Swiftech Apogee GT Extreme Performance CPU waterblock

As of June 29th 2007 all Apogee Water blocks will ship with an LGA775 backplate.

Introduction:

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

Following in the footsteps of the award winning Apogee CPU water-block, the APOGEE GT model takes the cooling performance to yet another level.

The GT's primary difference with the Apogee is an optimized internal structure. The improvement in thermal performance scales from a minimum of 1°C and up to 3°C (at 100W) depending on the CPU's, with Intel's latest Kentfield quad core processors benefiting the most from the revised structure.

During the course of our test and validation procedures, we also uncovered additional means to further improve overall thermal performance as described in the tweaking guide below.

Performance Data

The Apogee GT was tested in our labs, using our standard equipment and testing methodology and is compared to the Apogee and -for reference the Storm water-blocks below. Test equipment and methodology closely follow Intel® recommended procedures. Actual CPU testing was also conducted, and the data is reported

It can be seen that the pressure drop of the "GT" is only slightly higher than that of the Apogee at equal flow rates, but remains substantially lower than that of a jet impingement type of water-block such as the Storm. In the real world where the range of flow rates is limited by the power of the pump, the "GT" remains perfectly adapted to multi-waterblock loops.

The next graphs show the thermal resistance (C/W) of the three water-blocks at various flow rates. Data sets are separated into single-die and dual-die processors in order to better reflect product performance depending on the current market offerings.

The Apogee GT averages 0.01 °C/W better than the Apogee on single-die processors.

Tweaking Guide

During the course of our live CPU testing, we have uncovered the fact that the overall performance of the water-block can greatly benefit (by up to 0.03°C/W) by artificially inducing a bow -or a convex shape, in the water-block base plate.

Motherboard and CPU Compatibility

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) - see note 1
• Socket 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
• Socket F (AMD®) compatibility is undergoing validation and will be updated as soon as possible.

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

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 GT includes a separate
hold-down plate for AMD processors using the AM2 socket (installation required)

Specifications:

• Internal structure: the CNC machined C110 copper base plate is at the heart of Apogee GT cooling efficiency. Designed using Computational Fluid Dynamics, the Patent Pending Diamond Pin Matrix was further optimized in the "GT" version resulting in increased surface area and coolant velocity. The thickness remains at 3mm to promote a high compliance factor with its mating surface (i.e. the CPU heat spreader) thanks to the base plate flexing ability. This particular feature allows additional "tweaks" to the Apogee generation of water-blocks and may yield substantial performance gains as described in the tweaking guide.

• The housing is injection molded out of Black Acetal. This process is key to allow mass production of the water-block, and thus economies of scale. The "GT" housing is not compatible with the regular Apogee as the deck height has been adjusted to match the new pin height featured by the GT base plate.

• 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™).

• 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)

Swiftech Apogee GT Extreme Performance CPU waterblock