Zalman's fanless WC rig reviewed: Reserator1

Delphis · Post by **Delphis** » Wed Sep 15, 2004 11:23 pm

Koolance GPU-180-L06:
"Tubing Size (ID) 1/4", 6mm "

Reserator:
"Only 13x10mm or 12x8mm silicone tubes can be used with this product."

Doesn't sound like they are compatible.

If I can't get the video card to be water cooled for a reasonable price, are there any other good options? Thanks again.

Tibors · Post by **Tibors** » Thu Sep 23, 2004 6:37 pm

A not completely serious idea mentioned on a dutch forum on how to integrate the reserator in your interior design:

Buy four reserators and use them as legs for a table.

acaurora · Post by **acaurora** » Thu Sep 23, 2004 6:46 pm

Delphis - I know that. That's why I have the EXOS Aluminum to handle the 6800, whilst the Reserator cools my Athlon XP. I'm sure you can purchase adapters, though.

Delphis · Post by **Delphis** » Fri Sep 24, 2004 12:27 pm

Just in from Zalman:

Some 6800’s can use the screws that come with the ZM80D-HP VGA Cooler, such as the XFX 6800. Others, you can use the screws that come with the Stock HSF. We will be releasing a revised version sometime soon that will be compatible with all 6800’s.

Support
Zalman USA, Inc.

acaurora · Post by **acaurora** » Fri Sep 24, 2004 12:30 pm

Probably their next fanless cooler, the 80E? lol...

davidstone28 · Post by **davidstone28** » Mon Sep 27, 2004 4:37 am

Does anyone have any particular thoughts on the GPU block? It seems to be a very inefficient design with low surface area:-

It gets crucified in the Xbit's review:-

"The internal structure of the water blocks is disgustingly oversimplified: there are no grooves, cavities or ribs to improve heat transfer to the water stream. Instead, there’s just a trivial through hole that comes straight from one nozzle to the other: I must confess I hadn’t expected anything like that from Zalman. Without running any tests, I can already express my doubts about the efficiency of such water blocks. First, the sole surface of the blocks is not treated at all. Thermal paste can improve this somewhat, filling in the micro-caverns on the anodized surface, but some polishing off would anyway help a lot. Second, the heat from the graphics processor is not transferred through a copper base, like in Zalman’s own CPU water block, but rather through a thick layer of aluminum, which has twice worse heat conductivity characteristics. Lastly, a through and round hole is the worst channel for the water stream. Such a channel has the smallest internal surface area, i.e. this is the worst case for heat transfer. It is good the ZM-GWB1 doesn’t come with Reserator 1 – it wouldn’t do to spoil such a nice system with a bad GPU water block. "

Edward Ng · Post by **Edward Ng** » Mon Sep 27, 2004 5:18 am

Pwned.

Post by **Rusty075** » Mon Sep 27, 2004 5:31 am

Actually, it's an incredibly efficient, at least from a flow-restriction point-of-view...and plenty efficient from a heat transfer standpoint.

They tested it with one of the hottest GPU available. (about 60 watts...second only to the 5950 and 6800Ultra in terms of heat output, and hotter than anything Ati has ever put out)

But the results from their testing are well within the bounds of normal GPU temps. People commonly report temps in that range with the stock Nvidia cooling on their cards. (out of respect for the usually fine work that Xbit does, I will reserve my comments on their testing methodology for this article..

)

With the wimpy pump in the Res1, a low-flow restriction block is more important than a super efficient one, so Zalman settled on one that was "good enough" to cool the GPU, without adding restriction that would raise CPU temps.

Swapping the GPU block is always an option, of course....but I would keep an eye on what the added restriction would do to the overall flowrate of the rest of the system.

b0se · Post by **b0se** » Thu Oct 14, 2004 5:53 pm

Some 6800’s can use the screws that come with the ZM80D-HP VGA Cooler, such as the XFX 6800. Others, you can use the screws that come with the Stock HSF. We will be releasing a revised version sometime soon that will be compatible with all 6800’s.

First post

There is a God! Just read this whole thread praying that there would be information regarding the necessary screw size for the 6800GT...

An XFX 6800 GT should be here tomorrow morning, and I'm ordering a Res1 soon after now I know I can use it with the 6800GT.

I'll have the first watercooled Dell in existence

I was wondering, would increasing the pump power have a negative effect on the system? They have made such an effort with this product I cannot see the reasoning (logic?) in having a weak pump. It may be the case that too high a flow-rate will reduce the time the water has to cool in the main tank and hence reducing its efficiency. Of course, I may be wrong, tell me if I am so I can go about looking for a faster pump.

Ross

Post by **Rusty075** » Thu Oct 14, 2004 6:09 pm

The reason for the small pump is silence and size. Adding a more powerful pump and increasing flow rate will improve performance, not reduce it, although the increase will not be dramatic.

It may sound counter-intuitive, but increasing the flow rate doesn't change the amount of time the water spends in the reservoir. If you move the water around the loop faster it spends less time in the reservoir each time around, but it makes more trips through, in any given time.

Sorta an odd concept, but think about the tubing as a racetrack: Let's say that the reservoir represents the backstretch of the track, and accounts for 1/4th of the total length....

It doesn't matter if you drive around the track at 3mph, or 200, you still end up spending 1/4th of your time on the backstretch.

b0se · Post by **b0se** » Thu Oct 14, 2004 6:39 pm

Thanks for the swift reply. If the gains are marginal I won't go through the hassle. Nice site also.

Oh btw, I'm thinking of dumping the Dell case + Mobo. Its a Dimension 8250, P4 3Ghz (Socket 478), 1Gb PC1066 RDRAM...

Would anyone be so kind as to recommend a compatible ATX mobo that would let me O/C the chip? Would really appreciate it.

Arzela · Post by **Arzela** » Sun Oct 17, 2004 6:15 am

There is a God! Just read this whole thread praying that there would be information regarding the necessary screw size for the 6800GT...

FWIW:

The BFG 6800 GT holes are only a few mils too small. You can safely file them out
to accomodate the Zalman screws (don't file out past the tinned annulus ring).

I'm sure though your local hardware store would sell appropriate
bolts/washers/nuts/ standoffs that would work. I'd suggest bringing the
Zalman screws with you and buying the next smaller size. To replace the Zalman
rubber rings , you could use nylon washers.

Bishamon · Post by **Bishamon** » Fri Oct 29, 2004 3:19 pm

davidstone28 wrote:

OK, I can't get my head around this chart... I installed my Res1 last night and now I've been checking performance...

I was plenty disapointed that the CPU-temp went WAY up from what I had with the Zalman CNPS7000B-Cu, and the CNPS7000B-Cu was hardly any noise at all (I could run it at the lowest speed with ~40C CPU-temp)...

Vital stats:

CPU: XP3200+
GPU: Sapphire Radeon 9800XT (not using OVERDRIVE)

Room-temp: 21-22C
CPU running BOINC (with GPU): 53C (59C) (I run S@h and cp.net)
GPU (original air-cooler): 62C (66C)

How come my room-temp is lower but my CPU-temp is way higher (but my GPU-temp was lower) than on this chart?

gitto · Post by **gitto** » Fri Oct 29, 2004 4:09 pm

check that the waterblock is making proper contact with the cpu.

from what ive read in reviews, the reserator beats the cnps7000

Post by **Rusty075** » Fri Oct 29, 2004 4:19 pm

Bishamon wrote:I was plenty disapointed that the CPU-temp went WAY up from what I had with the Zalman CNPS7000B-Cu, and the CNPS7000B-Cu was hardly any noise at all (I could run it at the lowest speed with ~40C CPU-temp)...

7000-Cu @lowest speed= ~0.31°C/W
Reserator1= ~0.38°C/W

The temps with the 7000Cu should be lower, no mystery there.

With your XP3200 (76.8 watts) you're getting about 0.40°C/W, which is pretty much dead on what you should be getting.

Bishamon wrote:How come my room-temp is lower but my CPU-temp is way higher (but my GPU-temp was lower) than on this chart?

They're running a 99+watt CPU, while you're running a 76 watt, but the sloppy methodology actually got them a better °C/W than I did, 0.24. Won't get really into the problems, but his CPU loading, measuring, and stabilizing procedures are all flawed.

In other words, that testing is so full of holes as to be useless for comparison.

Your temps are fine.....don't worry about them.

Bishamon · Post by **Bishamon** » Fri Oct 29, 2004 10:39 pm

Rusty075 wrote:With your XP3200 (76.8 watts) you're getting about 0.40°C/W, which is pretty much dead on what you should be getting.

Your temps are fine.....don't worry about them.

Thanks for clarifying...

Post by **Rusty075** » Fri Oct 29, 2004 10:52 pm

You're very welcome

It's easy to get obsessed about temperatures, but in reality, as long as you're stable, your temps are fine.

And, WELCOME TO SPCR!!!

Bishamon · Post by **Bishamon** » Fri Oct 29, 2004 10:57 pm

Rusty075 wrote:You're very welcome It's easy to get obsessed about temperatures, but in reality, as long as you're stable, your temps are fine.

And, WELCOME TO SPCR!!!

Thanks. I'm a seasoned modder, and all I care about is improving cooling for the purpose of lowering the noise.

Seems like my full-load temp is not that much lower without the GPU-block, so I think I'll re-mount it and see...

golemB · Post by **golemB** » Wed May 18, 2005 9:05 pm

Could you get full load on both GPU and CPU if you had a dual-CPU mobo, allowing one CPU to take care of the graphics benchmark while the other is doing CPU-Burn?

Or since this is water-cooling, how about using two separate (but nearby) motherboards with waterblocks and letting the tubing go from the CPU on one (running CPU-Burn) to the GPU on the other (running graphics benchmarks)?

Obviously this could skew sound measurements since the second CPU or system would add sound, and it wouldn't accurately reflect "real-world" conditions either, but it would be a way to push the limits of the watercooling system under test - i.e., to see if it will measure up to future systems' heat output. After all, this is an expensive water-cooling system that one might want to keep for a few years.

P.S. Great work, Rusty!

Aihyah · Post by **Aihyah** » Mon May 30, 2005 2:58 pm

well it seems to be down to 199 now. more reasonable for double resorator duty as systems are now too hot for a single res. anyone try this?

larsie · Post by **larsie** » Sat Jun 04, 2005 3:21 am

Hi,

Any news on the problem with the pump becoming more noisy after a while? I've had it for 3 months now and it's starting to become more noisy than the fans I replaced it with...

Also, which way does the base unscrew? I want to know before I start forcing it in the wrong direction

Looking from above, towards or with the clock?

Thanks,
Lars

jjrimell · Post by **jjrimell** » Fri Jun 17, 2005 9:15 am

I've got the same problem. My Zalman Reserator lasted all of about 3 months before the pump started getting really noisy.

I've taken th pump out, and ran it separately in a bowl of water and it was making the same noise. It is caused by the internal propeller vibrating.

My theory is that the pump is not designed to last in a hot environment. I think that extended time in hot water slowly softens the plastic and makes the pump's propeller looser in its shaft and hence the vibration. I suspect that it is the temperature of the wter that determines if you have the problem. I'm running it across 2 x amd64 CPUs + the GPU and the temperature is normally around 65 to 70C. I bet it is the folks who are just running it against a single cooler CPU that are ok.

I'm going to go down to my local aquarium and either buy a straight replacement, or perhaps try one of the external models, like an Ehiem 1046. But if I get another compact 300, I'm figuring that I will have to replace it again in about 3 months. Still, for a near silient PC, I can do the 120 bucks a year!

jjrimell · Post by **jjrimell** » Fri Jun 17, 2005 9:47 am

Regarding noisy pumps..... Just found this.... We are not alone...

http://www.zalmanforums.com/showthread.php?t=48

Snoot Waggy · Post by **Snoot Waggy** » Wed Mar 28, 2007 6:56 pm

I would highly recommend AGAINST purchasing any Zalman products , as their support appears to be pretty much non-existent, at least in my
part of the world (New Zealand).

I've lost the the metal braces needed to secure the cooler to the CPU, and have been emailing them for months trying to find out how I can obtain replacements. They have completely ignored me, not even one reply yet, and now I'm the proud owner of an expensive paper weight. I can't recommend Zalman to anyone, and suggest people look elsewhere as their service is perhaps the worst I've encountered.

Erssa · Post by **Erssa** » Wed Mar 28, 2007 8:00 pm

Snoot Waggy wrote:I would highly recommend AGAINST purchasing any Zalman products , as their support appears to be pretty much non-existent, at least in my
part of the world (New Zealand).

I've lost the the metal braces needed to secure the cooler to the CPU, and have been emailing them for months trying to find out how I can obtain replacements. They have completely ignored me, not even one reply yet, and now I'm the proud owner of an expensive paper weight. I can't recommend Zalman to anyone, and suggest people look elsewhere as their service is perhaps the worst I've encountered.

I think you are crying in the wrong thread. Customer advocacy exists for this kind of complaints. Also are you sure their responses didn't get stuck on your spam filters?

Edit: I just noticed all your posts on these forums have been about the same complaint. A single post on the customer advocacy is enough, no need to spam the same thing in every Zalman thread.

Zalman's fanless WC rig reviewed: Reserator1

Loading both CPU and GPU

Noisy after a while