Showcased in early spring at CeBIT 2007, the Zalman Reserator XT active liquid cooling system has finally reached our labs. We are glad we can offer you our review of it and we want to note right away that Zalman has for the first time stepped away from its fan-less cooling concept embodied in the Reserator 1 (see our article called Aesthetic Water Cooling Solutions: Zalman Reserator 1, ZM-WB2 Gold and ZM-GWB1), Zalman Reserator 1 Plus (see our Zalman Reserator 1 Plus Liquid Cooling System Review) and Zalman Reserator 2 (see our article called Perfect Silence: Zalman Reserator 2 Fanless Liquid-Cooling System Review). 

The new system employs a 140mm fan with a controllable rotation speed. This is not the only difference of the new Reserator from its predecessors, though. It features several innovations that are going to win wide recognition among overclockers of this world.

Closer Look at Zalman Reserator XT

Package and Accessories

The new liquid cooling system from Zalman comes in a huge black box. The face side of it shows a full-size photo of the cooler’s main block:

The box is heavy and bulky – you may find it difficult to carry it home by yourself alone. Besides the photo, there is a list of key features on the face side of the box. One of the sides reports the product specs and more features.

When you open the cardboard box, you see a foam-plastic cover of the interior:

A user guide and a flexible pipe lie on that cover. The pipe is 4 meters long with an internal diameter of 8mm and 2mm walls.

The next tier of packaging is concealed under the plastic cover:

There are a few compartments here that contain a CPU water-block (Zalman ZM-WB5), cable to connect the main block, wire to close PSU contacts, anti-corrosion concentrate (Zalman ZM-G300), bracket for the back panel, clamps, and a pipe with two fittings to degas the system.

Below this tier you can find the system’s main unit:

It is fixed in a foam-plastic base. Coupled with the thick cardboard, this protects the device from possible damage quite securely.

I guess you have already noticed that the new Reserator comes without a GPU water-block as opposed to the previous Reserator models. The recommended price of the new cooler is $400. Let’s see how functional and efficient it is, beginning with its main block.