Zalman Reserator XT - bit-tech.net Forums

Tim S · 5th Oct 2007, 10:32

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/200...reserator_xt/1

Everyone loves a bit of watercooling, and the original Zalman Reserator was a popular hit, so what does the updated Reserator XT add to the equation? Is it worth the hassle or do you just want to buy it so you can stroke it all day?

Paradigm Shifter · 5th Oct 2007, 11:39

Cool - I was hoping to see a review of this on Bit-Tech at some point in the near future, as I was pondering this kit yesterday. I've only found two other reviews, both of which were singing the praises of the Res XT. Only problem is, when I see a review talk about something that highly, I get kinda suspicious about it not being impartial. Anyway, that's water under the bridge. I liked the review here precisely because you voiced your concerns.

One thing I would like to see, though; as Zalman sell a waterblock for the 8800GTX, I would love to see how it copes with a Core 2 Quad (or that Presler EE) and an 8800. Would make my mind up one way or the other for getting the Zalman VF-1000 and RHS-88, or going slightly higher and thinking more about this Res XT...

Bindibadgi · 5th Oct 2007, 11:55

Well, I love it, but I wouldn't pay £260-odd quid for it. But if I was inclined to spend that kind of money on an external wcing kit it would probably beat the Koolance on looks alone.

TomD22 · 5th Oct 2007, 12:08

I second P-S's comment - I'd like to hear how it copes with a 8800GTS and a quad-core, if you could find the time to add that to the loop...

Paradigm Shifter · 5th Oct 2007, 12:35

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bindibadgi

Well, I love it, but I wouldn't pay £260-odd quid for it. But if I was inclined to spend that kind of money on an external wcing kit it would probably beat the Koolance on looks alone.

I'm just hunting down reviews of that Koolance now. Yeah, I don't really care for the way it looks either - and I think that top LED lighting on the res would drive me insane in short order. Maybe I'll wait a while and see if this one gets any cheaper. Still, I imagine that all-in-one kits like this don't really ever drop in price significantly.

Bindibadgi · 5th Oct 2007, 12:48

Quote:

Originally Posted by TomD22

I second P-S's comment - I'd like to hear how it copes with a 8800GTS and a quad-core, if you could find the time to add that to the loop...

I don't have the 8800 block and the 90nm P4EE is the same thermal envelope as a quad core

The kits don't drop in price, and Scan do it for £250ish - check the price grabber link in the article. The thing is, you can't build an external kit like this for the same money and looks - I wish they just sold the case and electronics "raw" though.

Paradigm Shifter · 5th Oct 2007, 13:06

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bindibadgi

I don't have the 8800 block and the 90nm P4EE is the same thermal envelope as a quad core

The kits don't drop in price, and Scan do it for £250ish - check the price grabber link in the article. The thing is, you can't build an external kit like this for the same money and looks - I wish they just sold the case and electronics "raw" though.

Yeah, I had a feeling you were going to say that.

On the 8800 block front - I'm not bothered who the block is made by, I just want temps with the two heat-monsters in the loop from a site where I trust the results of tests.

...

I'm so indecisive when it comes to watercooling.

Every time I think I'll pull the trigger, a friend that already has watercooling has a bad experience...

samkiller42 · 5th Oct 2007, 13:59

This looks like an awesome looking case, and i love the dials and readouts on the front, so stylish.

When it comes to watercooling, i find its about getting it right the first time. I have been very fortunate when it comes to it, ive only had 1 leak, which was minor, with no other problems. But, with my leak i was very lucky that ATI X600 cards are built like tanks and can allow a lake of water to sit on it while the system is running.

Sam

adidas · 5th Oct 2007, 22:17

I'm very suprised by the comment at the end of the article: "For as little as Â£20-Â£40, you can pick up a massive piece of aluminium and copper that's very low noise and performs to within a few degrees of water".

Anyone cares to elaborate? My understanding is that when OC'ing at high clocks it's either water or Peltier, since air will get you nowhere.

The_Beast · 6th Oct 2007, 16:59

looks really good but it's way too much price wise

Bindibadgi · 6th Oct 2007, 17:07

Quote:

Originally Posted by adidas

I'm very surprised by the comment at the end of the article: "For as little as Â£20-Â£40, you can pick up a massive piece of aluminium and copper that's very low noise and performs to within a few degrees of water".

Anyone cares to elaborate? My understanding is that when OC'ing at high clocks it's either water or Peltier, since air will get you nowhere.

With a watercooling kit like this, it's geared for having a single fan take the heat out the system making it low noise - not for performance. It will provide you with both to a better degree, but is it £200's worth of "better degree"? You can buy a Noctua or TT MaxOrb or Scythe, TT-120s for example - large coolers with a single 120mm fan.

Otto69 · 6th Oct 2007, 18:01

New member, longtime reader here from across the pond....

I'm currently working on a new box using an Antec P180B, and trying to make it quiet. I've been pondering water cooling, but it seems to me that outside the box solutions like this still require at least one low speed fan to exhaust misc heat.

That said I'm wondering if the guys who disassembled the XT box con comment on:

a) the ducting of the air flow. I.e. is it possible that the fan is pulling air from around the edges of the radiators to a significant degree?

b) options for more or different fans? Maybe 2 attached to the radiators sucking filtered air in from the rear of the box where the stock fan is currently?

Otto69 · 6th Oct 2007, 18:20

One other thing I just noticed in the pics:

The radiators being used are the less efficient tubes versions, not the automotive style of radiator. Do any manufacturers of water cooling components make automotive style radiators in this size, preferably of aluminum, unpainted?

ledbythereaper · 6th Oct 2007, 18:43

Right, considering to cool an 8800GTS and a E6300 and get decent temps you need a 2x120 rad, I don't think this will cope well, tempted to get this and the zalman silent 8800 cooler though.

Otto69 · 6th Oct 2007, 20:52

Hmm.. why not build a proper one using aluminum (or wood, or plastic), with decent radiators and the gauges and pumps of choice?

Bindibadgi · 6th Oct 2007, 23:04

Quote:

Originally Posted by Otto69

New member, longtime reader here from across the pond....

I'm currently working on a new box using an Antec P180B, and trying to make it quiet. I've been pondering water cooling, but it seems to me that outside the box solutions like this still require at least one low speed fan to exhaust misc heat.

That said I'm wondering if the guys who disassembled the XT box con comment on:

a) the ducting of the air flow. I.e. is it possible that the fan is pulling air from around the edges of the radiators to a significant degree?

b) options for more or different fans? Maybe 2 attached to the radiators sucking filtered air in from the rear of the box where the stock fan is currently?

The radiators are pretty solidly held against the sides but they aren't sealed in with a shroud. There's no where to put extra fans in it unless you mod a three way connector from the one single one used to power the 14cm jobbie. However if you're putting three fans in it you might as well just put three fans in your case for the same effect.

Otto69 · 7th Oct 2007, 04:06

I was thinking more of substituting 2 120mm fans for the one larger fan.

The design continues to enthuse me, but has some problems. First, there's no dust filters on the radiators or the fan. Second is the problem of sub optimal radiators. Finally is the annoying issue with any external solution like this to have to run a fan in the CPU case to exhaust mobo heat.

I can't help but wonder aloud about a purpose built computer case thatthe XT would rest on. A sort of wide, flat case with no internal fans, just ventilation. Just a pipedream so far though.

Jipa · 9th Oct 2007, 17:17

Just a quick note: I came to check the dimensions of the unit, and I can't really belive what it ways in the review: "Size: 76mm x 436mm x 369mm" 176 or 276 maybe?

agentx250 · 11th Apr 2008, 14:34

i have one of these and i love it, it keeps my q6600 and my oc'ed 8800gts 320 cool. although i do have an aditional dual core rad inside my case between the cpu and the gpu. but still looks great and performs great.

Jeff_Cote · 20th Oct 2009, 16:26

I bit the bullet about a year and a half ago and bought the Zalman Reserator XT, along with extra coolant for the many years of service I would expect from something so expensive. I put it into my HTPC because I wanted to minimize any ambient noise while watching movies. It worked like a dream for about a year....

The manual suggests changing the Zalman ZM-G200 coolant about once a year. Around that time, the fluid level meter was showing the coolant was running extremely low, and finally started alarming. I pulled the Zalman off my rig, flushed the remaining old coolant out, and refilled it with the proper mixture of water-to-coolant. Since then, it hasn't worked right. The coolant level meter still shows it's almost empty despite the fact I've filled it to the brim. The coolant itself seems to coagulate, which is causing the pump to struggle pushing coolant through the system. I had to finally turn off the "automatic flow control" and crank the manual flow to its maximum so the Reserator wouldn't turn itself off and begin alarming. (Since it's an HTPC, it's never turned off. That would be a heck of a thing to come home to a melted down rig because my water cooling system decided to shut off.) This past weekend, it quit pushing coolant altogether, forcing me to yank the whole thing out and replace it with noisy internal fans.

I contacted Zalman about the issue. Their suggestion: Purchase a third party pump and put it in-line with the Reserator to control coolant flow. Not quite the helpful, customer-oriented answer I was looking for.

So in short, I bought a beautiful looking, rather expensive, coolant-filled paperweight. I truly hate to say it, but I would suggest to folks they buy something a lot less expensive and more modular, so if one thing fails, it's easily replaced without junking the whole kit.

Good luck!

5th Oct 2007, 10:32	#1
Tim S Pewlius Caesar bit-tech Staff Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Ascot, Berks Posts: 18,021	Zalman Reserator XT http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/200...reserator_xt/1 Everyone loves a bit of watercooling, and the original Zalman Reserator was a popular hit, so what does the updated Reserator XT add to the equation? Is it worth the hassle or do you just want to buy it so you can stroke it all day? __________________ Tim on Twitter \| Tim's Blog \| Tim's Flickr The bit-tech Blog \| bit-tech on Twitter \| Join the bit-tech & Custom PC folding team (#35947)

5th Oct 2007, 11:39	#2
Paradigm Shifter Lethargic Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 1,213	Cool - I was hoping to see a review of this on Bit-Tech at some point in the near future, as I was pondering this kit yesterday. I've only found two other reviews, both of which were singing the praises of the Res XT. Only problem is, when I see a review talk about something that highly, I get kinda suspicious about it not being impartial. Anyway, that's water under the bridge. I liked the review here precisely because you voiced your concerns. One thing I would like to see, though; as Zalman sell a waterblock for the 8800GTX, I would love to see how it copes with a Core 2 Quad (or that Presler EE) and an 8800. Would make my mind up one way or the other for getting the Zalman VF-1000 and RHS-88, or going slightly higher and thinking more about this Res XT... __________________ Core i7 920 D0 @ 3.8GHz \| 6GB Corsair 1600MHz \| Gigabyte EX58-UD5 \| XFX 4870X2 2GB \| 4TB \| WUXGA

5th Oct 2007, 11:55	#3
Bindibadgi Richard Swinburne bit-tech Staff Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: Omnipwntent Posts: 28,259	Well, I love it, but I wouldn't pay £260-odd quid for it. But if I was inclined to spend that kind of money on an external wcing kit it would probably beat the Koolance on looks alone. __________________ Made you look, made you stare, made you clicked this in your underwear! Den of Geek!

5th Oct 2007, 13:59	#8
samkiller42 KEEP IT CLEAN! Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Havant, Hampshire, England Posts: 3,184	This looks like an awesome looking case, and i love the dials and readouts on the front, so stylish. When it comes to watercooling, i find its about getting it right the first time. I have been very fortunate when it comes to it, ive only had 1 leak, which was minor, with no other problems. But, with my leak i was very lucky that ATI X600 cards are built like tanks and can allow a lake of water to sit on it while the system is running. Sam __________________ The Rig: i7 920 D0, Gigabyte EX58-UD5, 12GB DDR3 1600mhz, BFG GTX295, Samsung 64gb SSD, WD 640gb Black, Samsung F2 Eco 1TB, Dell 3007WFP, Windows 7 RC. The Netbook: Samsung NC10 Black, Intel Atom, 2gb DDR2 Xbox Live: samkiller42¦PSN: samkiller42¦Bungie: samkiller42

6th Oct 2007, 16:59	#10
The_Beast I am The Stig Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Wisconsin Posts: 3,219	looks really good but it's way too much price wise __________________ Rendering Machine - Gigabyte DS3L P35 - C2Q Q6600 - Antec New Solution Series NSK4480B - Corsair XMS2 2Gb - Sapphire 2600 XT 256mb - Seagate 'Cuda 320 GB - Antec Earthwatt 430 watt - Windows XP Pro -

5th Oct 2007, 12:08	#4
TomD22 Modder Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 62	I second P-S's comment - I'd like to hear how it copes with a 8800GTS and a quad-core, if you could find the time to add that to the loop...

5th Oct 2007, 22:17	#9
adidas Multimodder Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Richmond, Surrey Posts: 72	I'm very suprised by the comment at the end of the article: "For as little as Â£20-Â£40, you can pick up a massive piece of aluminium and copper that's very low noise and performs to within a few degrees of water". Anyone cares to elaborate? My understanding is that when OC'ing at high clocks it's either water or Peltier, since air will get you nowhere.

6th Oct 2007, 18:01	#12
Otto69 Supermodder Join Date: Oct 2007 Posts: 253	New member, longtime reader here from across the pond.... I'm currently working on a new box using an Antec P180B, and trying to make it quiet. I've been pondering water cooling, but it seems to me that outside the box solutions like this still require at least one low speed fan to exhaust misc heat. That said I'm wondering if the guys who disassembled the XT box con comment on: a) the ducting of the air flow. I.e. is it possible that the fan is pulling air from around the edges of the radiators to a significant degree? b) options for more or different fans? Maybe 2 attached to the radiators sucking filtered air in from the rear of the box where the stock fan is currently?

6th Oct 2007, 18:20	#13
Otto69 Supermodder Join Date: Oct 2007 Posts: 253	One other thing I just noticed in the pics: The radiators being used are the less efficient tubes versions, not the automotive style of radiator. Do any manufacturers of water cooling components make automotive style radiators in this size, preferably of aluminum, unpainted?

6th Oct 2007, 18:43	#14
ledbythereaper Modder Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Under your bed. Posts: 58	Right, considering to cool an 8800GTS and a E6300 and get decent temps you need a 2x120 rad, I don't think this will cope well, tempted to get this and the zalman silent 8800 cooler though. __________________ Laptop: AMD Turion X2 1.8Ghz/2048Mb DDR2/Nvidia GeForce 7600Go 256Mb/2x80Gb HDDs/17"Widescreen PC: Intel Core 2 Duo E6300@3.2Ghz/4GB OCZ Reaper DDR2 PC6400/BFG 8800GT 512Mb OC2 (700/2000)/ 1.1TB total HDD space/20.1" Dell Ultrasharp Widescreen TFT/ Creative X-Fi Gamer/IceMat Siberias/Logitech G15/Logitech G5 Backup Machine: AMD Athlon 2500+XP/1024MB Corsair DDR 1 Cas 2.5/Leadtek FX5950/500GB total HDD space

6th Oct 2007, 20:52	#15
Otto69 Supermodder Join Date: Oct 2007 Posts: 253	Hmm.. why not build a proper one using aluminum (or wood, or plastic), with decent radiators and the gauges and pumps of choice?

7th Oct 2007, 04:06	#17
Otto69 Supermodder Join Date: Oct 2007 Posts: 253	I was thinking more of substituting 2 120mm fans for the one larger fan. The design continues to enthuse me, but has some problems. First, there's no dust filters on the radiators or the fan. Second is the problem of sub optimal radiators. Finally is the annoying issue with any external solution like this to have to run a fan in the CPU case to exhaust mobo heat. I can't help but wonder aloud about a purpose built computer case thatthe XT would rest on. A sort of wide, flat case with no internal fans, just ventilation. Just a pipedream so far though.

9th Oct 2007, 17:17	#18
Jipa Licenced idiot. Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Tampere, Finland Posts: 3,062	Just a quick note: I came to check the dimensions of the unit, and I can't really belive what it ways in the review: "Size: 76mm x 436mm x 369mm" 176 or 276 maybe? __________________ Abit IP35 - E6750 - 8800GT 1024 MB - 2 GB 800 MHz - enough HDDs - 750 W Silverstone - CM Storm Sniper Asus P5Q-VM - Q9450 - 4 GB - 400 W Silverstone - Fortress FT01 AllTheMods - MetkuMods - LedCalc

11th Apr 2008, 14:34	#19
agentx250 Banned Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 32	i have one of these and i love it, it keeps my q6600 and my oc'ed 8800gts 320 cool. although i do have an aditional dual core rad inside my case between the cpu and the gpu. but still looks great and performs great.

20th Oct 2009, 16:26	#20
Jeff_Cote HTPC Freak Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Michigan, USA Posts: 1	Zalman Reserator XT died I bit the bullet about a year and a half ago and bought the Zalman Reserator XT, along with extra coolant for the many years of service I would expect from something so expensive. I put it into my HTPC because I wanted to minimize any ambient noise while watching movies. It worked like a dream for about a year.... The manual suggests changing the Zalman ZM-G200 coolant about once a year. Around that time, the fluid level meter was showing the coolant was running extremely low, and finally started alarming. I pulled the Zalman off my rig, flushed the remaining old coolant out, and refilled it with the proper mixture of water-to-coolant. Since then, it hasn't worked right. The coolant level meter still shows it's almost empty despite the fact I've filled it to the brim. The coolant itself seems to coagulate, which is causing the pump to struggle pushing coolant through the system. I had to finally turn off the "automatic flow control" and crank the manual flow to its maximum so the Reserator wouldn't turn itself off and begin alarming. (Since it's an HTPC, it's never turned off. That would be a heck of a thing to come home to a melted down rig because my water cooling system decided to shut off.) This past weekend, it quit pushing coolant altogether, forcing me to yank the whole thing out and replace it with noisy internal fans. I contacted Zalman about the issue. Their suggestion: Purchase a third party pump and put it in-line with the Reserator to control coolant flow. Not quite the helpful, customer-oriented answer I was looking for. So in short, I bought a beautiful looking, rather expensive, coolant-filled paperweight. I truly hate to say it, but I would suggest to folks they buy something a lot less expensive and more modular, so if one thing fails, it's easily replaced without junking the whole kit. Good luck!