Reserator Cooling Performance - Surprising.

acaurora · Post by **acaurora** » Wed Jul 14, 2004 9:06 am

I had heard that from initial reviews, the Reserator wasn't that great at cooling CPUs. However I find it sort of surprising that after running F@H my CPU only went up 3-5 degrees after 6 hours - Idle: 45-47 C, load: 50 C. Hmmm if it is this good, I wonder how the EXOS Al I got arriving will perform... *smirk*

TheDarkHacker · Post by **TheDarkHacker** » Wed Jul 14, 2004 9:52 am

the specs are about the same as a aircooled system

acaurora · Post by **acaurora** » Wed Jul 14, 2004 9:56 am

Well yes, but I am just surprised at the lack of variation for the CPU temp. With my zalman 7000A-Cu, mine used to go all the way up to 55. In any event... surprising nonetheless. Still am gunna sell it tho, I already ordered the EXOS Al, can't return it. Have to find a buyer now...

TheDarkHacker · Post by **TheDarkHacker** » Wed Jul 14, 2004 10:01 am

you will get much better perforamnce with the koolance system. i recommend you replace the fands with quiter ones

Pjotor · Post by **Pjotor** » Wed Jul 14, 2004 12:16 pm

TheDarkHacker wrote:you will get much better perforamnce with the koolance system. i recommend you replace the fands with quiter ones

The difference is in the noise, or almost total lack thereof. Silence is the key to nirvana... or something.

acaurora · Post by **acaurora** » Wed Jul 14, 2004 12:48 pm

Well this Reserator is really pissing me off. Evidently it is a problem among many Reserator owners, something gets loose, and they are greeted with a BANGING noise rather than complete silence. I've tried to take off the back plate so I can fix whatever's wrong, but I wasn't able to gain anything, but i did lose some skin off my hands!

I'm going to be putting the EXOS Al in and see how that goes, I'm fan swapping with M1As.

TheDarkHacker · Post by **TheDarkHacker** » Wed Jul 14, 2004 1:11 pm

have you ever though of just building your own system. you will get better performance with the same if not lower noise level. that is what i am in the middle of doing

acaurora · Post by **acaurora** » Wed Jul 14, 2004 1:35 pm

well I had wanted a pre-built one so that I wouldn't have to deal with selecting the components myself. I had heard that the EXOS Al does a good job of cooling, while staying pretty quiet (at least with L1As/M1As).

Lapinou · Post by **Lapinou** » Wed Jul 14, 2004 3:35 pm

I was impressed by the reserator, I've used one to cool an Athlon 64 3800+ CPU and X800Pro GPU.
With an ambient temperature of 25 degrees I generally get an idle CPU temperature of 32 (using cool & quiet), an idle of 38 (cool & quiet off), and peaking at 50 for long (4 hours+) gaming sessions (CPU & GPU intensive).

After going from intensive to idle CPU temperatures will usually drop 10 degrees in 30 seconds, then slowly slide back down to 32 (taking a couple of hours).

This is with a stock reserator (with Zalmans GPU cooler), the only mod being the removal of the flow indicator. The damn thing leaked like a sieve out of the box so I chucked it out.

Very impressive, silence may cost a penny or two, but it is golden.

acaurora · Post by **acaurora** » Wed Jul 14, 2004 3:46 pm

They are recalling Flow Indicators starting today, the new ones use metal fittings. Those temps are pretty cool, especially with the X800. An athlon 64 is too far away in my future, mainly because they are WAY too expensive now ($900 for a FX-53 939 pin!!!). Bartons don't run as hot as T-birds though.

In any event, I have an EXOS Al that has already arrived. The Reserator will probably be put somewhere else, maybe for my other computer (parents) until I get my Athlon 64. In the meantime, I am very tempted in ordering a 6800 Ultra OC w/Waterblock from BFGTech. The lifetime warranty is definitely a plus. While the X800XT excels in frames per second, the 6800 excels in quality, and I'd rather have quality, although I don't know how my Nexus and Seasonic PSUs are gunna handle the high power load...which makes me want to get the X800XT . . .

Future upgrades, in order:
1. EXOS Al w/M1As (pending to be done after week-long vacation), stays in packaging until 2.
2. Lian Li V1100 case, then install EXOS Al
3. BFGTech GF FX 6800 Ultra OC w/Waterblock, or X800XT w/Koolance Waterblock
4. Athlon 64 FX-53 939 pin (in the VERY FAR FUTURE!

)

TheDarkHacker · Post by **TheDarkHacker** » Wed Jul 14, 2004 4:23 pm

why dont you use the koolance for the cpu and overclock it and uase the resertor for the gpu and overclock it and still get good temps and both just a though

HammerSandwich · Post by **HammerSandwich** » Wed Jul 14, 2004 6:01 pm

acaurora wrote:However I find it sort of surprising that after running F@H my CPU only went up 3-5 degrees after 6 hours - Idle: 45-47 C, load: 50 C.

I think that delta is more a sign of your Barton's high idle power than the Reserator's abilities. What's your ambient and how many RPM did your Zalman 7000 run at 55C?

acaurora · Post by **acaurora** » Wed Jul 14, 2004 7:17 pm

I don't have a room thermometer, but normally i have the AC set to kick in if the temp goes over 75 F, so that'd be 24 C. As for RPM, I don't remember, but I had the fan @ next to the lowest voltage via fan mate. I chose next to lowest because I noticed i could increase the speed a little bit before any additional noise started.

TheDarkHacker - You have a point. With 2 WCers... why not just use both?

Although I still need to figure out how to get rid of this BANGING noise from my Reserator. Anyone have this problem too?

Downside · Post by **Downside** » Fri Jul 16, 2004 8:09 am

Normally the banging is caused by the pump, something to do with the impeler banging around.

I think I read something about glueing the impeller to the shaft to stop it, but you would need to remove the pump to do so.

Might be easier just to see about getting it warranty replaced from Zalman.

acaurora · Post by **acaurora** » Fri Jul 16, 2004 8:13 am

blah, well, if i get it replaced from zalman, doesn't that mean i'll be getting the same problem again?

I'll be gone for a week, and when I get back i'll give it another shot...

Downside · Post by **Downside** » Fri Jul 16, 2004 8:21 am

I've had mine running more or less non stop for over a month now, and no noise what so ever. Very slight vibration in the res unit, but nothing that transmits to the desk, or can be heard.

I'd say any noise or banging means it's defective. One working as it should is pretty much silent.

Reserator Cooling Performance - Surprising.

Reserator Cooling Performance - Surprising.

Re: Reserator Cooling Performance - Surprising.