Thermaltake Bigwater 760i

[t_ski]

Thermaltake's new BigWater 760i watercooling kit is an affordable and compact solution to users who are are afraid of the cost or the complexity of a full kit. It is easy to install, so even less experienced people can get their feet wet with watercooling.

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[WarEagleAU]

Excellent review as always tski. I love the price and performance of this, but for some reason, my load on my koolance is about 20 degrees less than what you all show :-/. Anyways, for 100 bucks, its an awesome Cpu cooler.

 

[Urlyin]

Nice Pics T ... good job

 

[t_ski]

That's the Koolance Exos in your system specs, right? That's a triple rad IIRC and you're running it on an AMD chip, so you should be getting much better performance. The Bigwater 760i only has a single 120mm rad, plus room temps for my test setup run at about 25 degrees C. Add to that how much hotter the Intels run when you OC them, and there's a huge difference.

 

[freaksavior]

my air setup gets that good cooling. nice review though!

 

[Sasqui]

Great review. For the money, it looks like a great "entry" level watercooling setup.

I love the quick-connect couplings... I put them in my koolance rig. Like you point out, gotta be careful with any fluid left in them when disconnecting but for upgrades and cleaning, they are so worth it. Slightly OT - If anyone is interested in them - look here: http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/category.asp?catalog_name=USPlastic&category_name=6917&Page=1

This is what I got:

Cons are: A little pricey, impinge flow slightly.

 

[OnBoard]

Good review and nice pics (although one more would be needed for under the radiator to show space between it and bottom)

One problem I see in there, that the radiator pushes all hot air behind the reservoir and in to the case. Wouldn't that heat the water over ambient over time?

Other problem would be, that I have 2 DVD drives, so there wouldn't be that much room under the radiator for hot air to escape. Is it designed so that it doesn't need the extra room? Sure you could put it in the lowest 2 spots (on mid tower), but then it would be pushing the hot air to HDDs and mixing with the intake air.

Did you measure how much the ambient temperature rose? Maybe less than with intel boxed cooler, after all the radiator can't be hotter than water and that can't be as hot as the CPU ?) But nice watercoolerthingy!

Also how much extra coolant were there and how long would it last? And could the block be used as a GPU block, or is it so wide that mounting holes get covered?

If I were to go water and wouldn't have just got Ultima-90, this would be a high contender, as I have no 12cm system fan place in case, like some of these use. Good price, easy installation and with a proper fan still ok performance and quiet operation?

Question time with OnBoard

 

[t_ski]

I would have to double check, but IIRC there is about a half inch or so below the rad to the bottom of the unit. This forces air out toward the back of the unit and it does flow into the case. The internal case temperature can rise if the hot air is not exhausted properly, however that is the case with any kind of cooling. For the location in the case, you should do your best to install the 760i in the second or third bay from the top in your mid-tower to make sure the air bubbles will rise up to the unit and not get trapped in the block.

As for how much coolant was left, out of the 500cc bottle I had about one third of it left. I would not recommend using the included block for a graphics card, unless you are very handy at modding and can come up with an appropriate mounting system. The one included will work only for CPUs and not graphics cards. However, as stated in the review, there are separate graphics card kits that can be purchased and added to the Bigwater 760i.

 

[JC316]

Nice, I may just pick one of these bad boys up. Quick question though, how were you checking the CPU temperature? Were you using TAT?

 

[OnBoard]

I would have to double check, but IIRC there is about a half inch or so below the rad to the bottom of the unit. This forces air out toward the back of the unit and it does flow into the case. The internal case temperature can rise if the hot air is not exhausted properly, however that is the case with any kind of cooling. For the location in the case, you should do your best to install the 760i in the second or third bay from the top in your mid-tower to make sure the air bubbles will rise up to the unit and not get trapped in the block.

As for how much coolant was left, out of the 500cc bottle I had about one third of it left. I would not recommend using the included block for a graphics card, unless you are very handy at modding and can come up with an appropriate mounting system. The one included will work only for CPUs and not graphics cards. However, as stated in the review, there are separate graphics card kits that can be purchased and added to the Bigwater 760i.

Forgot that there is no CPU cooler in to get that hot air, just PSU and exhaust fan and PSU already gets hot air from most air coolings In the top spot with a DVD drive under, the air would be channeled out to middle of the case and I have a 80cm output fan on top of case, so it'd be kinda perfect. Would be really tempted to buy & try if not already a new CPU cooler.

Not much coolant left, but should do for the first refill. That UV-reactive coolant bottle is 25€ here, so it gets expensive to use if you need to be refilling constantly. Still a cheap way to get started and there seems to be cheaper fluids too, like 10€ for 2L UVgreen (don't just know are the corrosion proofed).

 

[sinner33]

I'm getting one of these for my new system. I think I'll replace the loud stock fan on the 760i with an arctic cooling PWM which has 4 pin connector. This should in theory work right?

Also I was wondering if those temps were true? If so, this setup would only cool as well as my old Zalman 9700NT. Wondering if it would be any quieter than the 9700 though. If not, air cooling would be the way to go.

 

[t_ski]

Nice, I may just pick one of these bad boys up. Quick question though, how were you checking the CPU temperature? Were you using TAT?

Ordinarily I would be using W1zzard's SysTool, but the Asus P5W DH Deluxe is not supported yet. I am using SpeedFan (current version 4.33), which I have found Core 0 and Core 1 give me the same readings as TAT.

Not much coolant left, but should do for the first refill. That UV-reactive coolant bottle is 25€ here, so it gets expensive to use if you need to be refilling constantly. Still a cheap way to get started and there seems to be cheaper fluids too, like 10€ for 2L UVgreen (don't just know are the corrosion proofed).

A simple alternative is to use distilled water and Ethylene Glycol, which can often be found in many brands of automotive antifreeze/coolant. You would lose the UV reactive part, but the hoses are still UV reactive.

Also I was wondering if those temps were true? If so, this setup would only cool as well as my old Zalman 9700NT. Wondering if it would be any quieter than the 9700 though. If not, air cooling would be the way to go.

The temperature readings are indeed true, as reported by SpeedFan. I cannot say from experience what the Zalman 9700 sounds like, but the 9500 I had previously was nearly as loud as this fan on High.

 

[sinner33]

Guess scrapping that stock 12cm fan would be the way to go. Arctic cooling seems like a good idea with their anti vibration one-way design

 

[panchoman]

great guide, but i wished that you could've compared this kit to other entry level water cooling kits like the other thermaltake bigwaters, swiftech h20 120, gigabyte 3d galaxy, etc. as well as with air cooling so that we know where this kit always in.

 

[t_ski]

I don't have access to any of those kits at the moment, but as time goes by I will add more stuff to the chart that will include the numbers from new reviews. You may find some of the other information available in other reviews here at TPU, or at least have those kits compared to stock cooling, which you can use to compare this unit to stock cooling.

 

[xnox202]

I have mixed feelings for this kit and the Swiftech H20 120 Compact.

 

[t_ski]

One advantage of the Swiftech kit would be that the hot air exhausted by the radiator won't be going inside the case.

 

[Fluxcore]

It would be very easy to put this in a box outside the case.
I just got one for my new 5000+ Black build and i am going
to try it outside and inside.I am also going to add a extra
rad inside a Antec P182 and see what that will do.
The only thing holding me up rite now is video cards.
8800 GT X 2 or the new offering from ATI when it comes
out in the next few weeks?

 

[Gallatin]

i use aio-s80dp which is i must say much beter than scythe infinity.
my next cooler i want to be the "big water 760i" the price and size is perfect.
my question is. there is really a some kind of danger using a water cooler?

 

[t_ski]

Welcome to TPU.

Your idea sounds good. Make sure to post some pics in the Project Logs subforum when you get it together.

 

[t_ski]

i use aio-s80dp which is i must say much beter than scythe infinity.
my next cooler i want to be the "big water 760i" the price and size is perfect.
my question is. there is really a some kind of danger using a water cooler?

The danger is when the installation is done wrong and coolant leakes into your system or something breaks like the pump, and then the cooling system isn't doing its job. Something like this Thermaltake kit makes it much easier, as installation is very simple.

 

[Gallatin]

ok thanks. about cable managment? (and tubes) can i "play" with them so i can hide them?

 

[Fluxcore]

yes you can Hide the tube but you should remember that every 90Deg. bend is = to about
1 Foot of tube .

 

[Gallatin]

that is about ~33cm. so if i want good hiding for the tube it must "circle" the frame of the case (thermaltake soprano).....
....CM stacker (832? black) is coming faster than i thought.

 

[Fluxcore]

Well I got some bad news for anyone that wants to install
the Thermaltake Bigwater 760i in a Antec P182.
It wont fit.I just tryed it and it is Way to long to
go in .