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Inside the Block
When these blocks were first released, some (at Xtreme Systems; see this thread) complained that the tiny little pins in the block were bent. Indeed, there is photographic evidence of it. Gabe, CEO of Swiftech, assured the public that bent pins were inevitable due to the difficulty in manufacturing such a fine latticework. He further stated that none of the blocks that made it past quality control had bent pins that would affect their cooling ability.
The reason the pins are so fine is to maximize the amount of surface area for water-to-metal contact. According to Gabe, they are the smallest in the industry. So let’s have a look inside, shall we? (Warning – so you can zoom and see just how small these pins are, the image to the left is linked to the full resolution photo, so it’s about 1.3M.)
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It looks like this is a great sample. There were very few (meaning one or two) pins even out of place. Barely anything noticeable, much less that would affect performance.
Fittings
There is one small issue with fittings and this block. Some have complained in the thread at XS (linked above) that their fittings won’t screw all the way down into their block. Indeed, we ran into this same problem. We tried two different barbs, D-Tek high flow 1/2″ barbs and some copper plated barbs of unknown make (they were a gift). Neither would screw all the way down into the block by hand and we didn’t wish to try any force that could potentially strip the threads.
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Both sets of barbs screwed into other parts in this same loop without issue. To their credit, Swiftech has excellent customer service. As a testament to that, Gabe ordered several fittings to try and investigate the issue. I’m happy to report he has advised a little elbow grease is all that is needed in almost all cases. Please see his post putting the matter to rest once and for all.
On the plus side, the Swiftech-supplied fittings worked just fine. That’s not much of a surprise though, considering the difference between their fitting and the other ones, which are not abnormally deep. Thankfully, their fitting is a quality, user friendly barb with a recessed o-ring.
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