Zalman Reserator 1 V2 vs XSPC Rasa RX360

J

John Stamos

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Sep 14, 2009
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I've been looking to get started on my first water cooling kit for a while now. I want to go with the kit as the price seems to be right where I want it to be, and I like the idea of universal blocks vs specific fit. Only because I tend to buy and sell GPU's pretty fast, I'd rather something that I can just swap out.

Anyway, I was leaning towards the XSPC Rasa RX360 for a while, it seems to be enough to cool a Crossfire set up and my CPU.

I'm running an i5-2500k @ 4.5ghz, and 2 HD 6870's. I don't really have an issue with temperatures now, but I'm replacing my mobo, case, and some other various parts so I figured I'd like to try water cooling this time around.

Anyway, The Rasa RX360 seems to hold it's own for temps which is why I was looking at it, but I will not be able to mount it inside my case. The NZXT Phantom. There's no room on the top to mount, and personally, I'd rather not even mount it to the outside of the case. This led me towards the Zalman 1 V2. I unfortunately found out it's a pretty dated kit. It made it hard to find systems of today running on it. What I like about it though is that it's fanless (I'd have my huge air purifier blowing on the radiator anyway) looks fantastic, AND comes with 1 universal GPU block in addition to the CPU block (which both come with).

I'm going to need to buy another GPU block as well, no big deal. My question is though, since the Zalman is so dated, it only shows GPU support for old models, like Nvidia 7 series and around that era. I can't imagine the holes in the card changing that drastically over the years but if I'm gonna spend some 3-400 dollars, I want to make sure everything lines up. So my question is, is anyone using the Zalman Reserator 1 V2 for any of today's equipment? Will the stock parts that come with the kit work for my 6870 and i5-2500k? And if so, how are your temps?

Thanks in advance

edit: Also, I'm going to need Vram cooling. I was thinking of just getting some small heat sinks and placing them on. I will still have cooling in the case itself, I just worry if a few heat sinks slapped onto the card is actually enough.
 
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XSPC kit hands down. That Zalman kit is pretty old and I wouldn't waste my money on it if I was in the market for a kit.
 
I understand there's age to it, but just because something is older doesn't mean it's less efficient as far as cooling is concerned.

I'm trying to get some comparisons.
 
I couldn't recommend using the Zalman blocks or pump, but as a radiator/reservoir combo, it works well. I have 2 in series for my i7 950 at 4GHz and with a single fan blowing across one of them, the fluid temperature peaks at about 36C.

My pump is an aquarium pump and i'm using Aquacomptuer blocks on CPU and both GTX470
 
You know, I did see that the Zalman used a pretty terrible pump. I don't see a way to buy the radiator/reservoir as a separate entity unfortunately. I wouldn't mind using the shell and then filling the inside out with a good pump.
 
John Stamos said:
I understand there's age to it, but just because something is older doesn't mean it's less efficient as far as cooling is concerned.

I'm trying to get some comparisons.
Click to expand...

Whether it was new or old, the price for the performance you get on the XSPC kit is a very good value. I'd just recommend running a different pump in the XSPC kit if you're running 3 WB's.

Similar question asked - http://www.overclock.net/water-cooling/1042041-can-cool.html
 
AdvanSuper said:
Whether it was new or old, the price for the performance you get on the XSPC kit is a very good value. I'd just recommend running a different pump in the XSPC kit if you're running 3 WB's.

Similar question asked - http://www.overclock.net/water-cooling/1042041-can-cool.html
Click to expand...

Yea, I've concluded that I'll stick with the Rasa RX360. I'm going to go with Enzotech VGA waterblocks

http://www.enzotechnology.com/vga_is.htm

The temps are only a few degrees worse than the Rasa universal GPU blocks, but the water flow is significantly better.

Edit: Any recommendations on the best way to cool the rest of the GPU? I was going to slap some small vram heatsinks on there, but if that's less functional than the stock card fan solution, I need a better method.
 
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If you don't plan on upgrading anytime soon I'd look into some used full cover GPU blocks, but if you're a person who is constantly upgraded the universal solutions are your best bet with VRAM heat sinks.
 
I'm pretty sure they are aluminum. You don't want to have corrosion in your loop.
 
Wait what? What does a heatsink for vram and mosfets have anything to do with watercooling?
 
Check out the MCW82's universal water blocks. I've been impressed with mine so far running on 2 5870's in parallel.
 
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