CPU Water-Block (Zalman ZM-WB5)

The Reserator XT comes with the ZM-WB5 water-block that represents the fifth generation of CPU water-blocks from Zalman. Overclockers have been rather skeptical about Zalman’s water-blocks, blaming them for primitive design and an inadequate price/performance ratio. Let’s see what Zalman has come up with this time around.

The water-block is shipped in a transparent plastic package. It gives you a view of the water-block itself and of two pairs of clamps included with it:

There is a small box with accessories in the top of the package. It contains the following:

• Back-plate for LGA775 mainboards
• Plastic frame to fasten the water-block on LGA775 CPUs
• Fastening clip for mainboards with Socket AM2 and 754/939/940
• Screws, bushings, cardboard spacers
• Four clamps
• Two aluminum brackets to install the cooler on LGA775 CPUs
• Zalman CSL850 thermal grease
• Sticker with a Zalman logo
• Installation guide

The water-block measures 63x63x40mm at 160g of weight. It has a copper base and an aluminum cap with two fittings:

The fittings have a double diameter, allowing to use pipes with the following diameters (external x internal): 14x10mm, 13x10mm, 13x9mm, 12x9mm, 12x8mm, 11x8mm, and 10x8mm.