It was a little over a year ago when we took a look at Swiftech’s MCP655-PWM pump, which was a Laing D5 pump with a reworked PWM motor for better compatibility with PC DIY watercooling. As a standalone pump, that product was impressive and remains a good buy for those looking at one.
Swiftech then took the logical step of integrating it into a reservoir and pump combination, and unveiled the new generation of their Maelstrom Reservoirs at CES 2018; a series of reservoirs of varying lengths to suit most customers, these were released to the market recently. Thanks to Swiftech, we now have a review sample to examine in more detail.
Coming in options of 50, 100, 200, and 300 mm in length, the Maelstrom D5 Reservoir series can be viewed as an extension of the standalone pump if it had a taller top. But that merely understates all you get here with integrated addressable RGB LEDs and thick glass sections in a rectangular cuboid form factor for the reservoir. It has a look similar to Watercool’s new Heatkiller reservoir, but does not have the corner struts and thus appears cleaner with a single material composition otherwise.
The image above also tells us that the numbers corresponding to the specific SKUs are not the overall length of the product but, rather, that of the reservoir section above the pump and pump top-account for this and add 80 mm to get the overall dimensions to figure out whether this would fit into your case or not. Let us begin the review with a look at the specifications below.
Specifications
| Swiftech Maelstrom D5 X100 Reservoir | |
|---|---|
| Materials: | Borosilicate glass reservoir, acrylic pump top, ceramic ball bearing, rubber O-ring, metal mounting brackets |
| Overall length: | 180 mm |
| Nominal voltage (pump): | 12 VDC |
| Nominal current (pump): | 2 A |
| Nominal head (pump): | 13′ / 4 m |
| Nominal discharge (pump): | 5.5 GPM / 1250 LPH |
| RPM range (pump): | 800-4800 RPM |
| Ports: | Four, BSP G1/4″ threaded |
| Warranty: | Two years |
