Cooling Specification
The QuietPower FS020 systems come in a variety of configurations depending on whether you have AMD or Intel under the hood, whether you have single or dual processors (it support dual P4 Xeons with the MCW462-U waterblock) and whether you require a GPU waterblock for your graphics card.There's a full list of shipping configurations here and the configuration sent to me was FS020-H20-C-W40, single Intel P4/Xeon or AMD Athlon/Duron processor and a single GPU waterblock.
Lets take a look at the CPU block first.
CPU waterblock
Pictured still on its shipping mounts, the MCW462-U is Swiftech's flagship waterblock and true to form and following Swiftech's multi-platform air coolers, the MCW462-U will cool a variety of systems from lowly Socket A Duron up to the mightiest of Pentium 4, Athlon XP and P4 Xeon systems. To quote from Swiftech's site, "CNC machined and anodized aluminum block, with heavy duty C110 copper base plate, lapped to 8 Micro surface finish. Focus jet cooling, with enhanced turbulent flow. Built-in quick-connect fittings, compatible with soft vinyl tubing."
The underside of the block was finished to near mirror quality and the internal water paths are designed to remove as much heat as possible from the CPU by creating turbulent flows of water over the copper that's directly above your CPU die or heatspreader, certainly more than their previous generation blocks.
The mounting hardware is pretty much identical to their MCX series of air coolers. All supported platforms have to make use of the supplied standoff bolts that attach to the 4 mounting holes on your target motherboard. Much like the air coolers, once fitted you then screw the block or heatsink to the standoffs using supplied spring loaded screws that give just the right amount of pressure on the processor for optimal contact.
If you are using a Pentium 4 system with the MCW462-U, you need to use the supplied brackets that attach to opposite sides of the block, like on the MCX478, and that give you the right spacing from the block to the mounting bolts on the motherboard. The brackets supplied support Socket 603 Xeons and Socket 423 old style P4's unlike the brackets with the MCX478 air cooler.
All in all it's a very nice block and definitely good to look at. The blue anodised aluminium makes it stand out over other blocks like the Dangerden Maze 2 or 3. I'd like a version without the natty Swiftech inscription but it's not that bad at all.
GPU waterblock
The MCW40 GPU block is designed to attach to GeForce cards from NVIDIA (MCW50 is available for dual fitment with Radeon 9700 and 9000 as supported cards as well as NVIDIA products) and it features an open channel design inside the block with dimples to promote efficient cooling through the same turbulent water effect (more of the water in contact with the surface area of the copper means more heat is drawn away) that features in the MCW462-U.
It uses a similar method of mounting to the MCW462-U in that spring loaded screws are used, only in this case directly screwed to the waterblock base rather than all the way through holes drilled in the block. It's physically too small for that.
Like the MCW462-U there's a version of the MCW40 that can take a small TEC element for even better cooling performance but TEC's are outside the scope of this review.
On to the radiator and pump.
