Closer Examination

Swiftech has a plastic wrap around the reservoir body as it comes out of the box, so you will be peeling it off as part of the unboxing experience for a first look at a dust-free reservoir. You will notice now how substantial the reservoir is, not only in its hefty dimensions but mass, owing to the thick glass used. At the same time, you will also note that there is a section that is made out of acrylic and has a light yellow tone to it, which is different from the more transparent glass section above. The rest of the visible reservoir/pump unit is black for some contrast in colors, and we see an acetal plastic top with two threaded BSP G1/4" ports. The rectangular cuboid shape of the reservoir coupled with no struts at the corners gives this a fairly unique look as of the time of this review.


The stop plugs appear to be nickel-plated brass, and these come with a hex head in the center as well. All the more reason to again point out the lack of an Allen key, although it once more must be noted that Swiftech plans to include one sooner rather than later. Both ports in the top are threaded well, and they can be used as a fill port and a return line port if you prefer them as such. There is no tube inside for the return line to ensure the coolant does not fall through an air gap, thus creating turbulence and bubbles, so perhaps you might prefer to use these as a fill port and an air-bleed port instead. The top is held in place via four threaded screws in the corners, which go through the glass, and we can see also just how clear this section is, which bodes well for those wanting to use colored coolant.


The acrylic section is the pump top, and the images above show why it is not borosilicate glass. There are two more ports threaded directly into this, as well as two smaller holes on the two other sides where the mounting brackets are used. A softer, more shatter-resistant material such as acrylic makes a lot more sense to use here thus, with the other option being to go with something like acetal plastic that would have been opaque. A Swiftech logo badge has been applied to the front of the pump's body, which is made out of acetal, and on the back is an opening through which one of the cables exits.


Flipping the reservoir over, we see a label with specifications for the Swiftech MCP655-PWM pump. The pump barely juts out past the cuboid of the reservoir, and the rest of the cables come out of the bottom here. In total, there are three cables; the first for the LEDs in the pump's body and the other two for the pump itself, consisting of power via a full size MOLEX and a four-pin fan adapter for RPM sensing and PWM control. It would have been nice to see Swiftech either braid the cables or use all-black insulation, but knowing that the pumps come from Laing as-is, it would have added to the cost of the product regardless.