Reserator XT temps.. higher than expected

[Mark_88]

Hi, Overclockers.com :)

Recently I bought a Reserator XT on eBay. I figured I might as well take an easy kit for my first shot at watercooling and I got a great deal on it. It was used for about 4 months and advertised as being in pristine condition. Upon arrival I was pleased to see he was right. :P Also all the package contents except for the Reserator were new. I guess the seller kept the old waterblock and tubes in his own system. Anyway, I bought it because I have an eVGA 680i motherboard. Those who know it know it's a mobo that runs very hot and has a noisy NB fan. This is why I figured I'd go for watercooling, as a noise-killer. So now I have blocks on the CPU, NB and GPU. I opted for a HR-05 SLI (without fan) on the southbridge, seeing as when you remove the NB cooling, you also remove the SB cooling (they're connected via heatpipe).

So here's my setup now:

Case: Cooler Master Centurion 5 w/ 120mm noiseblocker exhaust fan
Mobo: eVGA 680i SLI
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo e6850 2 x 3.00 GHz (stock)
GPU: eVGA e-Geforce 8800GT Superclocked (stock)
RAM: 2x1GB OCZ DDR2 PC2-8500 Platinum SLI-Ready Edition Dual Channel (OC'ed automatically by the 680i)

The cooling components:

Zalman Reserator XT
CPU: ZM-WB5
NB: EK-NF4 Rev. 1.1
SB: Thermalright HR-05 SLI
GPU: EK-FC88 GT

Right now they're all in one loop in the order CPU-NB-GPU. I haven't been able to find any 11/8 mm T-fittings to create seperate loops. When running idle with ambient temps at around 22° C, the Reserator reports its water output (to the PC) at 27° C and its input (from the PC) at 28° C.

The idle temps for the components are:

CPU: 37° C
NB: 42° C
GPU: Core 39° C Mem 32° C
SB: 51° C

My questions are these:


Aren't these idle temps on the high side? In reviews I read of temps in the twenties for the CPU. Granted, that was CPU only but these temps still seem pretty high.
The southbridge on this thing gets to 51° C. Is that too high?
So the Reserator is knocking off 1-2 degrees in the water cycle. Is this enough?


Cheers,

Mark

:)

[saxile]

that's not to bad for that cooler, it's ment to match medium air cooling, I would put a little fan on the sb myself tho.

[dark bishop]

just because you have liquid cooling doesnt mean its good, most kits are a waste, except swiftechs. Zalman make some very nice silent watercooling kits but they are ony meant to match medium are cooling, those temps are very good for having a cpu, nb, and gpu on that loop.

[maxfly]

what are you using to measure temps with?specifically the gpu and cpu temps.
both the nb and sb run very hot on the 680i.so no worries there.thats probably why your temps are a little high tbh.

[Mark_88]

I'm using nTune's System Monitor App to check them. I also have ATItool and CoreTemp on here, and they show the same temps.

[maxfly]

well you may try remounting your cpu block and reapplying your tim.altho youll likely have to replace the rad to get solid temps.ive seen solid temps out of the xt with c2ds.so its surprising that its struggling with a stock dualcore.even with the gpu and nb it should be a little better i think.
gl

[JamesXP]

I bet the pump isn't poerful enough, NB blocks = restrictive

[Mark_88]

well you may try remounting your cpu block and reapplying your tim.altho youll likely have to replace the rad to get solid temps.ive seen solid temps out of the xt with c2ds.so its surprising that its struggling with a stock dualcore.even with the gpu and nb it should be a little better i think.
gl

What do you mean by 'tim'? Thermal paste? And is it possible to replace the Res' internal components, then?

[maxfly]

What do you mean by 'tim'? Thermal paste? And is it possible to replace the Res' internal components, then?

yep,thermal interface material.

you could replace the internals but the easiest way to improve heat dissipation would be to add another rad to the loop.a 120x1 would be the easiest to find space for but it depends on what you are looking at doing.as james said im not sure the pump would be able to handle another rad.
keep in mind this is just theory on my part as ive never modded a reserator.im just going off my personal experience.

[prime81]

Those temps are definitely high for the Reserator XT, mine idles 33-34c which is 3-4c above ambient. Sometimes things off ebay are lemons, I rarely buy off ebay unless it's a new product. The other issue is with that many things in the loop your flowrate is probably taking a dive, you may try and upgrade the pump. Also the Reserator XT utilizes passive heatstinks on both sides of the top between the 2 radiators, with this in mind place a small fan outside blowing over the unit, also keep the bottom of the Reserator off the floor or hot surfaces such as the top of your computer case. I keep mine out infront of my case with a small fan blowing over the passive heatstinks, it's also sitting on an oven rack that keeps it about 1-2 inches off the carpet.

As far as performance this kit is not designed for medium air cooling, it's designed to surpass high end air cooling. It already has dual radiators, the only downfall is the pump to this system. If you were to install an mcp655, this thing would blow away just about anything.

To get to the pump youll have to disassemble most of the unit, it sits underneath the reservoir bolted to the bottom panel.

[jokers_greg]

I suggest putting a TRUE 120 HSF on that CPU, you'll get better temps on it, and it'll lower the temps on the rest of your components. You could overclock decently well without a fan on the HSF, but even if you put one on, you won't hear it. Jus find yourself a nice 120mm fan and slap it on the HSF and you'll be fine.

[Mark_88]

Max, I checked the paste on my components again today. The GPU and CPU have a nice even layer Arctic Silver 5 on them, so I don't think that's the issue. I was out of AS5 when I got to my NB and SB, though, so I used a bunch of cheap Thermalright on those two. I'm replacing it with AS5 (got a new batch in the mail yesterday) when I get my new case (Antec P182). Would a new case and better thermal paste make a big difference?

Prime, how hard would it be to install a mcp655, then? Also I see on Swiftech's site that you can get one with a speed controller. Does this mean you can replace the Res' pump with this one and the only difference would be the pumping power? Would you still be able to regulate it and would the flow rate meter still work? Also, it's on top of my PC right now because of lack of space. In the future, when I have more space, it's definitely not going on top of my PC.

Thanks for the input, jokers_greg. :) If I replaced the pump would it still be a good idea to opt for a TRUE 120 HSF?

Cheers,

Mark

[Kilyin]

If you were to install an mcp655, this thing would blow away just about anything.

Not really.

[maxfly]

Would a new case and better thermal paste make a big difference?

Mark

if your current case has poor airflow then yes a new case with better flow should help.it sounds like the cpu/gpu are fine and if a remount hasnt helped you likely wont see better temps by doing another remount.

[prime81]

Max, I checked the paste on my components again today. The GPU and CPU have a nice even layer Arctic Silver 5 on them, so I don't think that's the issue. I was out of AS5 when I got to my NB and SB, though, so I used a bunch of cheap Thermalright on those two. I'm replacing it with AS5 (got a new batch in the mail yesterday) when I get my new case (Antec P182). Would a new case and better thermal paste make a big difference?

Prime, how hard would it be to install a mcp655, then? Also I see on Swiftech's site that you can get one with a speed controller. Does this mean you can replace the Res' pump with this one and the only difference would be the pumping power? Would you still be able to regulate it and would the flow rate meter still work? Also, it's on top of my PC right now because of lack of space. In the future, when I have more space, it's definitely not going on top of my PC.

Thanks for the input, jokers_greg. :) If I replaced the pump would it still be a good idea to opt for a TRUE 120 HSF?

Cheers,

Mark

Look around on the net for reviews of the Reserator XT, most of them tear it down for ya. It sits directly below the reservoir, I will probably end up changing my pump out once we get settled in our new townhome. I'll probably post pics etc...