Introduction
It is the never-ending pursuit to pushing the limits of a product, which is really what overclocking is all about. Many ask, why? Is it about who has the fastest processor? For some, maybe; for most of the hardcore overclockers, it's just the relentless pursuit to push a product to its limits. There have been some quite ingenious designs using water cooling, and similar active cooling methods to the MC1000 and MC2000 coolers that we are about to take a look at. Some of these other methods resulted in disaster, since they can be quite risky.

Air Cooling
You all probably have read many reviews about a 900lb heatsink and 10 fans that push 900 CFM per minute - ok, maybe that is an exaggeration. But the point is that there is only so much you can achieve with conventional air-cooling. There have been some conventional air cooling methods that have allowed people to achieve some great results, but still not as good as active cooling.

Active Cooling
The method used in the design of the MC1000 and MC2000 is referred to as the "Peltier Effect". The "Peltier Effect" was first discovered in 1834 by Jean C. Peltier. The "Peltier" principle basically states that when electrical current flows through two dissimilar conductors, heat transfer will occur from the "cold junction" to the "hot junction". The image below illustrates how this basically works without having to get into a very long and extremely boring "Professor Jason" lecture on sub-atomic theory.

This is the entry level cooler of the MC cooler line. The cooler has a single 72-Watt thermoelectric device (TEC). If you observe the picture (right), you can see what the MC1000 looks like. The TEC is attached to the heatsink and comes in direct contact with the CPU when you bolt on the back plate. The CPU is sealed in between the heatsink and the back plate using neoprene gaskets, which make a perfect seal. The only negative thing about this cooler is the fact that on some motherboards it will block a couple of DIMM slots, and in extreme cases, may not even fit. One very innovative thing about this cooler is it is a Slot 1 "universal" design. So when you upgrade your cpu from, say, a Celeron Slot-1 to a Pentium 3, you just order a new back plate.

MC1000 Cooler click to enlarge

I was thoroughly impressed with the outstanding quality of this unit. It performed just fantastic in our tests. The metal used on the heatsink is professionally machined, and is just simply beautiful. To cool the heat sink, Swiftech uses two military-spec 33 CFM fans. When powered up, they produce approximately 43 DB of noise, which did not bother me at all when the case was closed. The operating specification for the MC1000 is -5 ?C to + 12 ?C - try that with conventional air cooling :) I would describe this unit as a work of art. Throughout the tests we did not notice any condensation problems from the MC1000, although there are some extra precautions you can take which are mentioned on Swiftechs web page.

MC1000 vs MC2000 click to enlarge

MC1000 Sloket w/Gasket click to enlarge

MC1000 Size & Space This image shows an MC2000, but gives you an idea of how much space the cooler will take up on your motherboard.

We tested this unit with three different types of CPUs: Slot-1 Celerons, PPGA Celerons, and a Slot-1 Pentium 3. The unit supports the full range of processors Pentium 3, Pentium 2, Celeron Slot-1, Celeron PPGA. Mounting the CPUs to the unit was quite simple. The huge Allen key screws made the installation a breeze. Each cooler ships with all the necessary hardware for the CPU you specify and instructions for proper installation. It is very important to follow these instructions to achieve the results that these coolers deliver on. In all of tests we conducted, the performance of the MC1000 was stunning to say the least; the unit performed on spec.

Specifications

	Peltier thermo electric pump, 40mm square, 72 watts
	Dual "Military Specs" 60x60mm fans, 33 CFM (Cubic Foot per Minute) each, for a total of 66 CFM - Rotation speed: 6850 RPM - Noise level: 43 DB - No tachometer
	5" x 2.5" aluminum heat sink, with 350 3/4" needles and a massive 1/2" base for a volumetric efficiency of 0.17 C/W
	Dimensions: 5" x 2.5" x 2 3/4" (incl. fans)
	Operating Temperature Range: -5 Celsius to +12 Celsius, depending on CPU load and ambient temperature.
	Price $119

CPU Serial & Scode: 98501416 SL39Z Malaysia

CPU Serial & Scode: L9090209-1798 SL36A Malaysia

Celeron PPGA 366Mhz
This was an above average 366 PPGA, it performed stable at 563 @ 2.0v using conventional cooling. The MC1000 took this CPU to the an extreme 616mhz @ 2.0v!.

CPU Serial & Scode: L9150599-1119 SL36A Malaysia

CPU Serial & Scode: L9026045-1719 SL37X Malaysia

CPU Serial & Cache: 19210739R-0195 Philippines SEC 4

CPU Serial & Scode: 8471501 SL2WM Costa Rica

CPU Serial & Scode: 98501416 SL39Z Malaysia

CPU Serial & Scode: L9090209-1798 SL36A Malaysia

Celeron PPGA 366Mhz
This was an above average 366 PPGA, it performed stable at 563 @ 2.0v using conventional cooling. The MC1000 took this CPU to the an extreme 616mhz @ 2.2v!.

CPU Serial & Scode: L9150599-1119 SL36A Malaysia

CPU Serial & Scode: L9026045-1719 SL37X Malaysia

CPU Serial & Cache: 19210739R-0195 Philippines SEC 4

Again, the quality on this unit is unparalleled. It is machined perfectly and has a massive heatsink with four of those massive powerful fans on it. The one significant difference for this unit is that it has a copperplate in front of the TEC's, which is referred to as a "Cold Plate". What happens is that instead of the TEC touching the CPU, it cools the cold plate and the CPU touches the cold plate. We had a bit of difficulty getting accurate readings from this unit due to the cold plate. It's a little tricky getting a thermistor in there to get the readings. That being said, the unit performed in the temperature range according to the specifications. If you order the Pentium 3 version of this cooler, you get a raised portion on the copper plate, which cools the L2 cache. Does this work? When we removed the back plate after bringing the unit down to -7 ?C, the cache was very cold.

MC2000 Fans click to enlarge

MC2000 CPU Mount click to enlarge

MC2000 Back click to enlarge

We tested the MC2000 with the Pentium 3 450Mhz. The unit will also support the Pentium 2, Celeron Slot-1 and PPGA Celeron (Slotket). Installation of the unit on the Pentium 3 went fairly well. It is a little tricky, just because the bolts are smaller than the ones used on the MC1000. Overall, though, it's not all that difficult if you follow the instructions. During our tests we did not notice any condensation forming on the unit, although some people have reported that they did notice ice after leaving the cooler running but not the machine, as the MC2000 uses a seperate powersupply. Swiftech discusses this on their web page with some resolutions to that problem.

Specifications

	Dual Peltier thermo electric pumps, 40mm square, 72 watts, 6 amps at 12 volts each.
	Quad "Military Specs" 60mm fans, 33 CFM (Cubic Foot/Minute) each, for a total of 132 CFM ! - Rotation speed: 6850 RPM - Noise level 43 DB - No tachometer - YES! it's noisy..
	5" square aluminum heat sink, with 600 3/4" needles and a massive 1/2" base for a volumetric efficiency of 0.09 C/W.
	Dimensions: 5" x 5" x 2 3/4" (incl. fans)
	Massive 1/4" x 1 3/4" x 4 1/2" cold plate made of solid copper for best thermal conductivity, with separate shims made of copper to also cools the L2 cache for the P2/P3 processors... And for the ultimate in L2 cache cooling, we also offer a specific P3 version of the MC2000 with the copper plate milled down, so that the L2 benefits from exactly the same refrigeration as the CPU. This version is only available for P3's, not P2's.
	Operating Temperature Range: -10 Celsius to +10 Celsius, depending on CPU load and ambient temperature.
	Price: $199

Pentium 3 450Mhz
This was an average 450 P3, it performed stable at 558 @ 2.0v using conventional cooling. The MC2000 took this CPU to the an extreme 600Mhz @ 2.0v!.

CPU Serial & Cache: 19210739R-0195 Philippines SEC 4

MC2000 Conclusion
The MC2000 certainly performs well. It kept the P3-450 a little cooler than the MC1000. But as I said, it was very difficult to get accurate readings on this particular unit. This was not the fault of the unit at all - it is just sealed extremely well. When you start adding up the cost of a power supply and a case that will accommodate this unit, it gets to be expensive. The case is important here because the MC2000 needs to breathe. It puts off a fair bit of heat from the heatsink. It is because of this that not everyone can afford to put one of these units in their machine; but if you can, then you will not be disappointed in its performance.

While testing this unit we found some very interesting results with the Pentium 3 450. The success rate in getting to 600Mhz is not as common as it should be. Out of four P3 450's, only two made it to 600Mhz. Other people in the overclocking community have confirmed that the consistency of achieving 600Mhz is not very common. This is something to keep in mind when making your purchase decision.

Overall Conclusion
What can I say? Finally, someone that takes great pride in their work. Swiftech has produced some excellent examples of craftsmanship here. My dealings with the main man at Swiftech, Gabriel Rouchon, were nothing short of professional. I called Gabriel to ask some questions and to get a feeling for the people behind this product, and I will tell you this: these people take great pride in what they do. Swiftech seems to be always looking for ways to improve the product. This is very important these days with so many companies throwing together fans and cooling devices in their basement that just don't work. You can spend some serious cash on air-cooled devices that are just useless, or you can put your money into a serious cooling product like the MC cooler line.