RESERATOR After Thoughts (Post Experience)

halcyon · Post by **halcyon** » Tue Jun 15, 2004 12:58 am

Has anybody tried the Reserator with a more powerful submerged pump? Is the radiator itself enough to dissipate dual cpu + gpu heat load without the fan (anywhere near useful temps, no overclocking)?

Nebor · Post by **Nebor** » Tue Jun 15, 2004 4:53 am

I just want to know if I can use a reserator w/ a P4, a 9800 pro (or maybe higher) and a Cool Current water cooled power supply.

Making for a fanless system, or maybe 1 slow 120mm.

halcyon · Post by **halcyon** » Wed Jun 16, 2004 12:49 am

Maxamus wrote:I think thatw would defy the whole point of it being silent

But you could only tell, if you've actually tried it with a more powerful (say adjustable Eheim, which can be silent when turned down) pump and found out that it isn't silent anymore.

I don't think Zalman picked the most powerful pump that is still silent in Reserator.

They probably picked the cheapest one that still circulates just enough water for basic 1 block cooling...

So, the question still stands:

Has anybody actually _tried_ Reserator with a more powerful pomp (and what's the noise level)?

Bosk · Post by **Bosk** » Wed Jun 16, 2004 9:21 pm

Maxamus wrote: One thing im gonner change in the next coming weeks is the silicon tubes.
Im gonner get some clear tubes and add some UV for added style and im gonner remove the "flow indicator" as its pretty useless. I can do with it it.
Not sure if silicon tubes are better for concealing flow noise than standard clear tubes.........

I've already done exactly that with my reserator Maxamus.
I replaced the tubing with Swiftech 3/8" see-through stuff, and ditched the flow indicator. I noticed the temps on my 2.8C dropped around 1-2C.

I'm also planning to replace the Reserator pump with an Eheim 1048, upgrade to 1/2" Clearflex tubing, and switch to a Silverprop Cyclone Evolution SE waterblock hopefully today or tomorrow if my stuff ordered from PC Case Gear arrives *fingers crossed*.

I'll post my temps and impressions here in the forum once it's up & running

Nebor: I was using the Reserator to cool both my 2.8C and my 9800 Pro but i found that CPU temps were climbing up towards 60C under load, so i'm now only watercooling the CPU.
My IC7-G is famous for reporting temps at least 10C higher than other boards, but even so given that there are hotter CPUs and vid cards around I would consider carefully before using a Reserator to cool both at the same time. I think the system is really at it's best when cooling just a CPU, unless you want to aim one of your case fans at the reserator which should drop temps noticably.

chylld · Post by **chylld** » Thu Jun 17, 2004 12:52 am

AussieFellah: how are you going to connect the 1/2" clearflex tubing to the reserator? just curious.

pccg are very reliable, i highly recommend them. i just ordered some sennheiser headphones and an 80L from them for hdd cooling (working well, 4-5c drop! in a bqe!) late tuesday afternoon, and i received the shipment just this afternoon. not bad for interstate

once it only took 20 hours...

Nebor · Post by **Nebor** » Thu Jun 17, 2004 2:52 am

I'd be fine if it loaded @ 60C w/ a reserator cooling CPU & GPU. Since this PC runs 2 instances of Folding@home non-stop, I'm always at load, and for my IC7-G and P4 3ghz, that means 71C. That's with my Zalman 7000Cu @ 12v and 120mm Acoustifan @ 12v. So it's hot AND noisy.

I've forgotten to turn up the fan before and seen the temps hit 83C. Computer is totally stable, and many months ago when I actually worried about temps, I checked it w/ a thermal diode and found my processor temp is around 17C higher than reality...

As long as it's stable, I'm fine. And don't forget, I don't just want to cool my p4c 3ghz & 9800 Pro with it, but also a Cool Current 400w power supply.

halcyon · Post by **halcyon** » Thu Jun 17, 2004 8:20 am

Maxamus,

We all*know* it uses an Eheim pump, silly you

But did you know that Eheim has a line of more than a dozen different submergible pumps?

And that Compact 300 used in Reserator is one of the most low powered ones?

Or that the bigger ones, when dialed down, are very quiet and still provide significantly more flow than Compact 300?

So, all I'm asking is for opinions from those who have _tried_ substituging the pump for a more powerufl one

Bosk · Post by **Bosk** » Thu Jun 17, 2004 9:49 pm

Chylld:
I'm heading down to my local Bunnings plumbing deptartment to buy some 1/2" Pump Adapters (this is the name for the blue fittings at the bottom of the Reserator heatsink- one end screws in, the other is basically a barb for the tubing to slip over).
If they don't have any of these that will fit, the other option is to use 1/2" --> 3/8" Reducers, and then have a very small length, say 10cm of 3/8" tubing which feeds directly into the Reserator while the rest of the system is made up of 1/2".
Hmm. Now that i think of it, it might also be possible to mod the Reserator itself to widen the 2 openings in it's base and perhaps increase the flow rate somewhat, though i guess that would involve scraping off the anodized blue stuff in those areas..

Maxamus:
3/8" ID - 1/2" OD will suit the Reserator perfectly.

Replacing the Reserator pump:
I read that article and yes they did mention that substituting a 1048 only dropped temps by 1C.
However, they weren't using better/larger tubing or a high performance waterblock geared towards higher flow systems, and therefore I'm kinda hoping that all of these together may make a substatial difference (though i fully expect the cooling ability of the Reserator to remain the limiting factor).

chylld · Post by **chylld** » Thu Jun 17, 2004 9:53 pm

i agree, the reserator itself is most probably the limiting factor here. not much you can do about that...

good luck finding that part in bunnings, i've tried several times to no avail. for me, the best place to get them is a shop called Purple Pig, they have a lot of stuff there including barbs etc.

1398342003 · Post by **1398342003** » Thu Jun 17, 2004 10:39 pm

http://www.systemcooling.com/images/rev ... ge5big.jpg

In that image, the unused internal hose connection looks like a standard barb. Has anyone tried to connect a 6" - 12" hose to it? This would put warm water near the top, and colder water near the bottom. Could someone test this?

Bosk · Post by **Bosk** » Fri Jun 18, 2004 12:45 am

chylld wrote:i agree, the reserator itself is most probably the limiting factor here. not much you can do about that...

good luck finding that part in bunnings, i've tried several times to no avail. for me, the best place to get them is a shop called Purple Pig, they have a lot of stuff there including barbs etc.

Looks like you were right chylld

I've just got back from the shops and Bunnings didn't have any 1/2" fittings at all - just twenty zillion aisles of EVERYTHING ELSE!

In the end I bought some crappy 1/2" plastic t-lines, plugs & valves from Mitre 10, though they didn't have any 1/2" pump adapters that will fit the Reserator nor any 1/2"-->3/8" Reducers... looks like i'll have to get creative to connect the tubing to the Reserator after all.

But the good news is my waterblock/tubing/pump from PC Case Gear DID arrive, so i'll try setting this baby up ASAP, and I may even post a mini project-report on it with temps and whatnot here tomorrow

halcyon · Post by **halcyon** » Fri Jun 18, 2004 4:25 am

Thanks Maxamus!

just what I wanted.

I'm guessing the difference would be _significant_ once one uses 2 x CPU block, 1 x GPU block and 1 x bridge chip block.

This kind of setup would provide much more flow resistance and I'm not sure the Compact 300 would be able to pull it off.

Then again, I'm sure others are right that the Reserator radiator will quickly become the limiting factor in a setup like that.

Hmm... perhaps Dual reserators

DrCR · Post by **DrCR** » Fri Jun 18, 2004 12:43 pm

What about adding a small heatercore to your front air intake of your case and letting the powersupply pull the air through?

I guess it might require a better pump, but even w/o an attached fan, your temps should go down.

Just thinking out loud.

DrCR

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Seal · Post by **Seal** » Sat Jun 26, 2004 8:41 am

Interesting results, i think that reserator isnt designed for full load constantly as the temperatures look like it wont sustain a 24/7 full load system considering varying ambient will greatly affect a rad system like zalmans with no or very little airflow.

RESERATOR After Thoughts (Post Experience)

Re: RESERATOR After Thoughts (Post Experience)