Welcome to an independent hands-on review of Zalman Reserator1 v2, top-notch PC water cooling system.
Like million times before, one of the fans on my machine went out of axis and started making non-stop annoying rattling noise. Since there were 3 fans in total there (CPU, VGA, PSU), I could not pinpoint exactly which one gone mad, so I decided to do a complete overhaul.
PC water cooling solutions are on the market for quite a few years now, so I reckoned that the technology is mature enough to give it a try. Since water cooling solutions that include one or more fans defy the purpose for me, I turned to ZALMAN's completely FANLESS water cooling solution named Reserator1 v2.
Search for Zalman's european distributor yielded Quiet PC, online hardware store specializing in PC cooling solutions. About a week later, the box arrived.
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| The box that came in, 770mm x 290mm x 420mmm weighting around 14kg |
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| Label on the box |
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| The CD is there for size comparison |
Now for some specs:
RESERATOR (Reservoir + Radiator + Pump)
- Dissipation Area: 1,274m2
- Weight: 6.5kg
- Dimensions: 150(L) x 150(W) x 592(H) mm
- Material: Anodized Pure Aluminum
- Coolant Capacity: Max. 2.5L
- Integrated Water Pump: 5 W, Qmax 300L/h
- Maximum Lift: 0.5m
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| My cat got really interested in all the nice pictures on the box :) |
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| Top compartment: tubes, 4m in length, 8mm inside diameter with 2mm wall |
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| Reservoir + Radiator = Reserator, the beast itself |
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| This version shipped with a british power plug |
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| Zalman's top-notch workmanship |
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| Not a single sharp edge on the whole unit, completely safe to handle |
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| The famous auto-lock, minimal spill, inlet and outlet Quick Release Couplings |
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| Top cover is a screw-on job |
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| Interesting radiator fins configuration |
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| Additional box contents: CPU Water Block, VGA Water Block, 0.5 liters of coolant, a slot bracket and tube Quick Release Couplings |
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| CPU Water Block, ZM-WB5 Plus |
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| VGA Water Block, ZM-GWB3 |
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| Anti-Corrosion Coolant, ZM-G200, 0.5 liters |
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| The lucky receiver: Intel Core 2 Quad Q8300, 2.5GHz, Yorkfield (45nm), 95W TDP |
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| The motherboard is ASUS P5P43TD PRO, Northbridge passive cooled |
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| Zalman's CPU Water Block retention mechanism, on the backside of the MBD |
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| CPU Water Block fits easily, a real joy to work with |
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| CPU Water Block installed and ready to go |
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| The lucky receiver: ATI Radeon HD 6850, Barts (40nm), 775MHz, 127W TDP |
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| VGA Water Block installed and ready to go |
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| To complete the picture we added Zalman ZM600HP, 600W heat-pipe aided PSU |
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| Heat-pipe radiators help keep top 120mm fan working at minimal possible speed |
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| Modular cabling panel configuration |
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| When plugging Quick Release Couplings, no liquid is spilled whatsoever |
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| When unplugging Quick Release Couplings, usually two or three drops of liquid show up, but not more than that |
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| The flow indicator should vibrate to indicate the coolant flow, but this one does not |
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| We opted to use supplied PCI bracket even though the case has it's own pipe holes. |
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| There is plenty of room for cables on the rear side of the case |
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| Top to bottom: Zalman's inbuilt front panel, DVDRW and A-Data XPG 2.5" Dual SSD Bay |
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| Reserator ready to go under the desk |
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| Silicone mat to insulate Reserator's pump vibrations |
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| Cork mat to insulate Reserator's pump vibrations |
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| Tight fit, only few millimeters spare and my desk is exactly 710mm high |
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| Tubing connected |
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| ...and lift-off! Machine up and running |
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