Reserator - how much heat can it radiate?

The alternative to direct air cooling

Moderators: NeilBlanchard, Ralf Hutter, sthayashi, Lawrence Lee

Post Reply
ehird
Posts: 8
Joined: Thu Apr 09, 2009 8:26 am
Location: n/a

Reserator - how much heat can it radiate?

Post by ehird » Mon Jun 01, 2009 3:52 pm

So I'm considering watercooling.

From what I hear the Reserator 1 V2 can radiate ~110W of heat.

i7 CPU = 140W TDP
GTX 295 = 289W
Total = 429W

Reserator 1 V2 * 2 = 420W

Is this right? Thanks.

Olle P
Posts: 711
Joined: Tue Nov 04, 2008 6:03 am
Location: Sweden

Re: Reserator - how much heat can it radiate?

Post by Olle P » Tue Jun 02, 2009 11:04 pm

ehird wrote:From what I hear the Reserator 1 V2 can radiate ~110W of heat. ... Reserator 1 V2 * 2 = 420W
Something's fishy here...

I can't find any data about the cooling capacity, whether it's 110W or 210W. But it also depends on how high water temperature you accept and how much above room temperature that is.
ehird wrote:i7 CPU = 140W TDP
GTX 295 = 289W
Total = 429W
I wouldn't expect the water cooling to have to handle that much power. Especially the graphics can be expected to dissipate some heat to the surroundings, and not just to the water. That holds even more true if you use a water block that only cover the GPUs.

Two Reserators should provide sufficient cooling though. The question is how to hook them up, since the GPUs can handle considerably higher temps than the CPU.
With all components mounted into a single loop you will get good load balance and a smooth temperature curve.
With separate loops for graphics and CPU you will reach higher maximum temperature for the graphics but keep the CPU cooler.

Cheers
Olle

ehird
Posts: 8
Joined: Thu Apr 09, 2009 8:26 am
Location: n/a

Post by ehird » Wed Jun 03, 2009 7:12 am

Oops - I meant 210W.

As long as temps are stable I'm fine. But what kind of headroom would I have? Probably not enough to, say, upgrade to a beefy SLI, right? With a reappropriated car/whatever radiator I'd have headroom though, unless I'm mistaken.

Thanks.

Olle P
Posts: 711
Joined: Tue Nov 04, 2008 6:03 am
Location: Sweden

Post by Olle P » Thu Jun 04, 2009 12:52 am

ehird wrote:But what kind of headroom would I have?
With the example hardware: None.
Cooling can, when required, be vastly improved by having a fan blow air onto the Reserator(s).

As an example Innovatek list their "Konvekt-O-Matic" radiators as capable of cooling 128W/180W respectively in passive mode.
Adding the "Booster" 12v fan, running it @5V, will double the cooling capacity. Source

Cheers
Olle

ehird
Posts: 8
Joined: Thu Apr 09, 2009 8:26 am
Location: n/a

Post by ehird » Thu Jun 04, 2009 7:28 am

Really? Maybe for those but Reserator reviews show a fan only helping a few degrees.

Would there be any obstacle to using a beefy, non-computer radiator for this?

Olle P
Posts: 711
Joined: Tue Nov 04, 2008 6:03 am
Location: Sweden

Post by Olle P » Fri Jun 05, 2009 5:00 am

ehird wrote:Really? Maybe for those but Reserator reviews show a fan only helping a few degrees.
A few degrees is what it's all about!
5 centigrade difference with 1 kg of water represents the water holding 20 kJ less energy. Remember that the water temperature shouldn't be more than some 20 degrees above room temperature, so a few degrees represent a significant change to that.

The given capacity for radiators is to keep the computer just cool enough. Add more heat and it might overheat.
ehird wrote:Would there be any obstacle to using a beefy, non-computer radiator for this?
Not from a cooling point of view! In fact, if I were to get water cooling myself I'd most probably use a wall mounted radiator of some type meant for heating rooms. (Requires a bit more tubing and makes the computer stationary though.)

Cheers
Olle

ehird
Posts: 8
Joined: Thu Apr 09, 2009 8:26 am
Location: n/a

Post by ehird » Fri Jun 05, 2009 5:39 am

What I don't understand is: so I put a radiator between gfx and CPU. Then I add another card in SLI. Surely I need a radiator between those too?

Olle P
Posts: 711
Joined: Tue Nov 04, 2008 6:03 am
Location: Sweden

Post by Olle P » Mon Jun 08, 2009 12:39 am

You've never mentioned using two graphics cards.
The GF GTX 295 use/need a specialised cooling block since it's two cards sandwiched.
If you plan to use two of those in SLI then there might be a need for extra cooling, but the second card won't put up as much heat as the first one.

What I meant for use with a single graphics card was either to make two completely separate loops; one with CPU (and NB, if desired) and one with the graphics card, or to put both into one loop; 1st Reserator - 2nd Reserator - GPU - NB - Graphics - (1st Reserator).

Cheers
Olle

philje123
Posts: 37
Joined: Wed Jan 30, 2008 9:30 am
Location: Lancaster

Post by philje123 » Mon Jun 15, 2009 12:58 pm

Didn't want to start a new thread so I thought I would post in here.

I too want to know if you guys think the Reserator 1 V2 will cool my system.

It will be cooling a Q6600 G0 stepping (no OC) and a 8800GTX (again with no OC).

I know that the 8800GTX is a pretty hot card so want to make sure before I spend my dosh.

Thanks

Olle P
Posts: 711
Joined: Tue Nov 04, 2008 6:03 am
Location: Sweden

Post by Olle P » Wed Jun 17, 2009 5:04 am

Depends on the circumstances...

Unless you run some distributed computing scheme (like Folding@home) that keeps the GPU constantly busy, or have a high room temperature, you should be fine.
During longer and intense gaming sessions it might run a bit warmer than you like, but then it's just a simple matter of having some fan blow a little air at it to keep it cool.

(The dissipation capacity is below the maximum load from your computer, but the thermal inertia should even things out as long as the average load over a couple of minutes is lower.)

Cheers
Olle

philje123
Posts: 37
Joined: Wed Jan 30, 2008 9:30 am
Location: Lancaster

Post by philje123 » Thu Jun 18, 2009 8:08 am

Thanks for that.

No I don't run F@H or anything and when I do ever play games it's only for a couple of hours max.

Just ordered one today.

Phil

shoarthing
Posts: 10
Joined: Sun Mar 05, 2006 5:19 am

Post by shoarthing » Wed Jul 29, 2009 4:29 pm

Hi - I have 2x Reserators in series, on a single loop off a 10W Delphi pump, having removed their nasty little Eheims.

They cool: a Q6700 at 3GHz in a P5W DH with a Northbridge block, Southbridge block, & Mosfet block; plus a GPU block, a Watercooled PSU, & 2x Raptors in a lead-wrapped Alphacool box.

. . . works fine, with a fair bit of headroom: this setup used to cool a similar setup with a dual-Opteron mobo. The system is on for weeks at a time.

robbie13
Posts: 41
Joined: Mon Jul 13, 2009 7:55 am
Location: Rijeka, Croatia

Post by robbie13 » Wed Jul 29, 2009 11:55 pm

I remember seeing a very cool Reserator build, the reserator was in a perfect fit plexiglass tube, with fan(s).I believe the airflow would greatly improve the heat dissipation.

spartan117
Posts: 28
Joined: Fri Aug 14, 2009 9:14 am
Location: UK

Post by spartan117 » Mon Aug 17, 2009 12:39 am

I always thought that the reserator 1/2's heat disserpation would be equal to the ambient temp, so if you use a table fan point it towards the reserator ;) or just wait for winter for the lower ambient temps :roll:

Post Reply