Installation
Ease of installation has always been one of the Reserator water cooling system’s greatest strengths and the latest XT is no exception. Overall, I found each of the components and the system as a whole, to be very easy and straightforward to install. The included User’s Manual does an excellent job of clearly explaining and illustrating the various installation steps. The User’s Manual is also available for download from the Zalman website in pdf format.Basic Reserator XT Installation
1. Install the CPU waterblock
2. Install the GPU waterblock
3. Cut and install tubing
4. Locate the Reserator XT external cooling unit
5. Fill the system with coolant and establish flow
I highly recommend running the water cooling system for a couple of hours (24-hours is the standard) before powering on the PC. This allows all the air bubbles to work themselves loose and make sure there are no leaks. The fittings and tubing used with the Reserator XT are very good and it is unlikely that you will encounter any problems with leaks.
Install the CPU Waterblock (ZM-WB5)
The obvious first step is to remove the existing CPU cooler and clean the processor in preparation for mounting the Zalman waterblock. For this review I will be using an Intel LGA775 motherboard and processor, which for many will require removal so the clip support bracket and backing plate can be installed using the provided thru-bolts.
The ZM-WB5 uses a two-piece spring clip that must be attached to the top of the waterblock for LGA775 processors prior to mounting. Once the CPU’s IHS has been cleaned and prepped with a little thermal compound the waterblock can be set into position and secured with two small screws. Since the mount is symmetrical, the waterblock can be positioned in whatever 90 deg increment works best for routing the tubing.
Note for AMD users, the ZM-WB5 uses a single spring clip that engages two lugs on the standard AMD retention frame. It doesn’t get much easier than that!
Install the GPU Waterblock (ZM-GWB8800)
After removing the stock air cooler the Zalman VGA waterblock can be installed on the video card. Again, all the necessary hardware is provided. For this review I will be using a single NVIDIA 8800 GTX video card. Nine stud assemblies (nipples) with O-rings were first installed into the large aluminum heatsink.
Adhesive backed thermal pads are provided to make contact with the memory chips, I/O chip and VRMs. These must be carefully positioned onto the waterblock and don’t forget to remove the clear protective film from BOTH sides of the thermal pads! Thermal grease is applied directly onto the GPU. After all the chips have been cleaned and prepped, the ZM-GWB8800 waterblock can be carefully set in place and secured with nine springs, washers and thumb screws.
Once again, installation of the VGA waterblock was quite easy and straight forward and the resulting mount appears to be secure. Once the waterblock was installed the video card exhibited a slight bow that I did not notice with the stock cooler. It didn’t appear to do any harm and did not interfere with installation. This is a good thing as many users may be a little nervous performing this type of work on their $600 video card!
Once the 8800 GTX video card was installed back into the system, I noticed one of the thumbscrews securing the VGA waterblock (lower, bottom stud under the VRMs) was touching the motherboard RAM sockets. While not really an interference problem on this particular motherboard, it is something to watch out for.