SPCR

That is a sign your pump is beginning to act like mine. At first, yes, turning it on and off a few times made it go away. However, that buzz/rattling will increase in noise over time, to the point where it will NOT go away. At least, from my experience =[.

After all these horror stories, I inform that I am proud owner of Reserator that works as expected.

I am cooling both CPU and GPU with it and it's been in heavy (altough not 24/7) use since August 2004. It has become a little noisier over time, but it's still on completely acceptable noise level.

Most of the noise is just vibration that can be reduced with proper insulation between Reserator feet and floor. What's left is enough to be audible during dead of the night when ambient noise is low, but it's still quieter than my Nexus NX-4090 PSU at idle.

The greatest disappointment has been the NX-4090 - it's a lot louder than my previous PSU, NX-3000. Partly this might be due to slightly increased load (old machine had Athlon XP3000+ and Radeon 9600 Pro, new one has Athlon64 3500+ (130nm core) and Radeon X800 XT) but the loudest and most annoying part of the sound is kind of rattling that sounds like the fan was bad unit so I suspect I just have had some bad luck. In a normal machine it would be unnoticeable, since the overall noise level is still very low, but as my machine is generally pretty quiet, the rattling stands out if ambient noise is low enough.

So, I am happy with my Reserator.

u sure that rattling isn't your reserator? ;P

because if it is, your res is going downhill.

Pretty sure. I have tried turning on all the stuff one at a time and listening to the sound, and Reserator is fine.

BTW, did you know you can run Reserator-cooled machine *one and half hours* without pump on before it crashes.. I once forgot to turn it on and machine ran 1.5 hours without it before BIOS shut it down..

For you, maybe 1.5 hours. It depends upon your computer's components, ambient, what you're running etc. I have never run my computer without my Reserator.

Of course it does :-). It just surprised me that it ran *so* long, especially considering that my machine is pretty hi-end gaming rig.

While I of course do not recommend it to anybody, it's relaxing to know that Reserator-cooled machine does not die instantly if you forget turn on the pump. As Reserator does not start when machine does, this kind of mistakes happen and it's nice to know they are not lethal.

I forgot to turn on my Resorater about a week after I had it, I was in another room watching TV, I heard an alarm it was my computer the temp in the cpu was over 95 degree's, I was lucky as it's a AMD 64 Winchester which shouldn't run over 70 degree's, I have since set the bios to turn off the computer at 70 degree's and cut the plug off the Resorater and connected it to the main PC plug now I cannot have the PC on without the Resorater

As for noise mine is fine at the moment it was bought in November 04 and is used daily for about 10 hours, I turn it off in the evening, I use deironised water.

Hi, no great deal of experience on my part, but...

For all those trying to find the purest water possible, I've read somewhere that this actually makes the system MORE susceptible to galvanic corrosion, as the water will more readily accept ions from the metal components.

So perhaps tap water is what you're supposed to use...

I found this article which may shed some light.

If most Reserators become noisy after a number of months (which might be the case, judging by this forum), then perhaps their placement at the top of the "Recommended Heatsinks" list should be re-evaluated.

quizzicus wrote:If most Reserators become noisy after a number of months (which might be the case, judging by this forum), then perhaps their placement at the top of the "Recommended Heatsinks" list should be re-evaluated.

it's nowhere near "most"...it was some of the early production units, if used without anti-corrosive additives.

And Zalman has now released the Reserator 1 Plus which comes with their own anti-corrosive fluid. I haven't seen any reports yet, but I bet it's there just to address the pump problems.

They sell it also separately, btw, so I recommed all Reserator owners to get some from their local store.

And about noise: Yes, my Reserator has also become noisier over time, but it's still quiet, while not silent anymore. The rattling is something that should not have ever appeared, but still it's below daytime ambient noise in my apartment, so it's by no means truly noisy.

After using the Reserator for more than half a year now (from memory) I want to switch back to aircooling. The pump is noisy sometimes, and recently the pump seized. My computer blue screened, the water blocks were extremely hot, but everything survived fine. The pump just needed a clean.