Reserator suitable for the following?

chrismox · 4 Feb 2006 at 12:40

I'm building myself a new PC (actually updating an old one) and I'm keen to get it running as close to silent as possible.

Having read around the silent PC subject, it seems that the best way to go is the Zalman Reserator1+

I'll be hoping to cool a San Diego 3700 and a 7800GT. As for the Northbridge, I'm intending to put one of the passive Zalman heatsinks on it. That should just leave me with the PSU (Seasonic) and hard drives producing a bit of noise.

I'm aware that the Reserator is not really the boy for overclocked components but if I keep things at stock speeds, do you think the Reserator will cope admiraly with the above?

Cheers.

MikeTimbers · 4 Feb 2006 at 16:55

Wouldn't bet on it. The 3700 at stock should be OK but doesn't the 7800 put out some outrageous amount of heat? Maybe if you didn't use the system at full load for too long it would be OK. If the 780 has the same kind of idle state as the cpu then the reserator would be fine when the system was just browsing etc. but if that was all it was for, you wouldn't be buying a 7800 so you must be planning on gaming.

I would be worried about my temps on both cpu and gpu with a reserator if the gaming sessions were to be extended over several hours. Initially it would be OK but as the reserator might not remove all the heat generated, over time the water temperature would rise until the load temps on both blocks became problematic.

If you want silent water-cooling but powerful enough for gaming, I would look at normal water-cooling but with a fan controoler so that when not doing too much, you can just turn down or even turn off the fans, but when gaming when noise becomes less of an issue, turn the fans up to full.

Read the sticky for some advice or just use Search - there have been lots of "recommendation" threads recently.

Teal · 4 Feb 2006 at 17:23

I've seen claims from people running a Reserator with 7800 SLI and FX-57 but personally I doubt they would survive long games sessions.

I run an AMD 4000+ with an ATI X850XT PE on a Reserator and can play all day if I want with no temperature issues, but I wouldn't want to put a lot more heat into the system to be honest.

chrismox · 4 Feb 2006 at 17:27

Thanks guys.

I found a review here: http://www.guru3d.com/article/cooling/272/ that seems to suggest that it works fine but advice from long-term users is always better.

The Asgard · 4 Feb 2006 at 18:37

Chris the Reserator will be fine m8. Had mine cooling a X2 4400 running at 2.8 @1.6 volts plus a GTX 512 620@1800 and it ran sweet running about 50'c after a few hours of heavy gaming. Mine is now currently running the same chip but now cooling my 1900XT @690/800. Excellent bit of kit and totally quiet. My Reserator is the V1 BTW.

The Asgard · 4 Feb 2006 at 18:38

MikeTimbers said:
Wouldn't bet on it. The 3700 at stock should be OK but doesn't the 7800 put out some outrageous amount of heat? Maybe if you didn't use the system at full load for too long it would be OK. If the 780 has the same kind of idle state as the cpu then the reserator would be fine when the system was just browsing etc. but if that was all it was for, you wouldn't be buying a 7800 so you must be planning on gaming.

I would be worried about my temps on both cpu and gpu with a reserator if the gaming sessions were to be extended over several hours. Initially it would be OK but as the reserator might not remove all the heat generated, over time the water temperature would rise until the load temps on both blocks became problematic.

If you want silent water-cooling but powerful enough for gaming, I would look at normal water-cooling but with a fan controoler so that when not doing too much, you can just turn down or even turn off the fans, but when gaming when noise becomes less of an issue, turn the fans up to full.

Read the sticky for some advice or just use Search - there have been lots of "recommendation" threads recently.

LOL

chrismox · 4 Feb 2006 at 18:39

Thanks Mr. Asgard - I've put a thread in the "Wanted" section so fingers crossed.

aftershxck · 4 Feb 2006 at 18:50

I used a reserator with a stock 3500+ (NC then Winchester), cooling an x800XT PE AND also used the other graphics card block to cool the NB..

Also I had one Papst fan for exhaust (no others), and it coped fine

chrismox · 4 Feb 2006 at 18:52

Hmmm, how did you fit the 2nd graphics block to the Northbridge?

Coolasmoo · 4 Feb 2006 at 18:58

Just installed mine today running X1900XT-X FX55 @2.8

So far everything seems fine, but ive only had it installed for a couple of hours.

The Asgard · 4 Feb 2006 at 19:29

Coolasmoo said:
Just installed mine today running X1900XT-X FX55 @2.8

So far everything seems fine, but ive only had it installed for a couple of hours.

Just noticed your rig and I have the same mobo and graphics. Do you sometime get long delays while waiting for XP to boot? Last bit of the boot. Like a numpty i let the asus auto install do things and I think it installed the Nvidia IDE drivers which might account for the delay. Trying to find away of getting rid of the dam things uninstall doesn't list them.

Coolasmoo · 4 Feb 2006 at 21:57

The Asgard said:
Just noticed your rig and I have the same mobo and graphics. Do you sometime get long delays while waiting for XP to boot? Last bit of the boot. Like a numpty i let the asus auto install do things and I think it installed the Nvidia IDE drivers which might account for the delay. Trying to find away of getting rid of the dam things uninstall doesn't list them.

Thats your problem,

If you can , roll back the IDE controllers to Microsoft and you will be fine

Coolasmoo · 4 Feb 2006 at 21:59

I forgot to mention,

Is it ok to leave the reserator on 24/7 even when the PC is switched off.

Its just that it is so silent and i know one day i will forget to turn it on with the PC

MikeTimbers · 4 Feb 2006 at 23:31

Depends on the pump. My rigs use pond pumps which are designed to be run 24/7. The pump for the reserator should be able to do the same.

Baddass · 5 Feb 2006 at 10:33

i've always left mine on 24/7, it's so quiet you won't notice it

Coolasmoo · 5 Feb 2006 at 10:37

Thanks,

One last question,

How often do you change the Water (i used De-ironised)

Im guessing it should be fine for 6months atleast ?

Zarniwoop · 5 Feb 2006 at 12:00

I change my de-ionised water (from Halfords) every six months which seems to work fine. The last time I changed it I added a bottle of the Zalman additive (I don't know if it makes much difference, but I thought 'what the heck'!).

With regards to how it copes with heavy temperature loads, don't forget that Zalman will be releasing an add on fan soon .

It follows the same design as the reserator itself, but just sits on the top and draws air over the fins.

It might be worthwhile having one and just turning it on for gaming sessions and turning it back off for browsing etc. It is certainly cheaper than getting a second Reserator!

Coolasmoo · 5 Feb 2006 at 13:16

That sounds interesting,

Should help if when using crossfire / Sli

Like you say , just turn it on when gaming

Webzta · 5 Feb 2006 at 18:35

You may find the reserator temps are pretty much same as high end air/bit higher at idle - but when you load, the raise in temps should be lower.

Are you set on the reserator ? A Custom built watercooling kit would be cheaper and a lot more effective.

Baddass · 6 Feb 2006 at 18:59

Coolasmoo said:
Thanks,

One last question,

How often do you change the Water (i used De-ironised)

Im guessing it should be fine for 6months atleast ?

yeah every 6 months or so, or whenver i need to move the thing really. I also add a bit of Halfords "water conditioner" which is designed to stop corrosion