Review in Swedish of Zalman Reserator

The alternative to direct air cooling

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Pjotor
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Review in Swedish of Zalman Reserator

Post by Pjotor » Mon Mar 15, 2004 12:12 am

Hello,

1. Review (in Swedish) of Zalman Reserator, the new passive watercooling system. Check www.nordichardware.com in a few days for the English version.

Bottom line: Editor's choice, despite somewhat flimsy parts in the flow meter and hose mounts.

Edit: Passive = passive radiator (there is a pump in there)
Last edited by Pjotor on Mon Mar 15, 2004 1:35 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Post by icancam » Mon Mar 15, 2004 12:43 am

Here are some more pictures and a little bit of text in English from CES 2004 coverage at TheTechLounge. It looks like a prop from a science fiction movie, doesn't it?
http://www.thetechlounge.com/article.ph ... _3&page=10

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Post by Tobias » Mon Mar 15, 2004 10:24 am


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Post by marc999 » Mon Mar 15, 2004 11:10 am

I am sooooo excited about this thing. If it let's me OC my Mobile Barton up the wazoo but in Silence, I'll be buying it ASAP!! Cant' wait for that English translation review!! :wink:

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Post by Rusty075 » Mon Mar 15, 2004 11:20 am

Saw it at CES..... pretty impressive, at least in the looks department.


Have your seen Innovatek's?

Image

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Post by marc999 » Mon Mar 15, 2004 11:30 am

Ah, Rusty, now I have to wait for two reveiws before I know what to buy. :cry:

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Post by Rusty075 » Mon Mar 15, 2004 12:06 pm

Well Zalman told me that they aren't realising their's for review in North America yet, and I'm waiting to hear back from Innovatek. :lol:

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Post by ahrbruz » Mon Mar 15, 2004 12:52 pm


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Post by marc999 » Mon Mar 15, 2004 1:31 pm

Rusty075 wrote:
Well Zalman told me that they aren't realising their's for review in North America yet
Those ba$t@rd$!! :evil: Oh well, if they make us wait to improve upon the design then I guess that's OK.

Well if weight is any indication of preformance, it looks like the Zalman is 6.5 Kg and the Innovatek is 4.02 Kg.

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Post by Rusty075 » Mon Mar 15, 2004 1:55 pm

marc999 wrote:Those ba$t@rd$!! :evil: Oh well, if they make us wait to improve upon the design then I guess that's OK.

Well if weight is any indication of preformance, it looks like the Zalman is 6.5 Kg and the Innovatek is 4.02 Kg.

I got the impression from my chat with the guys at the Zalman booth that the Reserator1 wasn't quite ready for prime time. But that was probably a preproduction sample we were looking at too. I'll reserve judgement until I get to see one again.


And it weight is the measure of performance, then my grandmother's 78 Ford LTD is the fastest car in the world. :wink: :lol:

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Post by HammerSandwich » Mon Mar 15, 2004 8:17 pm

Is it just a coincidence that Zalman's introducing this passive cooler in Sweden? I'll be interested when it can cool a Prescott in Death Valley in August.

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Post by Pjotor » Mon Mar 15, 2004 10:54 pm

I'll be interested when it can cool a Prescott in Death Valley in August.
That would be a challenge! Especially since you can't cool it below ambient (about 45-50 degress C for Death Valley) without a compressor or peltier system.

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Post by Wintermute » Tue Mar 16, 2004 9:00 am

They seem to have hit the market in Australia already. You may get your wish HammerSandwich. It's still summer there. Summerish atleast.

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Post by wumpus » Tue Mar 16, 2004 9:29 am

I'll be interested when it can cool a Prescott in Death Valley in August.
Well, for what it's worth, I effectively disabled the "low airflow" mode on my koolance system when I installed three panaflo L1As in the top assembly. So it's acting as a passive radiator most of the time with only basic case airflow.* This works surprisingly well, and it's on a P4 overclocked and overvolted to 3.2ghz (~100w).

Granted this case also has a panaflo L1A at half speed running as intake, and a full speed L1A running as exhaust, plus the PSU fan (on low). But I was honestly surprised how effective water cooling radiators seem to be, even with minimal airflow..

Based on my (admittedly unscientific) results I think passive radiators could be very workable!

* Once CPU waterblock temps reach the magic level (~104f) the L1As kick into "mode 3" which does power them up, thankfully. Otherwise I'd be screwed..

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Post by Trip » Tue Mar 16, 2004 9:39 am

Pjotor wrote:
I'll be interested when it can cool a Prescott in Death Valley in August.
That would be a challenge! Especially since you can't cool it below ambient (about 45-50 degress C for Death Valley) without a compressor or peltier system.
or evaporative cooling

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Post by herosformula » Tue Mar 16, 2004 12:42 pm

My original design for a passive radiator was similar to the Zalman design, but I had to scrap it because of cost (too much machining) I eventually decided to make one use two truck transmission coolers, which works extremely well.

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Post by marc999 » Mon Mar 22, 2004 11:58 am

Do they have the English version of the article up yet? I checked the site but couldn't find anything. In Swedish the path is /Testlabb/Recensioner/Zalman Reserator 1 but if you hit the England flag for English I couldn't find a "Recensioner" section, whatever that is. I also couldn't find a search button. :cry:

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Post by lenny » Mon Mar 22, 2004 12:13 pm

HammerSandwich wrote:I'll be interested when it can cool a Prescott in Death Valley in August.
What's the point? The user will be overheated :-)

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Post by thatguyX » Mon Mar 22, 2004 12:40 pm

Can this be put in a loop to cool graphics cards too?

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Post by halcyon » Mon Mar 22, 2004 1:02 pm

Sure, if it's enough to cool all the wattage and if your pump can tolerate the flow resistance.

It all depends on the components, but that's just a radiator, so it can be used in any kind of watercooling system in theory.

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Post by wumpus » Mon Mar 22, 2004 5:28 pm

I am seriously considering something like this for my next system build, given the GREAT results I've gotten cooling a 100w CPU with a nearly-passive water setup (the Koolance with semi-disabled fans as mentioned earlier).

When can we buy it in the US?

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Post by wumpus » Mon Mar 22, 2004 5:31 pm

http://www.nordichardware.se/recensione ... x.php?ez=6

Wow, great results on the Athlon 1700+ @ 2400MHz, 2.0V. Only 12 c over ambient. That's some SERIOUS heat, I know 2400mhz @ 1.8v is 110w, so maybe 125 or 130w?

Water cooling is the only no-compromises solution for a quiet, bleeding edge overclocked system.

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Post by halcyon » Tue Mar 23, 2004 2:05 am

Hmmm... I wonder what the flow resistance is? Considering it only has a 300 l/h rating (half that of Eheim 1048), it probably can't be used with very high resistance cpu or gpu blocks.

But still, even with the Zalman block it bests the results of Eheim 1048/Danger den RBX!

That is a _remarkable_ achievement!

If the pump is completely silent, then this could be a real killer. The surface area at least is big enough to handle even high wattage loads, if just the water flow rate is enough.

Very, very interesting.

Now only if I could pipe that to our cold room... where temps are always lower during winter and summer...

I wonder how much tubing length gpu/chipset blocks that baby can handle before the pump chokes?

Let's keep this thread alive and post more reviews as they are published!

EDIT: I just found out this snippet:

"At the booth they told us they are working on making a better pump for the RESERATOR to please the enthusiast community"
http://www.thetechlounge.com/article.ph ... _3&page=10

I hope they can make it more powerful and keep it silent.

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Post by marc999 » Tue Mar 23, 2004 9:49 am

Wow, great results on the Athlon 1700+ @ 2400MHz, 2.0V. Only 12 c over ambient
That's only the Waterblock (RBX is shows for some reason, not the Zalman waterblock) at idle or the Reserator at load. The actual CPU is 21 at idle and 24 at load (above ambient). Still, that's very impressive, especially considering there's no fans on the radiator. That's if I'm interpreting the data correctly. Because it's all in Swedish, I could be missing something. :D
Hmmm... I wonder what the flow resistance is? Considering it only has a 300 l/h rating (half that of Eheim 1048), it probably can't be used with very high resistance cpu or gpu blocks.
I believe it is the discharge head of a pump that is more of a significant specification in water cooling performance. Or at least this has to be taken into consideration. Maybe that's what you meant though. I agree, it would be nice if they could up that spec though. Still, it's only a number and the real world preformance looks pretty darn good. Some of those more powerful pumps make a lot of vibration and hum so I'd rather stick with this pump if it means 100% absolute silence. Also, if you're rich, you could hook two of these up in series for even better preformance!! :D

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Post by halcyon » Tue Mar 23, 2004 10:38 am

marc99,

The results compare Eheim 1048 + Danger Den RBX + big & efficient radiator against Zalman Reserator (combined pump / radiator) + Zalman CPU block.

As you can see, even the double flow rate Eheim pump combined with one of the best waterblocks around loses to the average Zalman waterblock when combined with the low volume pump of the reserator.

Both at idle and load temps.

That is quite a feat.

In fact, those results are so incredible, that I have almost hard time believing them :)

regards,
Halcyon

PS I can read Swedish :)

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Post by Nowhere_man » Tue Mar 23, 2004 8:00 pm

It looks like a prop from a science fiction movie, doesn't it?
or an aftermarket oil cooler for a Harley.

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Post by msmrodan » Wed Mar 24, 2004 9:33 am

perhaps the relatively low waterflow actually *helps* the cooling since the hot water coming from the cpu has time to circulate and rise inside the reservoir instead of being sucked right back into the pump..

This is definitely on my "need to get" list...I already saw it in a czech webstore for around 300$ ..the coolness factor alone is worth it.

When you think that you're basically getting total silence + waterblock + pump + reservoir + tubing it really starts looking good.

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Post by wumpus » Fri Mar 26, 2004 6:17 am

So does anyone have any idea on pricing or availability of the "reserator" (Engrish? :D) here in the US? I'm itching to get this one..

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Post by wumpus » Fri Mar 26, 2004 6:23 am

But still, even with the Zalman block it bests the results of Eheim 1048/Danger den RBX!

That is a _remarkable_ achievement!
I can't quite tell what is being compared here, in the other review?

http://www.sweclockers.com/html/recensi ... php?page=8

Maybe Zalman Reserator vs. this?
Vattenblock: Asetek Antarctica
Pump: Hydor Seltz L20 II
Tank: Waterchill Reservoir
Radiator: Black Ice Pro
Radiatorfläkt: Sunon 120 mm 83 CFM
Damn these people who don't speak the one true language.. American! :P

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Post by Putz » Fri Mar 26, 2004 7:37 am

"American" is not a language, eh... noo doot aboot it. ;)

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