Introduction

Crazy PC provided the test sample. Thank you.


CrazyPC's mission is to make available the widest selection of unique computer products and a dedication to customer service. The company specializes in hard to find computer parts, mainly in the area of computer cooling, case mods, and gaming accessories. You can take a direct look at Crazy PC's whole water cooling department here.

When it comes to cooling, Swiftech is one of the best known brands. It has a history in producing just about any type of cooling – from air, through water, to TEC (the only thing missing is phase-change and tubes for liquid nitrogen/dry ice). Swiftech’s line of water cooling products is also vast – CPU blocks, GPU blocks, chipset blocks, radiators, pumps – it’s all there. Today, we look at the Apogee GT – Swiftech’s CPU waterblock, intended for use with Intel’s newest quad core processors, that should also be capable of cooling older generation, single-core CPUs well.

The Apogee GT is a descendent of the Apogee, which continues where the company’s 6000-series blocks left off. The design has evolved, but the basic principle of large surface-area to cool the processor remains.

The Apogee has a scathed history, with many people criticizing the block when it was launched. It was the winter of 2005 when the block arrived in all its glory. Immediately, the Apogee caused a disturbance in the computer cooling world, mainly due to Swiftech’s claims. According to Swiftech, this was “THE” block to have, beating the Storm (which was considered to be king with a capital K) by 1 °C overall. After some testing, this was clearly not the case, with the Apogee performing worse than expected. To add to the drama, Swiftech halted the production of the Storm, denying enthusiasts the pleasure of having the best performing CPU block. The Apogee soon became the “Apologee”.

Things have changed dramatically since then, though. We now have Intel’s Conroe architecture, and quad-core CPUs have emerged. Not only is their performance “hot”, the temperatures they reach under load, sometimes in excess of 70 °C, are “hot” as well. Another thing we must keep in mind is that these processors have two dies under the hood (or IHS, shall we say) – that doubles the area that needs to be cooled.

Several people attempted to run a Storm on a quad-core CPU, yet results were usually disappointing – the cooler just couldn’t cope with such a large area that needed to be cooled. Then came along D-Tek and introduced the Fuzion – a waterblock that relies on large surface area to cool the CPU, and it instantly became the number one choice for quad core CPUs. Swiftech wanted to get in the game too, and so introduced the Apogee GT, a new incarnation of the infamous Apogee. Have all the culprits been sorted out? Does the block now have what it takes to beat a jet-impingement one, such as the Storm? Or will Swiftech have to go back to the drawing table and rethink the whole shot?

Specifications

From the Swiftech website:
The Apogee™ is essentially meant as a universal water-block. It ships with all the necessary hardware for the following processors which are classified below by the type of sockets that they use:

• Socket 478 (Intel® Pentium® 4),
• Socket 775 (Pentium® 4, Core Duo, Core 2 Duo ),
• Socket 603/604 (Intel® Xeon™ - 400 and 533 FSB)
• Socket 771 (Intel® Xeon™) - Optional AP-NC604 hardware pack is required.
• Socket 462 (AMD® Athlon®, Duron®, MP, XP)
• 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
• Socket F (AMD®)

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.
Three sets of Nylon hose barbs are included with the device: 1/4" (6mm), 3/8" (10mm) and 1/2" (12mm).
The Apogee™ uses NPSM threads.

Packaging

The block comes in a blister pack, which can be easily opened and closed. You can see the block, plus the compartment holding the accessories.
Swiftech provides a nice set of accessories with the block – of course, the mounting screws and bolts for just about any socket are provided. Additionally, Swiftech gives you a set of barbs (pairs of ½”, 3/8” and ¼”). Also, an Allen wrench is included, should you wish to take apart the block and bow it by replacing the original o-ring by a thicker one, also included in the package. To be on the safe side, there is also a piece of paper that shows the user how he should assemble the block in order to achieve maximum performance. The installation manual is also top notch, covering installation for every socket. Interestingly, I would like to note that the packaging is identical to that of the original Apogee – that means even pressure drop and flow graphs printed on the back side of the cardboard insert show values for the original Apogee.

Note by W1zzard: I also would like to mention the excellent support Swiftech provides. The mounting screws of my Swiftech Storm wore out after dozens and dozens of mountings. After firing off an email to their support (from my private non-TPU account) I got a new set of screws shipped free of charge after a few days.

Below is a list of everything you get when you purchase the Apogee GT:

• Apogee GT block
• Mounting kit (including separate AM2 bracket)
• Barbs
• Thermal paste
• Manual
• O-ring, Allen wrench