I'm very interested in this product.

3 years ago I bought a "CalmPC" case, which has passive watercooling capabilities for all the inside parts (CPU, GPU, PSU). When I say passive, I mean it, not even one fan or one water pump, nothing. True 0db silence.

The only problem with this setup is that it is limited to a 1ghz CPU. So, for 3 years I've lived with a 1ghz CPU.

If it wasn't for the Reserator I would have stayed with the 1ghz CPU even more. After you experience true 0db silence, there is no going back.

Well, the Reserator isn't a true 0db noise solution, but from what I heard it is close enough. The only disturbing thing about it is that I keep reading about many people who claim that its pump becomes noisy after several weeks of usage.

This could become a real problem for me, because Zalman request that you ship the entire Reserator to them, but I don't live in the USA, and shipping of such a heavy product will cost tons of money.

Did anyone tried to actually buy an Enheim 300 pump and see if it cured the problem ?, I saw that the price of this pump is only about $25 USD, so it's not such a problem to replace, if it's the culprit.

In this thread Rusty075 posts about exchanging the Reserator pump for two more powerfull pumps, so it shouldnt be doable.

Oh, and it seems to be the local custom to say something like welcome to the SPCR forums, thoug I'm new here too, so I might have gotten it wrong.

I have had my reserator 3 weeks now and have no audible sound what so ever

if you know what you're doing, then yeah, even if the pump does start acting up, don't bother returning it, you'd be able to buy two CSP750s or whatever other pump for the cost of shipping.

Thanks!, but actually I'm not new here, I just forgot my last username. Haven't been here for a long time. lol.


Actually I never did anything like this, but I'm pretty good at following guides. Is there one ?.


Btw, did anyone tried to listen to the Reserator's noise while no other fan was blowing ?. I say this because even the PSU's fan noise is about 30dB, so it will mask anything below it.

I really don't understand why should anyone bother in getting the Reserator, while he still have fans somewhere in the computer. If you have even one fan, no matter what size or speed, you're talking about *at least* 25-30 dB of noise. It totally beats the point of getting the Reserator in the first place, IMO.

I think the problems with Res1 pumps have probably been exagerated by the online reports of it. That's really pretty common with computer hardware. (remember the Ati drivers that "blew up" monitors?) There's probably something like a 99.44% chance that your pump will operate silently for years. If not, it's a simple, cheap fix to swap in a new pump. The Zalman instruction manual even explains how.


As for running fans while still having the Res1: It's really not "pointless", for a couple of reasons:


Most people who run the Res1 still have fanned PSU's, and with good reason. There's still heat inside the case that needs to be removed. (HDD's, mosfets, RAM, etc,etc) But by using the Res1 to move 95% of the heat outside the case, you reduce the heat load left inside the box, which allows you to run any fans you do have very, very slowly. My PSU fan is the last fan in my system, and since it is basically dealing only with its own heat, it never ramps above 4.5 volts. At that speed it's probably <20dba, which from its location buried at the back of the PC, is essentially silent.

Rusty,
I'm very sensitive about noise. I use my pc case without a side panel, and currently, even when I put my head *inside* the computer case (my ear is right next to the motherboard), there is no way to tell if the computer is ON or OFF, as long as the hard drive is disconnected. I would very much want to keep things like this. This setup has served me well for 3 years, with no heating problems. I use a barracuda HD inside an acoustic chamber, so the only noise from my computer comes from the CRT monitor, a very faint slight buzz, which is a problem with all CRT monitors (and believe me, I've checked many), it is a bit annoying, but you get used to it. But I can tell you that I will never get used to the noise of a fan again, ever. Even if the fan's motor is 0db silent when rotating, still, there is air turbulence noise.

My point is, as long as there is some fan somewhere in the PC, there will always be a difference in noise between the ON and OFF states of the computer. This is a very bad thing.

jones_r, how do you cool your PSU without a fan? is it also watercooled?

regarding fan noise... well obviously people have different tolerances for certain noises. but i have to say that i have two PCs next to each other in the same room where i sleep. one has 3 fans, the other 5 (including PSU). when i wake up in the morning, i have to look at the LEDs to see if i left them on overnight. i would say that i am quite sensitive to sound, and i honestly cannot hear these computers. undervolted, unobstructed, decoupled fans can do miracles. of course you need the right model fan. i'm sure you've seen MikeC's various rigs which all have fans and he has measured them <20db with high quality gear and testing conditions.

basically what i'm saying is that all hope is not lost if you want a reserator and a fanned PSU. PSUs are tricky, but you can mod them with better fans to point of <20db. but hey, maybe your hearing is super-sensitive... i'd say its worth a try anyway. fans have come a long way in the past few years IMO.

I'll put a vote in for some fans being inaudible. Heaf over to the recommended fan list, then undervolt the fan. I really cannot hear some of the fans I have if I am more than 20-30 cm away from them. You may be more sensitive, but as long as they are decoupled inside a non aluminium case then you should be OK.

well, it's not only a problem when I sleep, I also do audio recordings in my room. My room is acoustically treated (foam) so it is very very revealing for noise. The ambient noise in the room is practically zero.


About the PSU, yes, it is also watercooled (and I will still use it when I get the reserator). But again, I'm talking about passive watercooling, no pump. The coolant liquid inside the tubes is not water, it is a liquid which its boiling temp is lower than water. The coolant reach the PSU's heatsink in a liquid state, and when it touches the hot heatsink, it turns to vapor, the vapor continue going inside the tube to the panel of the pc case, and there heat is transferred to the metal panel, and the vapor turns to liquid again. This is a 100% passive operation, it is activated only by the heat itself, hence impossible to hear.

I thought this was called phase change and not watercooling. And you are saying it is'nt water in the cooling system. Where can you buy a phase-change cooled psu. I would like one.

so it's a heatpipe, big diff between that and water cooling.
what exactly is your setup right now, is it like that $1500 zalman case where your whole case is a heatsink and you just have a bunch of heatpipes connected to it, or what? did you do the work yourself? sounds kinda neat.

and by "know what you're doing" i just meant in general. i'm not familiar with the pump the Reserator uses, but between looking at the old pump and going to a hardware store you shouldn't have a hard time getting a new pump working; even easier than that if you replace it with another of the same pump. if you Google there might be a proper guide written on some other forum, the Reserator has gotten the attention of a lot of not-quiet types too. like Rusty said, people are way more likely to say something if they're having problems - there's normally no reason for people to reply in a thread about something just to say "i bought one, works okay".

Sorry about misleading you. I thought phase change, even though it does not uses water, was still under the cateogry of watercooling...

Yes, the solution I'm using is the same idea as the Zalman $1500 pc case. A korean company was the first one to implement the idea and produce such case, and I bought it from them 3 years ago. It cost (back then) $200 USD, including shipping. For a while there it did the job of the Zalman $1500 case, at a fraction of the price. The only problem is that the CPU is limited to 1Ghz (which wasn't a problem then).

A 1Ghz CPU back then could have the same wattage as a 2GHz CPU today. Figure out how many watts your current CPU uses, and you can use a faster CPU that outputs the same number of watts.

PS ... It might be important to know both the idle heat output and the load heat outputs.

no worries, just when people say wc they usually mean pump, tubing, waterblocks and some sort of radiator, and mostly DIY.
that's neat, have any pics of the case? does the company still exist? seems weird that something like that would have gone unnoticed.