Koolance Exos - Silenceable?

acaurora · Post by **acaurora** » Sun Jun 27, 2004 8:33 pm

After being somewhat disappointed in my Reserator, I have decided to give the Koolance Exos Aluminum a shot. I will be using the V10 CPU waterblock along with the L06 GPU waterblock with an ATI Radeon X800XT. I highly believe that the Exos is a better solution than the Reserator becuase it offers dual pumps instead of one, as well as 3 80mm fans for an actively cooled solution.

What do you guys think of this setup?

Does anyone know if the Exos Al uses 3 pin or 4 pin connectors, and if so, would L1A fans suffice, or should I use M1As just to be safe?

moparchris · Post by **moparchris** » Mon Jun 28, 2004 1:41 am

if you were dissapointed with the resorator i wouldnt bother going with anotehr kit, id reccomend getting something like a whitewater, rbx etc and i dunno much about any good GPU blocks or what the quietest brand of pump is...

jinu117 · Post by **jinu117** » Mon Jun 28, 2004 8:53 am

acaurora wrote:After being somewhat disappointed in my Reserator, I have decided to give the Koolance Exos Aluminum a shot. I will be using the V10 CPU waterblock along with the L06 GPU waterblock with an ATI Radeon X800XT. I highly believe that the Exos is a better solution than the Reserator becuase it offers dual pumps instead of one, as well as 3 80mm fans for an actively cooled solution.

What do you guys think of this setup?

Does anyone know if the Exos Al uses 3 pin or 4 pin connectors, and if so, would L1A fans suffice, or should I use M1As just to be safe?

Hold off on your purchases. I am getting Exos in few days and can give you some ideas once I do. I presume you were disappointed with the cooling capacity not the sound level... My comparison at this point would be to Zalman CNPS-7000cu vs Exos for sound level as I sold all my previous super silencing endeavours...

acaurora · Post by **acaurora** » Mon Jun 28, 2004 10:08 am

oh. Ok... cool

jinu117 · Post by **jinu117** » Thu Jul 01, 2004 7:57 pm

K... got one brand new from someone over e-bay...

$230 shipped for Exos black with CPU-300G and GPU block. What a deal

Setup took not too long and was pretty easy for H2O setup.
It is quieter than Zalman CNPS 7000 running above 8 volts. Below that... hard to tell as my chipset block makes too much noise to compare fairly. Unit is virtually indetectible from 4ft away or so.
Kooling performance is just fantastic for such low noise, restrictive system.
CNPS-7000ALCU I had running at max 12v would cool my OC'd 3.2c -> 3.5ghz dual primed to 63c according to abit temp monitor.
Exos running in fan mode1 (slow, quiet) would cool my OC'd 3.2c -> 3.6ghz + R9800 pro dual primed to 49c according to abit temp monitor. If just on CPU I do expect to see maybe displaying mid to low 40c for this... Quite impressive. Similar setup under hardcore watercooling with low noise I used to have while back would cool it down to maybe another 5c... I think I can live without the extra 5c for the incredible convenience...

As for reserator... The only true benefit of using resonator over Koolance on my opinion would be if you had passive cooled PSU on top of already silenced rig. No matter what PSU you get, it will be only as quiet as exos IMHO.
Go grab one. I am gonna check with the guy I did transaction to see if his interested in selling any more units.

acaurora · Post by **acaurora** » Thu Jul 01, 2004 8:01 pm

3.6 Ghz P4 + 9800 Pro = 49 load? hmmm... interesting. With my current setup, idle is 47 for the CPU... I am running an athlon, though, so temperatures will naturally be higher. I guess I'll try it...

jinu117 · Post by **jinu117** » Thu Jul 01, 2004 10:57 pm

acaurora wrote:3.6 Ghz P4 + 9800 Pro = 49 load? hmmm... interesting. With my current setup, idle is 47 for the CPU... I am running an athlon, though, so temperatures will naturally be higher. I guess I'll try it...

I think its excellent

I have abit AI7 which will report temp up to 10-15c higher than asus. Keep in mind Zalman CNPS-7000alcu @12v was 63-64c on same setup

If you are talking about idle temp... gets down to 36c

davide_casarin · Post by **davide_casarin** » Sat Jul 10, 2004 2:07 pm

Hi
I am thinking about getting me a reserator because of it's promise to cool well a gaming machine with no audible sound. Why were you disappointed, is there anything wrong with the product ?
Silence is the first thing, I don't mind running my cpu regular clocked and in the 50's C, but it has to be quieter than a 5v panaflo, and that pump standing rigidly on the table worries me

acaurora · Post by **acaurora** » Sat Jul 10, 2004 4:14 pm

I am actually selling my Reserator. I am disappointed that the temperatures aren't cooler than my air cooled solution, which was my origional intent. If you are interested in purchasing mine, please PM me. It is a great cooler, just doesn't cool any *better* temperature wise. It is very quiet though, actually dead silent. Don't place it on a table, unless your CPU is on a table too. Your Reserator should be level with your CPU, otherwise it creates unnecessary pressure problems for the pump.

HammerSandwich · Post by **HammerSandwich** » Mon Jul 12, 2004 9:42 pm

acaurora wrote:Your Reserator should be level with your CPU, otherwise it creates unnecessary pressure problems for the pump.

Have you ever played with a siphon?

acaurora · Post by **acaurora** » Mon Jul 12, 2004 9:45 pm

Not really. Something tells me my last post was wrong. ~.~

HammerSandwich · Post by **HammerSandwich** » Tue Jul 13, 2004 6:09 am

acaurora wrote:Something tells me my last post was wrong.

Nicely phrased. Suppose the Reserator were on the floor and the PC on a table. The pump would have to work hard to lift the water to the table IF the water stayed at table height. However, the return flow to the Reserator would balance the lifting work and help pull the other water up. This holds true for all closed-loop systems, and it's the same principle that explains why elevators have counterweights.

A siphon is a good example because it displays both modes of operation. Starting the flow can be a bitch if the hose runs well above the water source. Once the flow is established, though, it will continue so long as the exit is lower than the intake.

acaurora · Post by **acaurora** » Tue Jul 13, 2004 8:17 am

ah... cool

we all learn something new everyday.

Post by **Rusty075** » Tue Jul 13, 2004 8:53 am

A good explanation of siphon action, but not completely applicable to the Reserator.

If the pump is started the first with the reserator even to the CPU you'd be ok. But if you set it up the first time with the pump down low you'll never get water up to the CPU block. The pump only has 18" of lift, it couldn't even pump water to the top of its own reservoir.

And the Reserator is not a closed loop. The reservoir is open to the atmosphere. (even with the top screwed on. Just try turning it over.

) The tubing loop portion should, in theory, be a closed loop, but if left off for a long period of time you could get a very slow air entry into the high point of the loop. (at the CPU, most likely) If the CPU is above the top of the water line in the Res it will be under negative pressure, and any leak will result in air being pulled into the loop, breaking the siphon seal and draining all the water back down to the Res. If the top of the tubing loop is more than 18" above the waterline at the top of the Res, you'll never get water to circulate through it again.

Leaks are unlikely, but since an air leak would have no obvious symptoms of having happened, the only sign you'd have of a problem would be the smell of toasted silicon.

That's why Zalman has all those diagrams in the instruction book.

acaurora · Post by **acaurora** » Tue Jul 13, 2004 8:57 am

I see someone's up... again. lol... I have my Reserator on the same floor that my PC is on, so the pump is about... say... 6 inches below the actual CPU waterblock. That should be fine, right?

And if, say, I have a Koolance EXOS Al mounted on top of the case, and the tubing goes down into the case, into the CPU waterblock, then down into a GPU waterblock, out again, and back into the EXOS, that shouldn't be a problem right, especially since the EXOS has dual pumps?

Post by **Rusty075** » Tue Jul 13, 2004 9:07 am

Yup, you're fine both ways.

With the Res you want to have the entire tubing loop taking place below the waterline inside the reservoir, ideally. The pump has a really wimpy head, and any lift at all is going to really drop the flow rate.

The Exos is much closer to a true closed-loop. You're actually pumping the water downhill, and the weight of the water going down helps balance the weight of the water that you have to push back uphill to the pump again. Closed loop, combined with pumps in series gives you lots more head, and thus more flowrate. (...and thus lower temps)

acaurora · Post by **acaurora** » Tue Jul 13, 2004 9:12 am

and cooler temps... *cackle* that's why i chose the EXOS Al. Dunno how it'll perform acoustically with the M1As.

We'll find out tomorrow tho when it arrives

Post by **Rusty075** » Tue Jul 13, 2004 9:17 am

It's all a balancing act: You'll get 5-10° lower temps in exchange for 50dBa more noise.... whether its worth it is all up to you.

acaurora · Post by **acaurora** » Tue Jul 13, 2004 9:36 am

50 dB?! I think that's a bit of an overstatement, eh?

Well what I plan on doing is making a kind of shroud/funnel so that all the air exhausted out by the 3 80mm M1As gets redirected outward towards the rear, because my case sits under a desk, and, well, hot air blowing upwards, hitting a desk, and then falling back down isn't very efficient. So by having a kind of funnel that leads outward, sort of like a REALLY long chimney might help muffle the sound as well. The sound would then only leak out through the side vents.

HammerSandwich · Post by **HammerSandwich** » Wed Jul 14, 2004 7:16 pm

Rusty075 wrote:But if you set it up the first time with the pump down low you'll never get water up to the CPU block. The pump only has 18" of lift, it couldn't even pump water to the top of its own reservoir.

A valid point that I completely missed. You could get away with a minor height difference (18"<x<30ish") by leaving the system open at the high point while you fill the Res. The output tube will fill to the same height as the Res itself. But I'm just complicating things now.

Either way, that is a seriously weak pump.

Rusty075 wrote:And the Reserator is not a closed loop. The reservoir is open to the atmosphere.

Sure it is; the water is returned to its source. No change in potential energy equals "closed loop" in my mind.

Rusty075 wrote:The tubing loop portion should, in theory, be a closed loop, but if left off for a long period of time you could get a very slow air entry into the high point of the loop.

Well, yeah, a leaking system is not closed. OTOH, a leaking WC loop may have problems worse than air entering the lines.

acaurora · Post by **acaurora** » Wed Jul 14, 2004 7:20 pm

Zalman is doing a voluntary recall of the flow indicators. It uses metal fittings instead of plastic ones. Don't know how that affects performance, though.

http://www.zalman.co.kr/usa/support/rma/recall.asp

Post by **Rusty075** » Wed Jul 14, 2004 8:06 pm

HammerSandwich wrote:
Rusty075 wrote:And the Reserator is not a closed loop. The reservoir is open to the atmosphere.
Sure it is; the water is returned to its source. No change in potential energy equals "closed loop" in my mind.

Don't confuse "closed" with "recirculating"...very different concepts.

HammerSandwich · Post by **HammerSandwich** » Wed Jul 14, 2004 8:32 pm

Rusty075 wrote:Don't confuse "closed" with "recirculating"...very different concepts.

You %^@#$!, you actually made me sit down to think about this!

I am convinced. The picture that works is that the pump creates a max 18" pressure difference from input to output. If there's X" of water above the intake, then it cannot pump higher than X+18", even though the return flow dumps into the Res. And, of course, the Res cannot put more pressure on the intake since that pressure would act also on the return line AND because the cap is vented. How'd I do this time?

(BTW, this process has me wondering how long a closed-loop system takes to reach its flow equilibrium with different pumps. Must have interesting numbers for power transferred to the water minus the gradually increasing friction...)

Post by **Rusty075** » Wed Jul 14, 2004 9:28 pm

Lol. I'm not sure what %^@#$! translates too, so I'll assume you mean only the nicest things by it.

I think you're closer.

In a true "closed loop" the water coming back into the res would create a higher pressure in there, thus helping the pump push water back out. In that way, closed systems have much less effect from the effort of pushing the water uphill...the effort is balanced by the water pushing back downhill. (the pump's "head" measurement is still a factor, as resistance in the loop reduces the flow-rate.) This "gravity boost" really only works out well when there's no air pocket in the system anywhere, such as reservoir-less loops.

It doesn't work with the Reserator because the Res's tube isn't sealed, its vented, as you noted. So any pressure boost coming from the downhill traveling water will just result in air being pushed out the top.

The point to measure your max head from isn't the pumps' intake, its the top of the waterline in the Res. The weight of the water in the Res pushes down on the water at the bottom, helping the pump push it out of the tank. Ideally you want the vertical distance for the water to travel to be neutral, ie within the distance from the top of the Res to the bottom, so the pump will only have to fight in-line resistence, and not gravity.

And before somebody gets the idea to seal up the vent in the top of the Res....don't. When you take 3 liters of water on a temp swing of 30-40°, it's going to need room to expand. If you take away its ability to equalize pressure out of the air space at the top, it will find someplace else to do it...someplace very, very messy.

Koolance Exos - Silenceable?

Koolance Exos - Silenceable?

Re: Koolance Exos - Silenceable?

reserator vs koolance