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Zalman Reserator 2 vs Swiftech H20-220 Apex ULTRA+
- Thread starter elec999
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Xilikon
[H]ard|DCer of the Year 2008
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IMHO, the Swiftech would be a better chocie but to answer your question, it depend on what is your goals and what are you trying to cool.
The Swiftech kit is a real WC setup in a box.
The CPU block is one of the best in the business, able to handle overclocked quad-cores. The GPU and Chipset blocks are also first-rate.
The radiator is arguably the "second-best" 220 you can buy when using lower CFM/static pressure fans. There are better 2x120 radiators out there, but they cost three times as much.
The pump is tried, true, reliable and the heart of many custom WC rigs as well.
It's all expandable or upgradeable, very compatible with what passes for industry standard in the WC market as far as tubing, barbs, fans, etc are concerned.
The included Radbox makes finding a place to mount the radiator much easier.
The only items in the kit I'd consider replacing right away would be the fans. The Ruilian Science fans they supply are decent 2000 RPM units that run fairly quiet and can be undervolted to run even quieter, but there are better fans out there that can be had for $10-$20 for a pair.
The CPU block is one of the best in the business, able to handle overclocked quad-cores. The GPU and Chipset blocks are also first-rate.
The radiator is arguably the "second-best" 220 you can buy when using lower CFM/static pressure fans. There are better 2x120 radiators out there, but they cost three times as much.
The pump is tried, true, reliable and the heart of many custom WC rigs as well.
It's all expandable or upgradeable, very compatible with what passes for industry standard in the WC market as far as tubing, barbs, fans, etc are concerned.
The included Radbox makes finding a place to mount the radiator much easier.
The only items in the kit I'd consider replacing right away would be the fans. The Ruilian Science fans they supply are decent 2000 RPM units that run fairly quiet and can be undervolted to run even quieter, but there are better fans out there that can be had for $10-$20 for a pair.
Wicked_Bass
[H]ard|Gawd
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Sorry if I am thread jacking!
Croak what would you recommend for fans money no object for the swiftech kit?
Thanks
Croak what would you recommend for fans money no object for the swiftech kit?
Thanks
Good question, I would like to know this answer too.
I also heard the waterblock that comes with the kit is not as good as other waterblocks swiftech offers. I will cooling the Q6600 with this.
Thanks
ikellensbro
[H]ard|Gawd
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The cheapskate says Yates from Petra's are quite easily the best price vs. performance fans you'll find today, especially D12SM's (which undervolt better than SL's). If you really have the urge to spend $10 or $20
rolleyes on a single fan, it really depends what level of quiet you want and whose testing you trust. For reference, here are some recent fan roundups:http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=170224
http://www.silentpcreview.com/article739-page1.html
http://www.silentpcreview.com/article695-page1.html
http://www.madshrimps.be/?action=getarticle&number=1&artpage=1708&articID=421
Thanks[/quote]
A Reserator 2 will keep a Q6600 from overheating for sure, and should cool better than stock air. While it's nice that it includes CPU and GPU (core) blocks, that's about all it has going for it compared to an Apex kit. The Reserator 2 is meant to be able to cool some (coller running, preferably) components silently without overheating, which it can do.
If you're going for OCing, top performance, possible internal mounting, and components that will be able to hold their own much longer, the Apex ULTRA+ will do just what you need it to. If you're considering the Reserator 2 because it's easier to install than the Apex (it is, slightly), then you might want to look at an H2O-Compact 220, which has just about the same performance as the Apex, but with the same number of tubing connections and easier setup.
Money no object and noise being a consideration, there's a few good choices.
The Noctua PF-12 is getting very good reviews, but you need to get past the color, and the ~$20.00 price tag per fan. I plan on picking up a pair next time I'm in NCIX though.
The Scythe SFF line also gets very good reviews, but from my personal experience, they're great free-air fans, but the quiet aspect of them goes away really quickly once they're working against a restriction and turning over 1k RPM. Just keep in mind that even then, they're much quieter than most other 120mm fans, and move goodly amounts of air, should last a LONG time, but they ain't silent. That said, I run two SFF-F fans on my 220-QP-RES, bottom mounted, but they're undervolted down to 1000 RPM, where they are fairly quiet.
The Yate Loon D12 series is pretty damned good, especially for the price. They do have a few drawbacks. First being, unless you buy from one particular shop (Petra's) there's no guarantee you're getting a "good one" or even a real one.
They're also not very happy with long-term horizontal mounting, according to many reports, which may be a problem. Finally, they have both a 3-pin and 4-pin Molex on the wire, which makes them a bit messy for some neat freaks. I can say, from a silence standpoint, that the 12L at 1400 RPM is less annoying and overall quieter than a SFF-F at anything between 1200-1600 RPM. I run two of them, push/pull on my drive-bay mounted 120-QP-RES, between 1200-1400 RPM.