Zalman Reserator 1 and HDD Water cooling?

timebandit · Post by **timebandit** » Sun Sep 26, 2004 1:04 pm

Hello

I have a Zalman Reserator 1 cooling my CPU and GPU and works goodie... But now i want to cool down my harddrives too... those fans aren't silent...

Does anyone know any hdd water block thing or something that works out with Zalman Reserator 1 and some temp stats of this system?

Lets say i manage to fasten the GPU water block on the underside of a hdd, will this cool it down much or does the whole surface of the hdd need to be cooled?

What i want/also to know is how good a Zalman Reserator 1 will cool down a hdd when already cooling CPU and GPU?
I'm thinking of geting a InnovatekHD-O-Matic MICRO Hard drive water cooler for 3,5 HDD and use it with my Zalman Reserator... anyone tried this?

//someone who tries to remove the fans for the hdd cooling

ascii · Post by **ascii** » Sun Sep 26, 2004 3:49 pm

Hi!

I just bought a Reserator myself, and I am building my own drive cage. None of the HDD colers i found could cool two HDDs while also silencing them completely and fit in my chassi. I'll post in this forum about how it all turns out.

earworm · Post by **earworm** » Sun Oct 24, 2004 3:19 am

this is the kind of question i also got in mind,
i'd like to go for that reserator but i don't need to cool my graphix card at all

so is it possible to buy the reserator ONLY for cooling the cpu?
and naw, """and I am building my own drive cage"""
i'm very curious about what you are building yourself to cool down your HD, please let us know for i might give it a try too !

regards,
earworm

earworm · Post by **earworm** » Sun Oct 24, 2004 3:58 am

thanx man,
so now i'm left with this Qestion:
what kinda noize does the reserator produce?
the waterpomp, is it audible?

if not, then i assume i wouldn't even need a new more "silent" case,
maybe i'll be able to make my system real quiet with only the reserator?

Post by **Rusty075** » Sun Oct 24, 2004 8:10 am

SPCR's Review of the Zalman Reserator1 Fanless WC System

earworm · Post by **earworm** » Sun Oct 24, 2004 12:50 pm

ok, read a few more reviews...seems like an awesome cooling system
...
naw....might sound retarted to you guys,
but is "socketA" the same as "socket 462" ?

if so, Great, then i'll go for a reserator,
thanx

Edward Ng · Post by **Edward Ng** » Sun Oct 24, 2004 1:22 pm

earworm wrote:...is "socketA" the same as "socket 462" ?...

Yes.

earworm · Post by **earworm** » Mon Oct 25, 2004 1:26 am

Pjotor · Post by **Pjotor** » Mon Oct 25, 2004 5:00 am

earworm wrote:naw....might sound retarted to you guys

I don't think anyone on this forum would call your question "retarded". He or she would get a swift smack on the head (and deserve it).

earworm · Post by **earworm** » Mon Oct 25, 2004 8:06 am

hehe, well, ask my any question related to audio, sound or equipment related to that and i know it,
but PC's .... learning, learning

great that you guys got so much patience with us newbies,
appreciate it

Edward Ng · Post by **Edward Ng** » Mon Oct 25, 2004 11:26 am

I think we're all still learning, no?

earworm · Post by **earworm** » Tue Oct 26, 2004 10:28 am

yes sir

dean.collins · Post by **dean.collins** » Fri Mar 18, 2005 10:40 am

I use a dual silent star box for my hard drives, works great, expensive though.

beware you really need to tight those rear fittings, mine leaked twice until I realised i just wasn't tightening them enough.

cheers,
Dean

suzukisan · Post by **suzukisan** » Sat Mar 19, 2005 4:51 am

Beware with the socket A / 462 CPUs. The zalman waterblock that comes with the reserator will only fit if the motherboard has mounting holes around the CPU. I checked before buying the thing because mine doesn't

. Now I have to find a socket A water block that can clip directly to the socket with clips before I buy it. Drat!

jdub765 · Post by **jdub765** » Sun Mar 20, 2005 3:51 pm

the reserator/pump combo make a sort of resonating pump noise. The loudness of the sound depends on what kind of surface it's sitting on (desk, carpeted floor, etc). I have mine sitting on my desk so it was noticeable, so I bought some foam used in R/C airplanes that is used to isolate the receiver from vibrations. I put my computer on one too

~El~Jefe~ · Post by **~El~Jefe~** » Sun Apr 10, 2005 7:41 am

jdub765 wrote:the reserator/pump combo make a sort of resonating pump noise. The loudness of the sound depends on what kind of surface it's sitting on (desk, carpeted floor, etc). I have mine sitting on my desk so it was noticeable, so I bought some foam used in R/C airplanes that is used to isolate the receiver from vibrations. I put my computer on one too

I dont know if anyone has seen these, but http://www.soundproofing.org/

has really neat lil pads for things. The one with Cork in the center is good for heavy items. I just wonder how stable the reserator tower will be sitting on a pad (im buying all this soon, budget is killin me).

jdub765 · Post by **jdub765** » Sun Apr 10, 2005 8:16 pm

Well, maybe this'll help your budget: it was $5 shipped.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 5956110813
The seller spelled foam wrong btw (roam = foam)

kimandsally · Post by **kimandsally** » Thu Apr 21, 2005 1:11 pm

Pjotor wrote:
earworm wrote:naw....might sound retarted to you guys
I don't think anyone on this forum would call your question "retarded". He or she would get a swift smack on the head (and deserve it).

What a lovely forum this is, I've been reading on here for about a year now and I must say the help and good truthful information on here is as good as it gets there's some real goodies on the forum and I'd like to thank all of you for making it that way

As you can see I don't post often and I'm away on holiday tomorrow so please don't think I'm ignorant if someone replies and I don't post back.

Here's to all of you.

gmyx · Post by **gmyx** » Fri Apr 22, 2005 5:35 am

kimandsally wrote: What a lovely forum this is, I've been reading on here for about a year now and I must say the help and good truthful information on here is as good as it gets there's some real goodies on the forum and I'd like to thank all of you for making it that way

As you can see I don't post often and I'm away on holiday tomorrow so please don't think I'm ignorant if someone replies and I don't post back.

Here's to all of you.

I second that thought! There are not that many places out there where you can ask questions and not get flamed (or RTFMed) for it. Even if you don't agree you do it in a pleasant and respectfull way. It's refreshing!

Thank you all!

Poodle · Post by **Poodle** » Sun May 08, 2005 5:51 am

You can see and hear a video review of the Res (in action) @ www.3dgameman.com

Always great fun to see his reviews

peterson · Post by **peterson** » Sun Jul 03, 2005 12:07 pm

ascii wrote:Hi!

I just bought a Reserator myself, and I am building my own drive cage. None of the HDD colers i found could cool two HDDs while also silencing them completely and fit in my chassi. I'll post in this forum about how it all turns out.

Better late than never.

Seen this?

eLekTRiK · Post by **eLekTRiK** » Sun Jul 03, 2005 1:30 pm

On the topic of using the Reserator for HDD cooling... the Reserator works fine for me cooling CPU+GPU+NB... but when I had my HDDs in the loop, at max load, the water "cooling" was actually acting as a water heater, making my HDDs hotter. I think there were a few basic problems:

1) Load temps that are fine for a CPU may be "pushing it" for a HDD.
2) The wimpy pump in the Reserator and the step down to the smaller tubing in the HDD block was creating too much flow restriction, raising temps all around the loop.

After my DeskStar died on me in that configuration (possibly completely unrelated), I switched to a pair of Samsungs in SmartDrive enclosures, positioned carefully near the air intake. Now my disks idle in the 30s, regardless of what load the rest of the system is under.

I originally hoped to go completely fanless, but that will have to wait until my next attempt, where I plan on using one cooling loop for PSU/HDDs and the other for CPU/GPU/NB. Those SmartDrive enclosures are useless w/o forced airflow.

nici · Post by **nici** » Sun Jul 03, 2005 2:38 pm

It seems to me most HDD enclosures are pretty bad without decent airflow. I´ve got s few of the Level HDD Shell from www.coolputer.fi(click the Union Jack flag for english version of the site) and they do cool very well. So far they are the only enclosure i have found that has direct contact between the hdd and the enclosure, and the whole upper and lower side are heatsinks. I have added some thermal paste between the hdd and enclosure and the two halves of the enclosure. With low airflow from the rear-fan my Raptor idles at 33c

Currently its in one of the 5,25" slots with one open slot under it. Previously i had a SpinPoint lying on the acoustipacked case floor with foam covering the top of the enclosure too and another spinpoint on top of it so pretty much zero airflow, it idled at 31c.. With the SpinPoint on top of the foam with some airflow idled about 41c.

These enclosures are easily capable of passive cooling, thats for shure. Other enclosures might be better at noise reduction, but they also might need more airflow..

I havent used other enclosures, but it seems most of them either dont have proper contact between hdd and enclosure or only use the sides of the enclosure for cooling.

And these are the cheapest ones available at 39.90€, i wouldnt pay 60€ for the mCubed or Nexus variants

39.90€ is expensive enough, but worth it for me at least.

Heres my complaints with the two enclosures above, the mCubed only uses the sides for cooling, i think i remember a review getting 40c+ temps on a similar Raptor as mine and they had more airflow than i do in my case. Here it is, its in swedish The Nexus drive-a-way, as far as i can see, doesnt have direct contact between the hdd and enclosure, no reviews spotted yet. i might be blind though.

Theres some pictures of the Level enclosure in the thread mentioned in my sig.

Happy Hopping · Post by **Happy Hopping** » Sun Jul 03, 2005 11:28 pm

eLekTRiK wrote:On the topic of using the Reserator for HDD cooling... the Reserator works fine for me cooling CPU+GPU+NB... but when I had my HDDs in the loop, at max load, the water "cooling" was actually acting as a water heater, making my HDDs hotter. I think there were a few basic problems:

1) Load temps that are fine for a CPU may be "pushing it" for a HDD.
2) The wimpy pump in the Reserator and the step down to the smaller tubing in the HDD block was creating too much flow restriction, raising temps all around the loop.

Can the above happen to the GPU or CPU as well?

What is the brand name of the HD cooler that you use that causes all these? I really like to know.

eLekTRiK · Post by **eLekTRiK** » Mon Jul 04, 2005 12:23 am

Can the above happen to the GPU or CPU as well?

The idea is that the HDD at 50C is "running hot" while a CPU at 50C is fine. So unless your system is producing too much heat overall for your cooling to handle, this is probably not a concern for the CPU/GPU. Maybe I don't understand the question.

What is the brand name of the HD cooler that you use that causes all these? I really like to know.

I was using a Koolance 3.5" HDD water block. Most HDD blocks out there use 1/4" tubing. The Reserator kit uses 3/8" tubing. I suggest HDD blocks that mount on the sides of the drive instead of the bottom, as these also typically support wider tubing. The fact that the block worked poorly in my setup doesn't mean that it is the block's fault. The Reserator pump is fairly weak as far as pumps go, so that was also part of the problem. Without the extra crud in my loop, my CPU temps peak at about 42C now.

Happy Hopping · Post by **Happy Hopping** » Mon Jul 04, 2005 2:00 pm

So it sounds to me that the right thing to do is to get a better pump that is also quiet so we can cool the hard drive, CPU & GPU.

But if the pump is weak, why does the new 1+, which uses the same pump, said it can cool power supply, GPU, CPU at the same time?

I thought Koollance is good,

http://www.koolance.com/shop/default.ph ... ddf6aa6608

is this the one you own?

eLekTRiK · Post by **eLekTRiK** » Mon Jul 04, 2005 2:50 pm

The pump in the Reserator is fine for cooling CPU+GPU+NB in my system. It is probably also fine for cooling hard disks, but given that the load temperature may level off at over 40C (depending on how much heat the other components produce) this temperature of water may not be useful for "cooling" hard disks. I'd also make sure to get a block without much flow restriction. I've said all this before, so I'm not sure I have much to add that I haven't already said.

Getting a louder pump would defeat the whole purpose of "silent" water cooling in that setup.

The Koolance block I used was the earlier generation of the one you point out. It used a thermal interface goo instead of the cushion in the newer version.