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I am new to water cooling and have read a lot here. very very knowledgeable people. Although I feel I am ready to take the plunge apparently I feel i need an OK from someone here.

Computer:
Antec Sonata Case
ASUS P5aD2E Premium
2x 1gb ddr2 sticks
Radeon X850XT
p4 3.4
4xsata 250gb drives in a RAID10 setup
antec truepower 450 watt PS
onboard sound and nic (i may get a separate sound card. been having lots of issues but i read the sb takes that duty so i am wondering if it is overheating)
I think that is all you need.

Reasons for watercooling:
1. i always thought it was cool
2. i like quiet but never figured out how to deal with the PS so it seemed pointless.
3. Usually i clean out my comp once every few months but we recently moved into a new home but with 2 Honeywell air purifiers running 24/7 in two rooms (we are kinda trying to save for a house) the machine almost chocked up with dust in less then 3 months. used to be I cleaned it out once every 6 and it could have gone longer. this house is a mess. So I need to remove as many fans as possible as it just sucks in dust even with dust filters on he machine itself.

Potential Solution:
Zalman Reserator 2 with the vga memory cooler and the NB cooler as well.

Now I was wondering if I should by the koolance memory block coolers as well but:
1. I do not know if that is even necessary
2. will that make the system pump have to push too much
3. the reserator uses 8mm and the koolance uses 6mm which pull put pressure on the head. Not sure if that is an issue.

Opinions?
Skip the memory for now and see if ti is even needed?

I am pretty much set on the Reserator, passive, quiet, nice kit, decent performance and price, quality and I like their mission statement. Plus it's keep the darn cats off the top of the computer.

Well, I like virtually all of the members here will tell you to build your own cooling loop rather than buy a kit (this includes the reserator).

Quite can be accomplished with lots of performance, if you are willing to do a little building of your own.

What is your price range?

honestly i would look at a swiftech solution rather than the reserator.if you go with low dba fans like yateloons you can keep the noise level quite reasonable with the swiftech.you can also mount the rad on the back of your case so space wont be a issue.performance will be a ton better with a swiftech solution as well.
http://www.petrastechshop.com/pecoba.html
something like the above will allow you to easily upgrade in the future where as a zalman isnt very easily upgraded for the most part.

i wouldnt worry about wcing the memory either.corsair and ocz both have solid memory coolers or if money is tight its very easy to mount a 80-120mm fan to help keep them cool.

The Reserator is not a very good solution. It doesn't give good temps at all. And the Koolance memory cooler is also a no-go.

What you want is a custom setup with a triple rad and use undervolted fans. Yate loon fans at like 5-7v are very, very quiet.

Do a little searching on recommended parts lists threads here on OC. Koolance products in general are best to be avoided for a number of reasons, and whatever you do, stay away from anything Thermaltake when it comes to watercooling.

You also need to come up with some kind of a budget that you have to work with as that will determine a lot of what options are available to you, and we can give you better suggestions as to what to look at given that.

Well part of the reason i went with the reserator is the passive cooling. Remember the fans pull dust in. It is a major problem. I am looking at under 400$ US.

My goal is to remove the fans not for the noise compnent but for the ability to draw in dust. I need that stopped. I found out the vga cooler is not compatible so I would be using heat sinks.

Oh I forgot to mention, I do not overclock. I game and do soem 3d stuff. and program. But no overclocking.

We are in a cramped space so taking the comptuer apart once a month to clean it out is an hour long process. I knwo these sound like strange situations and they are. I apologize for that.

I saw one other passive cooler that was called the Rocket or somthing liek that. Very phallic.

I would also liek to note that I do not expect to be able to remove all the fans. I will of course still have the PS fan and one of the two big fans left.

also i would like to mention i don't go to lan parties and could care less about blinky flashy things. soemthing that shows me water is at least moving would be nice but can use the mobo sensors to get an idea of what the heat is running (and i know they are not uber accurate)

YOu could mount the Raitaor externally, much like the Reserator, and mount some quiet low speed fans liek the Yate Loons mentioned above. This is a very common method used, as the size of radiator you are lookign at doesn't fit in most cases, and thos it will fit in require modding for the most part.

My suggestions:

CPU block: Swiftech Apogee Gt
Pump: MCP655
VGA block: Swiftech MCW60 (You will need ramsinks as well)
Radiator: Swiftech MCR320-QP (built in res for easy filling of the loop)
Mounting: Swiftech Rad Box
Fans: 3 X Yate Loons
Tubing: ~10 feet of 1/2"ID 3/4" OD Clear Flex 60


That should do you nicely. And is easily attainable through most online retailers.

what is the problem wiht the reserator? I have read several posts but they are not specific.

is it the qualityof the blocks? the loop length? pump strength? the Passive Cooling? Is it soemthing that is fixable?
i can get the reserator 2 wiht the Nb block for 350.

your set up costs roughtly 277 sans NB block and addatives and such. so say 300. saved 50. that is nice but the fans still draw int he dust and will clog up it looks like monthly.

I am not trying to be difficult. I knwo it seems that way and I apologize. I jsut don't want to spend the money and have it not work because of the very reason i went to water coolign in the first place. Noise is nto as much an issue as the dust.

http://www.highspeedpc.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=InnovaKonvect

found these. now i am lookinga t a custom setup. *sigh* i thought i had this all figured out.

The Reserator cools very poorly and is very expensive for performance. The only upside is the lack of noise, but 3 yate loons at 7v would be quieter than your HD's and other components, so its a moot point.

Jas's selections are basically the best if you want quiet, except you might prefer not to get integrated reservoir/radiator, but thats totally personal choice.

If you moutn the radiator outside your case (which is what teh rad box is for, just mount the radiator on the back), it's easy to clean, you just wipe any dust away, or use a vacume. Wouldn't be any different than using the reserator, except you'd get WAY better performance.

I have the MCR320-QP in there as for his case, it might be the easiest aproach for him to have a resevoir external, that he can just unscrew and fill, since he mentioned space, and gettin ginside his case was an issue.

Alternately, yo ucould go with th eSwiftech Apogee Drive combo block, it's a CPU block and pump all in one. The pump is a modifed MCP355. That would save you a little money as well. A coupel forum members are just not trying that apogee drive out, and are getting very good results.

Hsnopi said:

http://www.highspeedpc.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=InnovaKonvect

found these. now i am lookinga t a custom setup. *sigh* i thought i had this all figured out.

Click to expand...

Those Radiaotrs are rated at 80 and 125 watts Heat disapation... not going ot cut it. Not wiht what you want to cool.

They are also meant for 8mm tubbing, which is an uncommon tubing type outside of europe.

What Jas is suggesting makes sense as far as parts go. An external case of some sort with your watercooling components and lines just running in and out of your comp is one option. Another option would be to mount your pump and res internally, but mount your radiator and fans on the top of your case outside of the top of the case. That way you would still have the rad attached to the case, but you could easily just vacuum out the rad and fans.