[Doctor Feelgood]

Zalman is committed to creating a “user friendly� environment by reducing computer noise through their cooling products, and one of their latest offerings is definitely designed to do just that. The Zalman Reserator 1 Plus is a fanless water cooling system, and in this review we will be testing it on a very heat intensive SLI system. Let’s see how it fared. - The Review

[Doctor Feelgood]

Zalman is committed to creating a “user friendly� environment by reducing computer noise through their cooling products, and one of their latest offerings is definitely designed to do just that. The Zalman Reserator 1 Plus is a fanless water cooling system, and in this review we will be testing it on a very heat intensive SLI system. Let’s see how it fared. - The Review

[jjrimell]

Kinda like the iPod Nano and its scratchable screen, the Zalman reserator is a great product with an annoying flaw.

The reserator does give near silent cooling....for a while...

After a few months, you might start to hear a quiet rattling.... then it gets louder. After 3 or 4 months, the reserator can making a full-on loud rattling that can get unbearable.

The problem is with the pump that comes with it. It has a soft bearing that extended high heat and constant use can wear down and cause the pump's impeller to rattle. Zalman knows about this and offers free replacements for the pump (I'm on my third after 9 months). The real solution is to spend another $20 on getting a better pump though.

Note that this is only a problem if you have a really hot system, such as a dual cpu + gpu + northbridge cooled system. Here is the forum thread on the subject.
http://www.zalmanforums.com/showthread.php?t=48&pp=10

Ok. With full knowledge of this problem though, I have to say that I love the product. My computer used to sound like a jet engine with all the fans, and now is REALLY REALLY quiet (with a good pump). Sure, I found myself in an aquarium looking for a part to fix my computer, but I think that it is worth it (and it only cost me an extra 20 bucks).

[Asylum]

Welcome jjrimell

Thanks for your input.

I haven't had this problem, although i've only had it running now for about a month. I plan on adding a few mods to it soon and an external pump will mostlikely be one of them, along with a fan cooled radiator.