Impressions:

   One welcomed package arrived from Zalman which was much smaller than the Reserator 1 Plus. This could be a good thing. If Zalman is capable of making a smaller more compact Reesrator that is comparable water cooling kit that could match the Reserator 1 Plus or version 2.0, then this could be great.

Front	Right	Specifications
Left Side Contents	Top Level	Middle Level

   First thing first, the Reserator 2 has a whole new appearance. The jet black color is still the same but without the glossy clear coat. What you have left is a more fully aluminum housing with larger aluminum fins for dissipating heat. The front and rear both have a very nice brushed aluminum facade, with the front having a black on silver bezel. The two feet for the unit has to be mounted right away before you can actually appreciate it.

Bottom Level	Right Side	Left Side	Feet Screwed On
Back w/Ports	Front w/Indicator	Aluminum Frame	Silver and Black

   The round window at the bottom is part of the new flow indicator mounted behind the face. Above this is the Light/Reset button that has a two part purpose. The button obviously turns off the LED back lighting, but if held down for more than 5 seconds will reset the unit. This is important information as you will need to know this when priming the system later on. The wires for powering both the pump and component internals all come from underneath the front bezel.

    The one inch aluminum fins and housing feels thinner and lighter than the last Reserator. This entire unit is simply one giant heat sink which has a large surface area to frame ratio. In other words, pretty much every square inch of the housing that can be used to transfer heat from the water has been used. Another positive factor is that there is no paint or clear coat to trap in heat which should help performance.

Many Fins

1" Fins

Up Close

Back Fins

   One of the great things about the Reserator 2 is that you don't have to assemble the pump or worry about extra components for configuring since it's built inside the reservoir chamber just like the Reserator 1. In this version, the holding tank is much smaller and built in to the rear of the unit and can accessed by removing the four screws holding the lid on. The power cord comes through a hole at the top of the reservoir that can allow water to leak out if the Reserator 2 is tilted too far. At the bottom you will find the In and Out ports. These are the same quick coupling barbs from the R1. Water can only come out with the special Zalman barbs plugged in, so no worries of leaking if you have to transport the unit.

Pump Power Wire

Pump At Bottom

Tube From Indicator

Front Bezel Inside

   The Reserator 2 comes with a CPU and VGA water blocks which are the the same blocks included in the Rererator 1 V2. While there is nothing wrong with the original CPU and VGA blocks, the new ZM-WB4 Gold CPU and ZM-GWB3 VGA blocks have some nicer features. The WB4 Gold incorporates a polycarbonate cover with a gold plated copper base which results in a very nice mirror finish. The internal machine cuts are picture perfect and should be very affective. This kind of quality should equate in to optimal thermal transfer.

WB4 Gold  CPU Block		Package Back w/Directions
The Block	Bottom Finish	Internal Close Up

   The GWB3 VGA block is still a solid aluminum block and base but has the most obvious revisions being the barbs. They not only sit higher up on the GPU so as to avoid a video card's frame, but also swivel. The block's four frame arms are the actual mounting hardware rather than any clips needing assembly. This block appears to be much easier to configure and also the more secure method of mounting. What doesn't come with the VGA block are memory heat sinks which are still a very cheap solution which would make a more perfect VGA kit.

GWB3 VGA Block		Directions On Back
Front	Bottom	Back

   Since we already had the ZM-NWB1 Northbridge block on hand from the Reserator 1 Plus Kit, we opted to include it to fully complete and test the kit. The NWB1 is constructed very much the same way as the VGA block but doesn't have the swivel barbs. Its two mounting arms are its only method of attachment to a motherboard and also one of the simplest.

The Goods

The Manual

Good Directions

   The only accessories you get with this kit are the manual, degassing tube, I/O PCI Plate, Thermal Grease, feet, and hose rings which come in little baggies. The included Thermal Paste isn't your normal generic white or cheaply made paste. The Thermal Grease is actually a high quality performance grease. The bottle lid is also the brush which makes applying the paste very easy and neat. This paste will be applied to each block as they are installed.