Swiftech is synonymous with two things: high-end watercooling parts and pinned heatsinks. Ever since the release of the original MC370 (and later MCX370) cooler, the company has remained the only widespread manufacturer of pin heatsinks. The concept is simple: pins have the potential to provide much more surface area than similar spaced fins, in theory improving performance. We'll see how this holds up, especially given today's heatpipe craze, a technology Swiftech has yet to harness.
The cooler ships in the relatively bland container shown above. Since this more of a niche performance model rather than a widespread retail product (although most online vendors do carry Swiftech heatsinks), a fancy presentation isn't necessary. Everything is placed between a pair of thick foam chunks so shipping is safe.
Unlike several manufacturers that like to include loads of (seldom necessary) accessories, the MCX478-V is a basic bundle. Aside from the heatsink there's a foldout installation manual, a pair of retention clips, extra mounts for 92mm fans (by default the cooler ships with 80mm mounts pre-installed), fan clips, and a tube of Arctic Silver Ceramique. It's nice to see a manufacturer include a high performance, well known thermal compound with their product rather than some generic paste. The fact that Ceramique is non-conductive makes it a safe bet. However, we'll be using newer Arctic Silver 5 for testing.
There are a total of 374 pins aluminum alloy pins inserted into a half-inch thick CNC machined C110 copper bottom. Base dimensions measure 3" x 3" x 1.66". You'll notice this is very close to the inner dimensions of the stock P4 bracket. In other words, the cooler fits perfectly into the bracket and because it's almost the same size, it doesn't wiggle around. This eliminates improper/uneven installations. Total specified weight is 620g - not light but not nearly as heavy as the larger all-copper heatsinks.
The pins are arranged in a circular pattern with more space between them as they get further away from the center. It makes sense to have the highest concentration in the middle due to most of the heat originating from that area. Unfortunately this also corresponds with the dead zone of most fans, so its merits are limited. On the corners you'll find the fan brackets. These "lock" into position into tiny grooves so they're easier to screw in correctly. The copper base is very well polished. Not as fine as can be (extremely fine grit and liquid grit could give it a mirror shine), but much more so than most copper heatsinks.
