Swiftech had a real winner on their cards when they released the standalone MCP655-PWM pump last year, and that laid a foundation for their updated Maelstrom series of reservoirs. In a stagnating world of ideas when it comes to reservoir design, Swiftech decided to go with the current hot trends of glass reservoirs by integrating thick glass for the reservoir body. They had to then decide on how best to support the reservoir for installation and the top/pump sections, and a compromise had to be made. Watercool went with a rectangular cuboid design as well, but with metal struts at each corner to hold everything together. Swiftech, on the other hand, decided to have an acrylic pump top at the bottom to allow for mounting brackets to be screwed laterally inward, with the glass section being thick enough to allow for shorter screw lengths along the vertical axis.

This means that you have a reservoir that is transparent most of the way through, although there is a yellow hue to the color of the acrylic that may bother some people if they plan to go with a clear coolant without using the integrated lighting. Swiftech could have made this easier by including the Iris controller, but perhaps their train of thought leads to a station wherein users of this reservoir would also have their new flagship Apogee SKF CPU block that comes with one already. Regardless, the Maelstrom D5 X100, as with the rest of the Maelstrom D5 reservoir series, is a looker and a half.

There are a few other things that keep this from being near-perfect, however, and they are all things that can easily be resolved. Swiftech is already doing something about one of these, namely the inclusion of an Allen key to aid in the installation of the screws/stop plugs. They are also working on a mounting bracket that allows for installation with fan mounting hole spacing rather than having to drill into a case, which should arguably have been ready at launch, but will now be a ~$8.95 optional purchase. It would have also been nice to see a return pipe at the top, but that can detract from aesthetics, so there is a compromise here either way.

Overall, most of my thoughts from the MCP655-PWM pump review hold true here as well. Swiftech working with Laing to help provide a more compatible PWM control on the tried and tested D5 pump is good for everyone, and the pump works great here too. At $150, the Maelstrom D5 X100 is a premium reservoir which, despite the small issues I have with it, does plenty to merit a recommendation.