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EK Waterblocks EK-RES X4 250

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#1 ·
EK Waterblocks EK-RES X4 250

Description:
Behemoth reservoir for all your needs.
 

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#2 ·
Humongous Res for large loops

review by ypsylon

Behemoth reservoir for all your needs

EK-RES X4 250 is not just typical reservoir you can find in every shop. It's magnificently beautiful piece of work. You can run 2 loops of it easily and technically 3 if you tinker a bit.

First thing when you get package in had is enormous weight of this thing. It's borosilicate glass after all. Inside you get usual EK quality goodies. By default RES X4 comes with:

- RES itself,
- 120mm fan mount
- vertical/horizontal mounting bracket*
- 2 HD Tubes 16/12mm - each 160mm long
- 2 extenders
- set of plugs
- LED bright white strip powered with SATA power

* - On EK website there is picture with black stand for vertical bracket. Unfortunately it's only one off for presentation and you can't buy it - but you can make it easily. Nothing hard here on OCN.
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So onwards with how I feel about it:

PROS:

1. It looks spectacular. There is no 2 words about the looks.
2. It has 7x 1/4" threads for tubing and 1x 3/8" fill port. Endless options.
3. It's made for ridiculously big loops. It holds about 900ml of coolant. Unless you running ridiculous amount of rads (like 3+ 480/560 and 60mm thick), 900 ml is enough to establish circulation at first pump run without risk of running the pump dry. Seriously with this badbody filling large loops is easiest job in the world.
4. Coolant looks magnificent. RES X4 deserves to be in the most prominent place.
5. You can mount it in any way you like it. Vertical, horizontal, even diagonally.
6. Because it's very durable borosilicate glass scratching it is virtual impossibility.
7. It's heavy. Yes it's advantage because it will be solid as rock if you mount it on a fan.
8. Fan mount. Simple, solid and keeps reservoir in place no matter what.

CONS:

Well big word. Nothing is perfect. These tiny little details, nothing terrible or disastrous. Keep that in mind.

I have one personal note however: top and bottom rings that screw top and bottom covers in place (BTW: working in opposite directions) were not anodized properly on my unit. I have about 5 marks (thin lines) where 'naked' aluminium is visible and sadly I can't do squat about it... still I love the res!

1. Price. Not cheap, most definitively. But worth every cent/penny/[put your currency in here
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]. Just compared to typical acryl models price is astronomical - but it'll change moment you get it in front of you.
2. LED strip. Leds are very bright. If you don't want your rig to lit up like proverbial christmas tree - don't mount it.
3. Mounting of the LED strip. If one or more LEDs goes bad it'll will be pain to remove it - in particular if you mounting it to the wall of the case. Speaking of which...
4. Probably the only thing which is not right. Vertical/horizontal bracket. If you mount reservoir in vertical wall "mode" (like most folks do), then bracket is a bit lax. Problem is that you need a bit of play to slide the RES inside, but when its inside top and bottom holders cannot be adjusted to clamp harder. When in horizontal mode, problem is generally non-existent because sheer weight of the tube keeps reservoir in place. Best to mount it on the fan (mount), you can jiggle then it in every direction without worries when bleeding/draining.
5. When mounted horizontally, res becomes a bit puzzling thing. Despite massive coolant volume it can store space between suction and pressure tube is not big. About 25mm or so. It's very easy to suck air if not enough of fluid is present. Basically in horizontal mode X4 is turned into gigantically oversize bay reservoir.
6. Bottom ports are in general not very good option for draining the loop. There is a lot of coolant left on bottom because of recessed 1/4" holes.
7. Trademark Recessed EK ports - not a fan of that at all. Compatible extenders are only in Nickel and it will look outright stupid when you mix nickel with matte black, black nickel or any other color. Mounting some (non-EK) accessories is problematic or downright impossible.

Overall score: 8/10

Overall recomendation: A must buy for large loops!

ProsCons
Looks, Coolant volume, multitude of options, solid constructionPrice, wall mounting mechanism

Ratings
Overall4
 
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