Installation

The instruction manual is done much better this time by Thermaltake. With its color pictures and step by step instructions, you shouldn't have any problems installing the hardware. What they missed or a few items that could be added, for instance the mylar and foam pad on the H-clip on the bottom of the motherboard should not be tightened to where it pinches the foam completely flat. There isn't a recommended tube length, especially for the dual external radiator but, keep in mind the longer your tubing is the lower your flowrate will be. However, in general it is better to make the tube long enough to prevent kinks. We'll go through the installation of the water block.


Take note of the first picture above for those AMD K8 motherboard owners. There are two styles of board with two different install instructions. In the second picture I scanned the install of a BTX board. Thermaltake claims to be the first to support both ATX / BTX motherboards

To install the Big Water 745 you must first take out the motherboard. You'll then need to remove the retention frame from around the CPU socket. Using a small flat head screw driver pops up the white pegs and pinch the bottom ones lifting the retention frame off.



Move on to installing the bottom H-clip by peeling off the white tape from the mylar pad and placing it on the back of the chrome H-clip. In case you are wondering the mylar pad is an insulation to protect from short-circuits.



Now peel off the two sides of tape from the foam pad and placing it onto the mylar pad.



The next step is to place the insulated H-clip on the bottom of the motherboard lining up the holes. Once you place the H-clip it sticks rather well so try to get right the first time. One draw back is if you want to use the kit on a different motherboard it may be a pain to remove the H-clip. Now slide your screws up through the holes in the H-clip, the number depending on the motherboard. Place the washers provided then screw down the post until you see the foam underneath starting compress. Do not compress the foam completely flat.