Swiftech QPower Barebones Case

Company: Swiftech
Supplied By: Xtreme Tek Werkz
Product: FS020-H20 Series Liquid Cooled Entry Level Server Case
Street Price: Starts at $283 USD
Date Reviewed: March 27, 2002
Reviewed By: Jason

Introduction:

Many people want to water cool their system these days, but either don't have the time or the means to build their own from scratch. Sure their are kits and such that provide everything necessary except the actual installation. Recently a few companies have started to provide a complete plug-and-go solution for people who want to get up and running with a water-cooled setup.

Swiftech addresses this need with their Quiet Power (aka QPower) barebones case. The most common configuration, like I received, is a single CPU setup that is pre-installed, pre-filled and bled, and ready to have a system installed in it. The water block accommodates both Athlon/Duron as well as P4 & Xeon (Foster) CPUs. There is also available a smaller heatsink to fit PIII and other CPUs that utilize the regular tabs on the socket.

I would also like to thank Xtreme Tek Werkz for sending the case to review. Currently they have a promotion where they will be providing free shipping of the Swiftech Quiet Power within the continental United States by UPS Ground for a limited time!

First Looks:

Taking the case out of the box, the first thing you will notice is that the case itself is the very popular Lite-On FS020 server case. The front panel exposes four (4) 5¼" drive bays, and two (2) 3½" drive bays, with more hidden inside. Under the darker front cover at the bottom is a pair of filters that clean the air being drawn in via a very quiet 120mm fan. A few quick specs of the case:

• Disk Drive Bays: 5¼" x 4, 3½" x 2 (1.6” Height) (FDD), 3½" x 2 (1” Height) (FDD),3.5" HDD cage x 2 (1” Height)
• Dimensions:235mm x 535mm x 463mm or 21" x 18 1/4 x 9".
• Expansion Slot:7 slots 
• Gross Weight: 40lb.
• Intake: 2 x 120x25mm - 55CFM/25dBA each - One behind the front bezel, and one on the side panel.
• Exhaust: 2 x 120x25mm - 55CFM/25dBA each - Blowing directly through the heat exchanger in the back of the case.
• Total noise level is approximately 34 dBA!

The rear of the case you will notice one side panel has nice big thumb screws to allow removal without the need of tools. The radiator is also mounted externally with a gasket between it and the case to maximize airflow through the radiator. Behind the radiator (inside the case) are two quiet 120mm fans that exhaust the air out of the case while passing through the radiator. At first the idea of having the radiator exposed like this kind of bothered me, but I got used to it quickly as I realized this case is so big that it isn't going to be moving around much and the radiator should be safe from harm once you find a good place for the case. Also having the radiator on the outside keeps the heat out of your case and cooler temps inside. The water lines going in and out of the case go through nice thick rubber grommets to prevent them from being cut by the metal case and also give a nice professional install look

Note that it doesn't come with a power supply, everyone has different wants & needs these days so it is nice they they omit this so you can pick out the power supply of your choice. You can never go wrong with an Enermax power supply though!

Taking a look at the sides, they have pre-installed a 120mm fan that draws in cool air to blow over your PCI & AGP devices. Also note the ventilation slits to further aid in air circulation.

Checking a little closer at the fan installation, you can see that they have some nylon washers that raise up the finger guard to help with air flow and reduce vibration, both which help keep noise level to a minimum. The fan has a good length of wire and uses a standard 4pin connector. One little detail that would have been nice is to have a pass-through connector instead of just a regular plug, but that is a very minor issue, different people like different things.

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