Installation:

   Installing the Reserator 2 water blocks is the same as any other complete kit and requires removal of the motherboard. Since we want a securely mounted water block and performing a full water kit installation, we have no qualms about it. The motherboard back plate and fan socket need to be removed as well as the chipset's stock heat sink. The video card stock fan and heat sink must also be removed. If your video card already have independent heat sinks, then you are one of the lucky ones.

   Installation note: Attaching the tubing to the water blocks before installing them is still the safest method. To make installation easier to see and understand, the blocks were attached to the motherboard first. Then the VGA and Chipset blocks were removed and the tubing was attached and then reinstalled.

   Starting with a bare motherboard, the WB4 CPU block is the first to get mounted. The CPU mounting kit comes with a more flat back plate which uses four washers, two thumbscrew standoffs, and two small screws to fasten the CPU clip in place. The clip does a good job of holding the water block in place without interfering with the barbs.

CPU Box	CPU Kit	Simple Directions
Mounting Clip	Mounted	Two Screws

Two More Screws

Mounted Block

Tubing Applied

   The GWB3 VGA block is actually pretty simple to attach. Four smaller thumb screws connected to tension springs threaded through a washer from the back side of the video card. The top side of the card then has a thumb screw with a rubber washer that screws through the bottom. Basically all four corners of block are secured by four small screws. It can't really be any more secure than that.

VGA Kit	Simple Directions	Bottom Tension Screws
Applying Thermal Grease	The New Bottle	Back Side

Front Side

Ready to Mount

   The NWB1 Chipset block is one of the most simple blocks to mount on the market. Two chipset standoffs with tensions springs like you would normally find on any chipset heat sink, are also used to secure the block. Simply push through the block and motherboard and you're done. This mounting technique is always a pleasure to work with.

Chipset Kit

NWB1 Block

Tubing Complete

Black Chipset Mounts

   Since the blocks were connected before mounting, getting the tubing over the barbs was easy by using a water based, non-detergent lubricant. The hose rings get pinched and slid down over the barb for a maximum seal. The tubing fits on the barbs tight enough that hose rings aren't really necessary, but these rings do prevent the tubing from accidentally being pulled off.

Reservoir Lid

4 Corner Screws

Filling w/Water

No Leaking

   First thing needed for priming the kit is removing the reservoir cap for adding the distilled water and connecting the degassing tube. The quick coupling barbs that come on the degassing tube are the only quick coupling barbs in the kit. You have to remove and attach them to the tubing cut for the system. These came off easy enough none the less. After connecting them to the actual system tubing and reconnected to the R2.

   Now the Reserator 2 is ready to be primed. A small green wire provided in the kit was connected to the 24-pin power connector grounding the green wire with any black wire which allows the power supply switch to turn the R2 on and off. The tricky thing about the system is, if it doesn't prime quick enough due to too much air or a faulty pump, then the system will shut down and alarm. This is why the system's internal tubing must be primed before all out operation. You don't want your system running as it decides to shut down.

Completing the Circuit

Priming the Tubing

Powered On

Blue Indicator & LED

Sexy New System

   The Reserator 2 required several power cycles and leaning it to a 70 degree angle to get the system primed. You can turn your power supply on and off, or press and hold the Light/Reset button for more than 5 seconds and the Reserator 2 will automatically restart. After 15 minutes and many power cycles, the system suddenly started to gurgle and push the water more fully through the system causing the flow indicator to spin. The system was left running for 30 minutes to thoroughly remove air and check for leaks. Power was then reconnected to the computer system and powered on.
 

Testing:

Test Notes: Room and distilled water temperatures were kept to 75 degrees Fahrenheit. Additives were not added due to the short use of the water cooling system and to eliminate any possible performance hindrances.
 

   The system started off just a couple degrees above the original Reserator 1 temps. At first a little concern set in when the idle temps were hotter than the Reserator 1. What's surprising is that the ceiling temps were quite a bit lower under load and overclocked. This Opteron CPU is a cool running processor by default, but starts to match the much hotter operating single core socket 775 and 478 comparable processors when overclocked. The Reserator 2 handles them very well for having passive cooling properties.

   The new WB4 CPU block looks very cool while running and can easily be modded to look better. A small wire with a red LED fit nicely underneath the CPU bracket changing the appearance to red. Anyone familiar with Virtual-Hideout knows that we just are always looking for ways to really 'pimp' a system, especially on behalf of those who are serious modders or LAN party goers.

   Most video cards look good by default these days unless you buy the cheapest base model you can find. Upper echelon video cards tend to have LEDs or nice ram sinks on them, so having a nice looking VGA block is almost a necessity. The electric blue GWB3 VGA and NWB1 Chipset blocks stand out and still look very good. Again, it would be really nice to get ram sinks with the VGA block to finish off the kit and replace the default sinks. There is another side to this coin though. The common opinion of the Reserator series is that it isn't intended to be an overclocking power house of a kit so very few people will be overclocking their video card. In this case, it would be for the completed and finished look of the system.

   The inclusion of clear tubing has modding potential as well, such as UV reactive dyes. The patented blue rubber tubing with the original series looked great as well and was also very, very easy to install and work with even with the water blocks preinstalled. The clear tubing is much stiffer, but has no problems with a tighter radius where so many other types of tubing would kink.

   One final note should be mentioned. The Zalman RF1 Fan Kit that was designed to go on the Reserator 1 series was intended to help cool the outside housing. A small filtered house fan was unintentionally placed next to the Reserator 2 which a really nice side affect. The temperatures actually dropped in varying degrees and it took longer to reach the system's maximum temperatures which also dropped. Could this mean something new later? Or does the system really need it?

Summary:

   The Zalman Reserator 2 is one very attractive, self-contained water cooling kit. It's such a pleasure to work with that any novice can assemble the system thanks to the simple mounting configurations. The kit has been much improved thanks to the housing's thermal properties, overall size, High Performance Thermal Grease, and water blocks.

   Once again, audiophiles and silent computer enthusiasts will be able to appreciate a much more sleek and presentable cooling solution. The Reserator 2 can also fit any Home Theater PC configuration and will look great next to any of your audio or video components. With so many possible applications you can't go wrong.

   We'd like to thank Zalman for allowing us to sample and play with their Reserator 2. You can be sure something new is in the works, whether it be revisions or completely new, which we are always excited to see.