Swiftech is a very familiar name for most people that know some about cooling. Swiftech has made themselves known by making very good watercooling and air cooling products for a longer time period now. They have been on top of the cooling market and beaten most of the competition. We are having a look at their MXC 462-v heatsink for AMD tonite. We are for example going to compare it to a Zalman cooler and see how they both perform under some overclocking. Let's start of with some info and pictures about the cooler though.
About Swiftech:
Swiftech was founded in 1994 by Gabriel Rouchon as a Maintenance and R&D Organization for high-end Unix computers and imaging systems.Early 1998 when Intel� Corporation introduced the Celeron�, we immediately became heavily involved in overclocking.Our engineering backgroundallowed us to develop our own cooling solutions, using OEM products with the introduction of the MC2 sandwich cooler. By the fall of 98, we realizedthat air cooling was not going to satisfy our clients ever increasing need for speed, andduring the course of investigating thermo-electric (Peltier) cooling technology, we immediately recognized the potential application to CPU cooling. Since there was no serious implementation of this technology commercially available to the personal computer industry, we started our own assembly,focusing on engineering specs rather than economics. The result was the first commercially available Active Coolerusing thermo-electric technology to actually perform as intended:the MC1000, introduced in the spring of 99, which quickly became a world standard.The year 2000 became a turning point in our growth. AMD had just introduced their latest generation Duron and TBird processors, Intel� was coming out with the Pentium� 4, andthese new processors radiated twice as much heat as their predecessors. Because we had engineered heatsinks capable of dissipating the combined heat generated by a CPU and a Peltier element,we found ourselves in an excellent position tooffer high-end, air-cooled solutions to dissipate the heat generated by these new processors. A string of articles written by leading hardware review sites on the Internet recognized Swiftech socket coolers as the most effective cooling solutions availableon the market. Following the sky-rocketing demand,we developed our own manufacturing facility in Southern California in the fall of 2000.Swiftech is now 20 people strong,and operates in a 6,000 Sq Ft facility located in Signal Hill (Southern California). All our heatsinks and water cooling solutions are entirely machined on site, using state-of-the-art CNC equipment.
Specifications:
CNC machined, C110 copper base, 3"W x 3"L x .500"H, flatness better than 0.0003", micro surface finish 8 or better.
390 Helicoid Pins made of High Thermal Conductivity Aluminum Alloy, press fitted in the base.
Heatsink base dimensions 3"x3"x1.66"
Weight: 23.2 oz (650g)
The product: Please click on thumbnails to get bigger pictures
Swiftech sent me this Vantec fan to test with also. MAN THIS THING IS LOUD!!! Some specs on the fan:
This fan sounds more or less like a vacum cleaner but it shows some nice temps so stay tuned.
Please click on thumbnails to get bigger pictures
I had to change these fan brackets as you can see on each corner to fit a 80 mm fan. The Vantec fan is pretty big as you can see on the specifications below. You mount it on the heatsink very easy after you have changed the brackets since you only have to snap on the bracket screws which automatically lock the fan onto the heatsink.
Please click on thumbnails to get bigger pictures
The spacing and angles between the concentric rows has been precisely calculated to optimize cooling and reduce noise at air flow levels as low as 22 CFM and 23 dbA. This is a very unique design and this is the only heatsink that has it. I have never seen anything like this. The bottom of the heatsink is protected with styrafoam. Quote from Swiftech site: "The massive 1/2" thick copper base provides superior heat capacity for unparalleled stability in extreme overclocking applications". It's a very thick copper core on this heatsink and it will transfer the heat up to the fins. The installation is a piece of cake because the retention is intended for convenience and safety. It simply snaps onto the microprocessor socket. Tension is then applied by loosening two easily accessible screw-spring assemblies.
Please click on thumbnails to get bigger pictures
The bottom is very well done. It's scratch and dent free since it was covered up by the styrafoam. These are just some pictures of the bottom in different angles so you can get a good view of it.
