Zalman Reserator Liquid CPU Cooler Detailed

btarunr · Nov 21, 2012

Do most pre-built CPU liquid cooler kits look the same to you? It's probably because they carry Asetek or Akasa design. Enter a refreshment in the pre-built arena: Zalman. The Korean PC cooling veteran unveiled Reserator, a liquid cooler which swaps the conventional-looking radiator for a high-performance heatsink with radially-projecting copper fins, in which the heat pipes are swapped with coolant channels. The contraption is ventilated by a 120 mm Zalman custom-design blue or red LED-lit fan, with PWM control. The CPU block features copper base with mirror finish, while its other parts are given aesthetic touches with chrome plating and LEDs. The cooler will be designed to handle thermal loads as high as 400W. It is slated for early-2013.

View at TechPowerUp Main Site

cdawall · Nov 21, 2012

Interesting take on their last resorator back in the day which was 2 feet tall aluminum and stood outside of the PC.

Nordic · Nov 21, 2012

I take it this was not made/designed by asestek but by zalman? Looks like that one cpu cooler they had but made into a water cooler.

WarEagleAU · Nov 21, 2012

Looks pretty cool but I thought it was Asetek and CoolIT not Akasa.

PopcornMachine · Nov 21, 2012

That looks cool. They took one of their flower cooler designs and put in a radiator!

Interested in how it performs. Only thing is the tubing looks a little short.

sneekypeet · Nov 21, 2012

did anyone else think about this when this thread went live?

RejZoR · Nov 21, 2012

Wow, finally someone with some balls to use a different radiator design. This one might even fit on my exhaust fan slot of Lian Li PC-V354. Anyone has any dimensions of the radiator itself?

jalex3 · Nov 21, 2012

Nice to see a real change for once. That thing actually looks pretty nifty.

hhumas · Nov 21, 2012

very beautiful shape

natr0n · Nov 21, 2012

It took me a good while to figure out what part goes on the cpu. :laugh:

Also was thinking of a stethoscope.

RejZoR · Nov 21, 2012

I've found some more info here:
http://www.overclock.net/t/1327816/various-zalman-reserator-3-water-cooler

THE_EGG · Nov 21, 2012

Hooray, Zalman might be finally getting out of their bad designs

With the exception of the CNPS11X, I haven't seen a decent cooler since the CNPS9900 series several years ago. Good to see Zalman are doing something different. Big thumbs up to Zalman from me.

Bjorn_Of_Iceland · Nov 21, 2012

Looking sleek. But I bet it has a soaring price tag that being Zalman and stuff.

RejZoR · Nov 21, 2012

The CNPS 9900 MAX is also pretty efficient. Look at the FrostyTech charts. It's up with the best bunch. Not the very top but still very high up.

cdawall · Nov 21, 2012

sneekypeet said:
did anyone else think about this when this thread went live?

That's quite interesting I hadn't seen that thread before. Temps are not that great TBH, but for what it is I am impressed.

bogami · Nov 21, 2012

Rely nice designed !

Lock all copper chrome protection ,400W max thermal discharges :eek:

RejZoR · Nov 21, 2012

Seems like the loop is shorter than in normal radiators but it will compensate that will larger fin array and faster coolant cycling.

HammerON · Nov 21, 2012

This is an interesting design...
Will wait for some reviews before passing judgment

JCBeastie · Nov 21, 2012

Looks brilliant but I have the same complaint about it that I do for 90% of Zalman's coolers; proprietary fan.

Now I've not had many issues with normal case fans but OEM ones on graphics cards and other coolers I've had a bad experience with. My current graphics card had the fan bearing fail a month after purchase!

Ideally i like to see any cooler where you can just fit a new fan, this does not look good. If that fan fails I'm going to have to RMA the whole damn product, not cool.

RCoon · Nov 21, 2012

It's all well and good designing something which, to me, looks way cooler than the bog standard asetek design, but does it even match the cooling performance? that would be the decider with price involved. and im sure its just a promotional picture, but that tubing is real short...

Phobia9651 · Nov 21, 2012

I foresee plenty of mounting problems with those radiator dimensions: 153x120x80 mm.
And yes the proprietary fan is also a major let down, if you want to use push-pull, replace the fan, because you want something more silent or without LEDs you're screwed. Not to mention when the fan bearing goes defect.

RejZoR · Nov 21, 2012

JCBeastie said:
Looks brilliant but I have the same complaint about it that I do for 90% of Zalman's coolers; proprietary fan.

Now I've not had many issues with normal case fans but OEM ones on graphics cards and other coolers I've had a bad experience with. My current graphics card had the fan bearing fail a month after purchase!

Ideally i like to see any cooler where you can just fit a new fan, this does not look good. If that fan fails I'm going to have to RMA the whole damn product, not cool.

Yes, that is somewhat an issue since you don't get much of a choice, but they seem to be quite good quality. I used to have Zalman VF-900 Cu, i've used it on 3 generations of graphic cards and it's still working. It was relatively silent and durable.

JCBeastie · Nov 21, 2012

Looking at it again you could use its case mounting points to attach it to fan that pulls air through...

badtaylorx · Nov 21, 2012

JCBeastie said:
Looks brilliant but I have the same complaint about it that I do for 90% of Zalman's coolers; proprietary fan.

Now I've not had many issues with normal case fans but OEM ones on graphics cards and other coolers I've had a bad experience with. My current graphics card had the fan bearing fail a month after purchase!

Ideally i like to see any cooler where you can just fit a new fan, this does not look good. If that fan fails I'm going to have to RMA the whole damn product, not cool.

Nah...just bust out the dremmel and mod in an excalibur.....

lastcalaveras · Nov 21, 2012

RejZoR said:
I've found some more info here:
http://www.overclock.net/t/1327816/various-zalman-reserator-3-water-cooler

looking at the thread it would be nice if you could link a few of these radiators together for more surface area

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Zalman Reserator Liquid CPU Cooler Detailed

btarunr

Editor & Senior Moderator

cdawall

where the hell are my stars

Nordic

WarEagleAU

Bird of Prey

PopcornMachine

sneekypeet

not-so supermod

RejZoR

jalex3

hhumas

natr0n

RejZoR

THE_EGG

Bjorn_Of_Iceland

RejZoR

cdawall

where the hell are my stars

bogami

RejZoR

HammerON

The Watchful Moderator

JCBeastie

RCoon

Phobia9651

RejZoR

JCBeastie

badtaylorx

lastcalaveras

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