Four ATX Cases For High-Capacity Water Cooling, Reviewed

Introducing Swiftech’s H20-320 Edge HD

Wouldn’t it be nice if someone would design a true high-capacity cooler that installed as easily as a self-contained unit? Swiftech thought of that with its H20-X20 Edge HD cooling kits. We tested the extra-long -320 model.

Though it looks complicated, most of the parts in the H20-320’s installation kit are adapters. On the left, for example, is a 120 mm spacer box that allows the radiator to hang off the back of a case (when it won’t fit inside). Likewise, various socket support plates are seen on the right.

The included MCR-320 Drive Rev3 radiator adds a pair of secondary return holes to support parallel flow configurations for lower-flow devices, such as memory and hard drive water blocks. An integrated pump on one end extends 7/8” above the radiator’s top surface, forcing builders to use fans as spacers, while dramatically reducing overall complexity of the loop.

The MCR-320 Drive Rev3’s integrated reservoir also simplifies the system’s cooling loop, extending beyond the radiator’s upper surface in a manner that necessitates the use of fans as mounting spacers. The shape allows air to be trapped in either horizontal or vertical orientation, and Swiftech places fill ports for both orientations.

The heart of a CPU cooling system is its water block, and Swiftech makes a good one. The Apogee HD mates a solid copper base with tiny machined fins to a plastic cover, reducing galvanic corrosion. A pair of secondary outputs allows the same parallel flow arrangement as the kit’s radiator.

Also available in black, we chose the white version for its ability to show brightly in photographs.

Gold electroplate protects the surface of the polished thermal interface from tarnish. A second set of screws supports the larger threads of Intel’s LGA 2011 integrated cooler brace, and installing them is as easy as removing e-clips from the original screws.

After applying thermal paste, the Apogee HD screws onto the motherboard’s cooler support threads. Springs provide even contact pressure across the entire CPU surface.

Cutting, clamping, and filling make the H20-320 only slightly more time-consuming to assemble than a sealed liquid system. On the other hand, we look forward to not drilling holes in these cases to install a pump and reservoir, not draining the system between installations, and not checking four more fittings for leaks. Swiftech’s Edge kits are designed to provide most of the cooling and configurability of a full component system, but without the extra clutter.

Thomas Soderstrom
Thomas Soderstrom is a Senior Staff Editor at Tom's Hardware US. He tests and reviews cases, cooling, memory and motherboards.
  • EzioAs
    Too bad we can't see the full build on the cosmos II. Maybe cooler master should have sent the storm trooper instead
    Reply
  • wolfram23
    Should have put the rad in the bottom of the Cosmos II by removing the HDD trays. Seems like it should fit there.

    Also, Swiftech makes a sweet kit although I can't imagine the size of the triple rad. Using the Edge 220 myself, love it. Fits in my Antec 900 II.
    Reply
  • wolfram23Should have put the rad in the bottom of the Cosmos II by removing the HDD trays. Seems like it should fit there.Also, Swiftech makes a sweet kit although I can't imagine the size of the triple rad. Using the Edge 220 myself, love it. Fits in my Antec 900 II.The Cosmos II only accepts a 2 X 120 rad in the HDD compartment. Its too bad that toms wasn't able to complete the build in the cosmos II. Maybe within the end of the year, Cooler Master will introduce the Cosmos S II and fix all those enthusiast complains that i read.
    Reply
  • hellfire24
    i would take Switch!it's a personal choice no offence to others they are great too.
    Reply
  • theuniquegamer
    The Nzxt switch 810 is a good overall case. Too bad they can't fit the rad to cosmos ii . May be they should try the svgtech h80 triple rad air cooler .
    Reply
  • theuniquegamer
    The Nzxt switch 810 is a good overall case. Too bad they can't fit the rad to cosmos ii . May be they should try the svgtech h80 triple rad air cooler .
    Reply
  • Crashman
    theuniquegamerThe Nzxt switch 810 is a good overall case. Too bad they can't fit the rad to cosmos ii . May be they should try the svgtech h80 triple rad air cooler .Guys, I'm collecting suggestions for future uses of the left-over Cosmos II.
    1.) Yes it supports STANDARD 3-fan radiators. It just couldn't be compared to other cases if it had a different cooling system.
    2.) It can probably also be MODIFIED to fit the radiator used in the article.

    So, do you have a custom system suggestion? or are you looking for a modification article? Like I said, I'm taking suggestions. Thanks!
    Reply
  • EzioAs
    For the Cosmos II, try doing a full build with a standard 360 rad in the top and a 240 rad in the bottom compartment with a 3960X cpu and 2 LCS 7970 from powercolor to show the lowest temps and highest overclock on custom watercooling build. Maybe do an extreme build guide or something like that with the cosmos II. Just a suggestion
    Reply
  • acekombatkiwi1
    If you want to stick with Swiftech gear use the 240 edge kit down the bottom with a Swiftech 360 QP up top.
    Reply
  • koogco
    It seems a bit silly to use a rad with bits tagged on the end, since most good cases would be designed without those bits in mind. I can see the apeal of using something that is almost like closed loop, but using one of the optical-bay resevoirs with built in pump might have put you fairly close aswell.
    I would like to see what else you can do with the Cosmos II, perhaps a 240+360rad built with just that case as others suggested.
    Reply