blocks at various flow rates.


Click on picture to enlarge - Lower is better

Here it is apparent that the Apogee™ has the lowest thermal resistance at all flow rates and more importantly features a wider performance advantage at "real life" flow rates between .3 and 1.5 GPM.

The above two graphs can then be combined below to illustrate the pressure drop / thermal resistance relationship.


Click on picture to enlarge - Lower is better

From the above curve, it can be seen that the Apogee™ water-block does not necessitate a high pressure pump to be extremely efficient. It yields in fact lower (better) thermal resistance values than the MCW6000 and Storm water-blocks at all pressure drops.

Another way to consider the relationship between the water-block's thermal resistance and the pump capability is to plot the hydraulic resistance, which is literally the work that the pump must do.


Click on picture to enlarge - Lower is better

As in the preceding graph, the Apogee™ outperforms all previous solutions whether a small aquarium pump or a high pressure industrial pump are used.

It should be added that under certain circumstances, the Storm water-block may perform better than the Apogee™ water-block. We cite for example earlier generations AMD Athlon XP, MP and Duron processors where the die size is smaller in surface area (100 to 140mm2) than current microprocessors. In such instances, the difference in temperature was found to be 1.4°C at 100 Watts, and at the maximum flow rate allowed by our test equipment (about 3.3 GPM for Apogee™, and 2 GPM for Storm). Such test were conducted using the alternate testing procedure described in the link below.

TEST EQUIPMENT AND PROCEDURES

Finally, and to further validate our data we tested the Apogee™ water-block on on a popular CPU platform the AMD® Athlon® 64 X2 4400+, and such test confirmed the above data. Please see test results HERE.


Motherboard and CPU Compatibility

The Apogee™ is essentially meant as a universal water-block. It ships with all the necessary hardware for the following processor (classified by the type of sockets that they use):

  • Socket 478 (Intel® Pentium® 4),
  • Socket 775 (Pentium® 4 "Prescott"),
  • Socket 603/604 (Intel® Xeon™ - 400 and 533 FSB) - see note 1
  • Socekt 771 (Intel® Xeon™) - Optional AP-NC604 hardware pack is required.
  • Socket 462 (AMD® Athlon®, Duron®, MP, XP) - see notes 2 and 3 below
  • Socket 754, 939, 940 (AMD® 64 bit processors)
  • Socket AM2 (AMD® 64 bit processors) - All known motherboards but one (*) are compatible at the time of release. Please check the COMPATIBILITY LIST

(*) Release note 6-13-06: Gigabyte motherboards are not compatible at the time of release due to the backplate fastening system (pins instead of screws). Aftermarket replacement backplates are expected to become available in the future.

Removal of the motherboard is necessary to install the mounting posts in all cases, except with AMD® Athlon™ 64, Opteron™ (socket 754, 939 and 940), and socket AM2.


The Apogee™ is now shipped with a separate
hold-down plate for AMD's new AM2 socket.

Fittings & tubing compatibility

Two sets of Nylon hose barbs are included with the device: 3/8" (10mm) and 1/2" (12mm).

The Apogee™ uses NPSM threads. Please refer to "Connector Thread Compatibility" HERE for further information about this US standard.

Note 1: Intel® Xeon™ "Nocona" processors (800Mhz FSB motherboards) mounting hardware is sold separately under part # AP-NC604
Note 2: AMD® socket 462 (socket A). The Apogee™ can be used exclusively with motherboards featuring the 4 mounting holes around the socket.
Note 3:
Socket 462 compatibility (tall capacitors)

An optional hold-down plate raising kit is available for socket 462 motherboards featuring tall capacitors in the neighborhood of the socket. This kit raises the hold-down plate and allows up to 0.900" clearance (measured from motherboard to hold-down plate. The part # is AP-S462-R. This kit is available free of charge to users for all Apogee™ water-blocks purchased prior to 2-20-06. Qualifying users in the US are directed to call Swiftech customer service to procure the kit. Qualifying users outside of the US, please contact your Swiftech distributor in the area.


Raising kit - Part # AP-S462-R


Specifications


Exploded view
  • The CNC machined C110 copper base plate is at the heart of Apogee™'s cooling efficiency. The Patent Pending Diamond Pin Matrix was optimized using Computational Fluid Dynamics analysis to yield the remarkable results recorded by the water-block. In the process, thickness of the base was reduced to 3mm. This resulted in a higher compliance of the base with its mating surface (i.e. the CPU heat spreader) thanks to the base plate added flexing ability.


Patent Pending Diamond Pin Matrix Copper base plate

The Diamond Pin Matrix requires proper base-plate orientation in relation to the intlet and outlet ports as shown below:


  • The housing is injection molded out of Black Acetal. This process is key allow mass production of the water-block, and thus economies of scale.


Patent Pending Housing

  • The universal hold-down plate features mounting holes for all current Desktop and midrange server processors (Xeon™, Opteron™). Optional hardware is available for high-end server processors (Itanium™).


Hold-down plate - Click to enlarge

  • Nylon Fittings: 1/4" NPSM to 3/8" and/or 1/2" barbs
  • Fitting O-ring: (2) EPDM O-ring AS568A Dash Number 112
  • Base plate dimensions: 2" x 2" (50.5 x 50.5 mm)
  • Assembly weight: : 6.7 oz (190 g)

MSRP & Parts

Please consult your Swiftech distributor prior to ordering direct from us, or purchase the product factory direct here

Product Information
Part #
Description
Price
Apogee™ water-block Assembly including water-block, hold-down plates, retention hardware for Intel socket 478 (Intel® Pentium® 4), socket 775 (Pentium® 4, Celeron, Core 2 Duo, Core 2 Quad, Core 2 Extreme), socket 603-604 (Intel® Xeon™ 400, 533 FSB), socket 462 (AMD® Athlon®, Duron®, XP, MP), socket 754, 939, 940, AM2(AMD® 64 bit processors) two sets of hose barbs (3/8" & 1/2"), Arctic Céramique thermal paste, installation guide
$45.95
Options
AP-NC604 Xeon "Nocona" (800 Mhz FSB motherboards) Mounting hardware
$3.00
AP-S462-R Hold-down plate raising kit (for socket 462)
$2.50
AP-AM2 Hold-down plate kit for AMD AM2 socket
$5.95

 



Contents

Performance data
Motherboard & CPU compatibility
Fittings & tubing compatibility
Specifications
MSRP & parts

Related Products

Installation Guides

Product Reviews

March 2006