Watercooling Help Required ZALMAN XT

[xmal]

Hi Forum, I received a Zalman Reserator XT for my Christmas present and I need the forum's advice on whether to use this as my watercooling kit or return it and get some custom watercooling kit. I have a Q6600 @ 3240 stock volts (60c degrees max core temp) on a Tuniq Tower at the moment. I intend to cool the CPU initially and *may* cool the 8800GTX I have at a later date. I do not know if the XT would allow be to get some extra clock speed out of the CPU, but my guess would be a "yes" based on some of the reviews I have read on the unit.I would like to know:
1) Will there be much performance difference between the Zalman and a custom kit? I would especially like to hear from someone who maybe has had the opportunity to compare the XT against other kits. I appreciate the XT may trail other solutions slightly in performance, but the idea of being up and running within 1-2 hrs with the Zalman greatly appeals to me.
2) Also is there anything stopping me adding (at a later stage) another radiator/fan to the loop to increase cooling performance? I do not know enough about watercooled solutions to know if you can add additional radiators etc into the loop or if this would detrimentally affect water pressure or some other variable I am unaware of.

TIA,

xmal

 

[DaveBC]

I use a Reserator 2 lots of fin surface. I added an swiftech pump to boost volume. It is wonderfully quiet. My loop includes CPU/NB/SB/SLI and never breaks 50C even overclocked.

 

[xmal]

Originally posted by: DaveBC
I use a Reserator 2 lots of fin surface. I added an swiftech pump to boost volume. It is wonderfully quiet. My loop includes CPU/NB/SB/SLI and never breaks 50C even overclocked.

Thx for the reply DaveBC. Your setup must be really quiet. Do any of the forum readers have any experience comparing the XT against custom kits? Can I add other rads to the circuit of the XT?

Cheers,

xmal

 

[PCTC2]

Well, the XT uses a lot of aluminum parts. You'd have to watch out when you add components to the loop so you don't get any galvanic corrosion.

I think you'd get better performance selling the Zalman (You can get about $500 for it) and buying a custum kit.
For $500, you could get:
Swiftech ApogeeGTX CPU Block ($70)
EK-FC8800GTX Full Cover Copper GPU/RAM Block ($130)
Swiftech MCP655 Pump ($80)
Thermochill PA 120.3 Radiator ($130)
3-6x 120mm Yate Loon Fans ($3.50 each)
MasterKleer 7/16" ID Tubing and Zipties ($15)
High-flow barbs, Swiftech MicroRes, Swiftech RADBOX, PT-BioNuke and Pentosin ($75)

That'd perform a lot better with your 8800GTX in the loop. All these components are copper. You'd have to find a way to mount your PA 120.3 radiator (check around XS for some ideas) but I think you'd be happier with a custom setup.

EDIT: BTW, Welcome to AT Forums.

 

[aigomorla]

Please read my sticky which is linked that the bottom.

Zalman is one company in h2o cooling you want to keep away from. It wont be enough for a G80 + Quadcore overclocked. Unless your happy at keeping your CPU near stock.

Also there water products are seriously a joke.

 

[DaveBC]

Originally posted by: xmal

Originally posted by: DaveBC
I use a Reserator 2 lots of fin surface. I added an swiftech pump to boost volume. It is wonderfully quiet. My loop includes CPU/NB/SB/SLI and never breaks 50C even overclocked.

Thx for the reply DaveBC. Your setup must be really quiet. Do any of the forum readers have any experience comparing the XT against custom kits? Can I add other rads to the circuit of the XT?

Cheers,

xmal

You can customize as you see fit. Most problems do occur from mixing different types of metals in the loop i.e. copper, aluminum, and gold. This causes galvanic corrosion if the coolant has any minerals in it. However, if you must mix metals then make sure you use distilled water (has no conductive minerals) and coolant with propylene glycol in it.

The trade off in my opinion when using water cooling is do you want silent or do you want performance. Performance can be very noisy. So, I'm in the middle I use low rpm quiet case fans and lots of strategicly placed heatsinks on voltage regulators and such to allow moderate overclocking and enough case flow to cool those components.

The result is in my sig below and near silent. :beer:

 

[xmal]

Originally posted by: PCTC2
Well, the XT uses a lot of aluminum parts. You'd have to watch out when you add components to the loop so you don't get any galvanic corrosion.
.
.
.
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That'd perform a lot better with your 8800GTX in the loop. All these components are copper. You'd have to find a way to mount your PA 120.3 radiator (check around XS for some ideas) but I think you'd be happier with a custom setup.

PCTC2, thank you for your comments. The XT has AL rads and a copper block(!) in the kit and I am aware of the corrosive issues- I guess that is why Zalman put some anti-corrosive agent in the kit as well.<You would think that a manufacturer that is putting together a kit would use the same constituent components to avoid this issue>

 

[xmal]

Originally posted by: aigomorla

Zalman is one company in h2o cooling you want to keep away from. It wont be enough for a G80 + Quadcore overclocked. Unless your happy at keeping your CPU near stock.

Also there water products are seriously a joke.

aigomorla, thank you for the link that I have read, it is obvious that you are very knowledgeable about the art of WC. When you say that the XT does not have enough performance to cool the Q6600 and GTX, this goes contrary to numerous reviews circulating the web about the XT- in fact some state 10c cooler than a dual fan Thermairight 120. I am in no way questioning your expertise, just the idea of an out-of-the case solution rather appeals to a novice like myself. Furthermore, if I added a PA120.1 to the loop, then I am wondering if this would further enhance the cooling even more (I could easily add this at a later date if the stock XT did not perform as I expected and my experience in WC increases). I am just throwing ideas around and I am in no way ignoring the recommendations of yourself and other learned members of the forum.

Thx, xmal

 

[WoodButcher]

xmal, mixing metals is just a bad idea, period...
I don't know if your old enough to remember the Chevy Vega, but this is where I had my first experience w/ aluminum and water. Suffice it to say it was not good. Times have changed but metals have not. (except maybe for price!)
Your tough spot is the fact this was a gift, Make an excuse, anything, "it's not compatible", "the franistan won't align with the cosmos and the universe will collapse" ANYTHING! but send that pup back and get yourself a real loop.

Why is it the reveiws you quote are comparing the zalman to air cooling and not water?

They don't because they can't.

Why add a rad to a good system?
It isn't....

 

[aigomorla]

Originally posted by: xmal

Originally posted by: aigomorla

Zalman is one company in h2o cooling you want to keep away from. It wont be enough for a G80 + Quadcore overclocked. Unless your happy at keeping your CPU near stock.

Also there water products are seriously a joke.

aigomorla, thank you for the link that I have read, it is obvious that you are very knowledgeable about the art of WC. When you say that the XT does not have enough performance to cool the Q6600 and GTX, this goes contrary to numerous reviews circulating the web about the XT- in fact some state 10c cooler than a dual fan Thermairight 120. I am in no way questioning your expertise, just the idea of an out-of-the case solution rather appeals to a novice like myself. Furthermore, if I added a PA120.1 to the loop, then I am wondering if this would further enhance the cooling even more (I could easily add this at a later date if the stock XT did not perform as I expected and my experience in WC increases). I am just throwing ideas around and I am in no way ignoring the recommendations of yourself and other learned members of the forum.

Thx, xmal

xmal, if your new to h2o coolign. DONT mix metals. Trust me on this. My cousin got smart with this setup as well. Figured i can drop a copper rad and drop major amounts of water wetter.

The water wetter screwed his coolant properties, to make it less effective. Then he stopped using it. Then he got galvanic corrosion when he wasnt looking. We went to mamoth for 3 days. He comes back with a computer that toasted its gpu, and had a puddle of water on the floor with a little hole known as a pin hole corrosion.


Stay away from zalman. Any review which gives it good raitings is only doing it to please the vendor who loaned them the 300 dollar unit. Or gave them. And they cant talk crap about the product because they will lose the sponsor.

Its ABSOLUTE SHIT. Thermaltake water products = SHIT

Zalman and TT water kits = Cancer. Once u drop it in, its going to become malaginant and kill your entire system down the road.


If you dont believe me i recomend you go here:

http://www.xtremesystems.org/f.../forumdisplay.php?f=70

Thats another forum i use which specializes in h2o cooling. A lot of members as well as i, assist other members, or give out advice or trouble shoot. Ask your reserator question there, and you'll see you get the same exact answers as i am giving you. Althought it maybe a little more rude... :X

There a bit meaner when it comes to koolance / zalman / Thermatake water products.

 

[xmal]

Ok guys. Point taken I will return the unit. Under mail order distance regulations here in the UK we have a 14 day "cool off" period (pardon the pun) which allows us to return any item if it has been used for a full refund. Once again many thx, but you all have convinced me. Expect to see posts now on WC custom kit installation.

xmal