anyone using a zalman reserator?

Mr.D

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I'm thinking of getting one for my worstation PC rather than my HTPC ( htpc is quiet anyway and I may meld the two machines together to give me an all singing solution for HTPC and serious PC use anyway).

I currenttly have a radeon 9800XT which sounds like its petrol driven when the fan kicks in : just wondering peoples experiences are with the reserator.

It seems good from reviews.
 
I ordered one anyway what the heck.
 
Let us know, I may order one too.

StooMonster
 
Let us know, I may order one too.

StooMonster
 
same as him/them too :)
 
It was reviewed in Custom Pc. Their conclusion "The Reserator is the most impressive water cooling kit we have seen".

Interested in this also.
 
Reserator 1 is designed with an optimal heat dissipation area based on ZalmanTech's HCET (High Capacity Extrusion Technique) and high efficiency coolingtechnology. As a result, this product achieves excellent cooling performance even with natural convection, making it the world's first fanless, noiseless water-cooling system. The reservoir, radiator, and the water pump are conveniently integrated into one assembly, and the heatsink is anodized to prevent corrosion and rust. In addition, the kit includes the high-performance ZM-WB2 Gold waterblock which is not susceptible to galvanic corrosion


£175!:censored:
 
Well its nearer £200 if you include the GPU block .
 
Be aware that the reserator pump is extremely low powered. Whilst this makes it silent, it also means that you cannot hide it away above or below the PC as you will generate a greater head of water than it can cope with.

Also, Zalman are not offering any replacement pumps meaning that if yours goes pop, you will have to replace it with an EXTERNALLY mounted pump which kind of defeats the object.

Zalman are quite blatent about this, already giving advice as to how to integrate a new pump with the reserator system.
 
This is no problem for me. Its for my main workstation PC rather than my HTPC although its likely in the future these will become one and the same machine.
I just need to decide whether to collate the machine into my LMP HTPC case or leave it in the study as my workstation.

Either way the reserator will likely be right next to it.

It looks pretty funky too!
 
Should arrive this afternoon so I can fiddle with it over the weekend.
 
If the pump ever does go pop, take a look at the Eheim range. They are small enough to fit into anything from a Midi case upwards.

You'll need some adaptors though as the barbs are 1/2" or 1/3" depending on the model.

The small ones are virtually silent and have enough flow to cool a GPU, CPU and Northbridge.
 
Its here! Nice and quick from Kustom PC.
Wow workmanship is superb on this unit. Even the missus was impressed , "it looks like a sculpture".

I'm not hiding this thing away!

Slightly nervous at the prospect of putting all this together (hope to hell it doesn't leak!

Need to pick up some distilled water tomorrow and then I might run it outside the PC for 24 hours as a leak test ( although this will defeat the point of a leak test as it will have to be dismantled for installationm in the machine. (maybe just risk the installation in th machine first off and run it with the power off for a few hours.

The GPU block is a bit of a worry as its only got butterfly clips to hold the hoses on.
 
I'd absolutely recommend removing all components from the case, installing the watercooling kit, testing for 24-48hrs and then putting the components back in. That way you can be sure that the bits don't have to taken apart to get them inside the case and risk leaks.

PTFE tape should also be used on the barbs that only have butterfly clips or order some decent 'o' clips.
 
When you say remove all components you mean everything down to the mobo?

The prospect of getting a leak is not nice I admit.
 
Remove everything including the motherboard, when I installed my watercooling kit I had a bare case with nothing except a PSU in there.

All the tubing should where it needs to be whilst the components are out, you don't want to be removing hoses later on as if it leaks - you very rarely get a second chance with electricity.

Once your sure its leak free then go ahead and stick all the components back in the case and then attach the GPU block to the 9800XT.
 
Actually looking at the kit it would be pretty easy to hose up both the cpu and GPU blocks outside the machine for a few hours and then then clamp them off and install them in the PC without draining the rest of the system.

I was also thinking of obtaining some non-conductive coolant.
 
The non conductive liquid your talking about is very expensive and difficult to source.

I remember a bunch of crazy guys in the US, submerging the motherboard and cpu in a bath of the stuff. Then cooling the whole thing down and overclocking.

If you're careful and make sure everything is good and tight, I'm sure you'll be fine. But remember you can never exercise too much caution where water and electricity is involved.

Just remember to report back here with pictures if you fry your machine :)
 
Totally ! PCs are just too boring unless you monkey about with them in potentially dangerous ( to hardware) ways!

I feel better knowing if use deionised water and some antifreeze its unlikely to cause damage if it leaks a little.
 
Keith,

I wouldn't mind seeing some pics when you get it sorted out........... I'd love to see it all tubed up.....:blush:


Sean
 
Well its all hooked up outside the PC with 2.5 litres of deionised water in it. So far no leaks. Very quiet , you do have t literally put your ear against the reserator to hear anything.

I'll let it run all day and install it in the PC tomorrow barring leaks.
 
Hi again,

If you get really into the water cooling thing check these people out:

http://store.over-clock.com/Water_Cooling.html

Whilst the reserator is OK, its performance isn't what it could be. If you feel the need to get yourself some serious watercooling kit then look at the D-tek White Water CPU block and Thermochill Radiators. Another bonus with these kits is they can be integrated inside the case using a bayres(water resevoir that fits into a 5 1/4" drive slot.

Let us know how you get on :)
 
I got bored so I installed it into the machine!
Not too difficult:tightening up the hoses inside the machine was a little awkward. Clamps worked well.

Luckily remembered I had some arctic silver 5 in a drawer upstairs although Zalman supply a couple of small tubes of thermal compound with the blocks.

I was a bit wary of the GPU block only having some clips to hold the hoses on but they seem to be quite effective.

To be honest it was quite easy installation wise. Even taking the fan and heatsinks off the radeon 9800xt was straight forward.

I quite like the look of the reserator so don't mind it being very visible (2 foot lumps of blue aluminium tend to be!)

I'm going to run it the rest of the day to check for leaks before firing up the PC.
 
I got bored again and fired it up after a few hours.
Works fine temps are around 32C for the cpu under load . down to about 21 at idle ( and its a hot day).

The resirator is nearly silent ( you can hear it if you put your ear against it).

I got distracted by my wife for a few minutes and succeeded in firing up the PC without turning on the resirator. Then spent an anxious 5 mins trying to figure out why it had locked up running 3dmark!

Then I noticed the flow indicator had stopped moving and cracked open the case and found that the temperature near the cpu was coming close to boiling the water in the block and pipes!

Turning the resirator back on brought the temperature from 76C down to 25C in less than a minute!

I'll post some pics soon.
 

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