View Full Version : Thermal Take BigWater
is it compatible with AMD 64 939 chips?
another thing, how good is this cooler? is it sufficient enough for m OCing?
um... this WC kit... er... how can i put it... flat out SUCKS
best bet would be to put together a DYO swiftech or asetek kit if you're doing WC for the first time (both of them have push-connect fittings - no leaks! no clamps needed!)
Perseus
12-29-04, 09:40 PM
Take a look (http://www.overclockercafe.com/Reviews/cooling/Tt_Bigwater/) for yourself. :cool:
Take a look (http://www.overclockercafe.com/Reviews/cooling/Tt_Bigwater/) for yourself. :cool:
so it's not compatible with 939 sorckets... that sux
just as a FYI, K7/K8 refers to socket 754, 939, and 940 processors - they have the same mounting holes
but you would see absolutely no improvement over air cooling with a cheap system like the bigwater, much less with a processor that puts out a generous amount of heat, such as the AMD64's
which liquid cooling package do you recommend? pass me a few links, thanks.
Aphex_Tom_9
12-30-04, 12:24 AM
http://www.dangerdenstore.com/product.php?productid=9&cat=2&page=1
single rad waterchill kit:
http://www.jab-tech.com/customer/product.php?productid=2336&cat=58&page=1
dual rad waterchill kit: (suggested)
http://www.jab-tech.com/customer/product.php?productid=2221&cat=58&page=1
Swiftech makes good kits also.
http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/swh2balicoki2.html
http://www.swiftnets.com
You could do a little more research and pick out the parts yourself. That would save you some money if you are on a budget. It also allows for total customability of parts.
how about the bigwater package with an extra radiator + water level indicator?
http://www.thermaltake.com/watercooling/cl-w0002/cl-w0002.htm
http://www.thermaltake.com/watercooling/cl-w0009waterLabelIndicator/cl-w0009.htm
thegreek
12-30-04, 04:57 AM
If you really want to get a kit which is not recommended (you can get each part seprately for much cheaper) get a Swiftech kit.
"Water Level Indicator" - wow, never head it called that before. Does the heatsink around that really dissipate heat from the water?
If your gettin a kit, go with Swiftech. But it's not that hard to piece all the parts together with a little reasearch. Plus, save $$ and you'll get better performance.
I.M.O.G.
12-30-04, 04:06 PM
No one reputable bothered to review this kit - there is a reason for that.
Overclockercafe are, more or less, tools here, and gave a good review regardless of the system's performance. Madshrimps did a bit better, but even their reviewer displayed his lack of knowledge in his conclusion. See if you can find the mistaken logic:
http://www.madshrimps.be/?action=getarticle&number=3&artpage=1074&articID=270
Basically what is said there is that this kit is VERY entry level and not for the overclocker. IMO, if you aren't overclocking, why not buy a big fan and a copper heatsink and get some quiet cooling?
To be fair, I should disclaim that I am anti-thermaltake because I don't like their approach. IMO, you have to make a choice between two things - you can bring it, or you can bling it; but you cannot do both very well. Tt is all bling and no bring. But anyways, to legitimize my apparently biased opinion, just read what these guys have to say about it:
http://forums.procooling.com/vbb/showthread.php?t=10256&highlight=bigwater
I, for one, really like the design. It uses aluminum in the radiator, and copper in the W/B.
I'm sorry, but anti-corrosion stuff only slows down the corrosion. It doesn't prevent it
You can put a piece of aluminum and a piece of copper in a glass of tap water, hook up a multimeter to the 2 hunks of metal, and show a voltage produced. (Here in Tempe Az, you can get a pretty good voltage!!) You want that electrolytic action inside your case? I didn't think so.
Look at a semi-kit from www.dangerden.com . Just pick out the components you want, and go from there. Trust us, you'll be happy!
steve
I.M.O.G.
12-31-04, 12:29 AM
I'm obviously no expert myself, however from the looks of that, I'm not so sure that there is any water touching those aluminum fins... If the fins are simply mated to what appears to be copper tubing in the rad, corrosion between the WB and rad wouldn't be so bad. :eh?:
Regardless of that however, this doesn't change the overall quality of the package.
Will Robinson
12-31-04, 09:36 AM
There is no water to aluminum contact. The "radiator" is a 3/8 copper line with aluminum fins crimped to it...just like 90% of refrigeration condenser coils. It provides good heat transfer from the copper to the aluminum.
The Big Water kit is a lot better than the "It Sucks" that some people are giving it in this thread, I doubt they actually have used one. I currently have one on a P4 550 and it's a major improvement on the stock heatsink/fan. It runs MUCH cooler and very quiet.
However....you could probably do even better for the same money by building one yourself.
I.M.O.G.
12-31-04, 10:10 AM
But what do you expect people to say when their site says such silly things?
"Transparent green pipes lighten your cool case"
" Copper waterblock with blue LED acrylic cover shining your CPU"
"High performance coolant with functions of water quality steadying, water scale reducing, anti-freezing and anti-rusting"
Really, that makes it pretty hard to take seriously. Looking at the components, they obviously aren't the quality that you can find in other kits which is justified by the price it sells for - if you are stuck in this price range, then it is well worth going through the trouble of picking out your own parts, and then you even get something which is high performance AND upgradeable. The bigwater is a dead-end road, unless you choose to upgrade everything, but then whats the point of getting it?
I'm obviously no expert myself, however from the looks of that, I'm not so sure that there is any water touching those aluminum fins... If the fins are simply mated to what appears to be copper tubing in the rad, corrosion between the WB and rad wouldn't be so bad. :eh?:
Regardless of that however, this doesn't change the overall quality of the package.
According to TT's advertising, the radiator, tubes and fins, are made out of aluminum. They might be wrong, and I hope they are, but still, I am not going to find out.
Would you buy a radiator, from a company, that can't identify the correct metal?
steve
rock92884
12-31-04, 02:49 PM
I personally own the TT BigWater and while ill be the first to admit that its not the greatest watercooling kit out there, and it certainly isnt better than a do it yourself system, it is far from a crap setup. My load temps on air would be about 65C. Keep in mind that im using an ABIT board that is known to read high. After switching to the thermaltake kit my load temps never go above 50C. Now i dont know about you but thats a big drop in temperature.
-rock92884
I also own this kit, and while I agree it isn't that good it isn't as bad as some people make it seem (prolly haven't had hands on experience with it).
I was short on money when I bought it, still is, but now I have a few parts that can be tolerated for some months while being upgraded along the way; the noise-level of the Hyper6 couldn't.
It performs a bit better (3-5C) than a Hyper6 with 2x 42db Akasa fans and is still ~10db less (my impression, haven't got any measuring equipment).
Currently running it with two fans, added a Papst 120mm fan (26db, cannot remember the model number atm), and it gave me 2-3C more with no increase in noise (shows that the 21db claim of TT is as accurate as their other claims of fan-noise). The pump is almost silent though, they got that right at least.
Well, I look at it as if your gonna watercool and spend the money, at least get something better than top of the line air cooling. I bet a ThermalRight XP-120 and a decent fan would cool as well as the BigWater kit, plus it'd be cheaper. XP-120 w/ 120mm fan is like ~$60.
Well, I look at it as if your gonna watercool and spend the money, at least get something better than top of the line air cooling. I bet a ThermalRight XP-120 and a decent fan would cool as well as the BigWater kit, plus it'd be cheaper. XP-120 w/ 120mm fan is like ~$60.
It IS better, not much but a little. At least that is my experience, a Hyper6 should be on par with the recent ThermalTake hsf's and the BW kit performed a little better than the Hyper6 at a noticably lower noicelevel.
Kinda ironic that I'm defending a TT kit, but it is better than most people say, still far from great but nowhere near as costly as the better kits (the Asetek v2 kits menioned earlier cost at least twice as much here for example).
How about the SWIFTECH H20-120 (Rev. 3) Kit ??? is that a good kit for OC?
http://store.yahoo.com/davidandkarma/swifh2rev3ki.html
I.M.O.G.
01-01-05, 03:27 PM
It IS better, not much but a little. At least that is my experience, a Hyper6 should be on par with the recent ThermalTake hsf's and the BW kit performed a little better than the Hyper6 at a noticably lower noicelevel.
Kinda ironic that I'm defending a TT kit, but it is better than most people say, still far from great but nowhere near as costly as the better kits (the Asetek v2 kits menioned earlier cost at least twice as much here for example).
I want to make sure I understand what your saying, you are saying that you believe the thermaltake bigwater achieves better temps than an xp120 and a good fan?
I haven't seen anything that would imply that might be true.
We really shouldn't bring the thermaltake HSF's into this, because AFAIK there is only one which was ever good, and thermalrights were always better still.
BobSassafrass
01-01-05, 04:32 PM
i actually wana OC
as you can prolly gather this kit isnt the best overclocker, i had the Aquarius II on my mobile at 2.63 w/1.92 volts and i was hitting 49 idle. granted it may be a lot better than air its definitely not recommended. if you want to buy a pre built system theres plenty out there in the 150-200 range or you can try ebay or dare i say it...www.hardforum.com for sale and trade forum. but like everyone says your much better off with a custom system,
here (http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=348986) greenman explains almost everything you need to know about watercooling and even has parts listed to make a sub 100 dollar cooling system that will work much better than the thermaltake one. i suggest this (http://amekaaquatics.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=VA1300&Category_Code=Pumps_Via_Aqua) pump, some tubing and clamps from home depot for 3 bucks per 10 ft, possibly this (http://directron.com/wc432.html) or this (http://directron.com/iceii.html) rad, this (http://directron.com/bayres.html) res, and this (http://www.swiftnets.com/products/mcw6002.asp#top) block. that should be about your price range and cool fairly well. you can pick up some cheap 120mm fans on ebay also. this is just a suggestion search around for parts and read reviews to fidn out what suits you, if you search around for sale and trade forums or ebay you could prolly end up paying less than 100 for all the aprts i mentioned, i hope this helps. just try adn do research on your instead of expecting someone to tell you if something is good or not because those usually lead to forums like these where ppl flame products they have never used. no offense to anyone but you all know its the truth. happy new year! :rolleyes:
I want to make sure I understand what your saying, you are saying that you believe the thermaltake bigwater achieves better temps than an xp120 and a good fan?
I haven't seen anything that would imply that might be true.
We really shouldn't bring the thermaltake HSF's into this, because AFAIK there is only one which was ever good, and thermalrights were always better still.
Meant the TR sinks, yes, TTs sinks sucks, I very much agree on that.
In reviews The CoolerMaster Hyper6 usually is placed on par with the best TR sinks, at least it was on par with the SP94 when I bought it half a year ago and it doesn't seem it has changed that much since then.
And as I had a Hyper6 before the BW kit I can compare those. And the BW kit is at the same or a couple of C better than the Hyper6 at a lower noise level. Sure, I only had 2x42db fans on the Hyper6, not Tornados, but I didn't have that on the BW rad either. With the fans I had chosen the BW was 10+db more silent and still performed on par with the Hyper6 or slightly better depending on cpu.
It's not even close to what good watercooling can get you, but not close to the cost either. For people who don't want as much noise as a decent air-setup and are on a budget it's okay, for people who want the best and have the money get the performance kits at according prices.
A big plus is how easy it was to install, in total it took less than quarter of an hour to setup and was was not much harder than installing an aftermarket sink that is to be bolted on.
capmuffin
01-02-05, 01:22 PM
The swiftech kits are VERY nice. They are basicly the same parts (6000 block 350 pump blackice rad) that people reccomend to buy anyway.
asteinmetz
02-03-05, 05:43 PM
Okay. Rather than curse the darkness let me light a candle with some preliminary results.
See the sig for the setup. I am running the radiator inside the case with the fan venting to the outside. Without any OC here is what I get on idle and load (running Prime95 TT with big FFT for an hour)
Item\Stock Fan\TTBW
Case Ambient \31\ 29
CPU Idle \ 42 \ 31
CPU Load \ 58 \ 44
I'm kinda' new to this game but don't those results look pretty respectable? Also notice how the air temps in the case go down a couple degrees. In the stock setup I had a 120mm fan venting to the outside where the radiator/fan installs.
And, hey. What's wrong with looking cool? With UV light it looks really cool. Pics to come.
The install had a glitch an leads me to a warning about this kit though. The lexan (?) reservior and pump are integrated. The two nipples to connect to the fill tank snapped right off when I removed their covers. Yes, I was careful to pull straight up. I thought, hell, I just went through the trouble to install the water block, now I have to return the thing. Instead I just sealed up the holes and filled the reservior from through top drain plug. No problems thereafter. None of the web reviews I've read mentioned this issue so mine may be an isolated case.
-- Art
I got the BigWater for Christman .. Someone in my family is a n00b! , The thing is alright it cooled my LGA 775 3.4 @ 48 LOAD , LOL. I put the stock cooler on it was a 62 LOAD :cool:
The install had a glitch an leads me to a warning about this kit though. The lexan (?) reservior and pump are integrated. The two nipples to connect to the fill tank snapped right off when I removed their covers. Yes, I was careful to pull straight up. I thought, hell, I just went through the trouble to install the water block, now I have to return the thing. Instead I just sealed up the holes and filled the reservior from through top drain plug. No problems thereafter. None of the web reviews I've read mentioned this issue so mine may be an isolated case.
-- Art
Didn't have such problems with mine at least. Install went flawlessly, the manual seemed okay although I first read most of it when I had installed the kit ^.^;; Knowledge gotten here and on other sites > than manuals ;)
Good to see that some people get decent results with it, proves that although the brand is bad they can sometimes produce okay things.
I'm soon going to change both block and pump (will keep it as res, will try with the pump on and off to see what will perform best) and probably rad in some months too, but the kit gave me in inexpensive place to start (cannot use much money at once atm) and a lot more quiet environment (with slightly better temps than my high-powered aircooler) for some months, so I'm quite satisfied with it.
My question is, doesn't this thing use some really small ID tubbing?
If so, wouldn't that make "upgrading" anything in the loop something of a pain in the ass?
My question is, doesn't this thing use some really small ID tubbing?
If so, wouldn't that make "upgrading" anything in the loop something of a pain in the ass?
~8mm inner diamater based on some tube I had left and a ruler (=not that precise a meassure), not that much worse than the norm for 3/8"tubing iirc. Still a bit restrictive though.
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