Thermaltake BigWater 760i

[PAGETITLE=Introduction] For a long time now, a water-cooled rig has been a status symbol of sorts - the calling card of a true enthusiast on the lunatic fringe of performance computing. A well-designed water cooling setup can have significantly higher thermal capacity than even the best air-coolers, and radiators may be placed remotely - even externally - which lets them take advantage of cooler incoming air. Water cooling systems are also scalable; system designers can connect multiple CPUs, GPUs, and even the motherboard's chipset to the coolant loop. Also, some water-cooling systems are designed to operate in complete silence, with massive external heatsinks that operate passively, and acoustically-isolated pumps. One such system is the Zalman Reserator. Liquid-cooling offers some more fundamental thermal advantages over straight air-cooling, however. Water has a higher specific heat capacity than air, which means that the coolant absorbs more energy per degree of temperature rise than air does. That means there's a greater temperature differential between the fluid and the heat-producing component, so a bulky heatsink cooler can be replaced with a compact water block, and the greater thermal conductivity of the coolant means that the heat transfer to a liquid coolant is almost 25 times more effective than direct transmission to air. Still, all of that heat needs to be released to the air eventually, or else the benefits of water cooling evaporate, so water-cooled rigs use large radiators and fans to blow away the heat quietly. Water cooling also has some serious drawbacks that make it impractical for many applications, reserving it for only the most extreme thermal solutions. First of all, water-based coolant solutions are electrically conductive, so if a tubing connection should fail or a reservoir should happen to leak, extensive damage can be done to the electronic components of the PC. Secondly, setup of a water-cooling system can be extremely complex and involved, and requires proper planning of tubing routes and lengths, radiator capacities, and pump flow rates. Liquid cooling systems also require some maintenance, due to bacteria, mold, and algae growth in the fluid. Lastly, if you've elected to go with an external water cooling system, transporting your rig can become cumbersome and inconvenient, and potentially hazardous. The product I'm looking at in this article hopes to solve some of these drawbacks that make water-cooling less-than-practical in many cases. The Thermaltake BigWater 760i is a self-contained water cooling system with a pump, reservoir, and 120mm-square radiator that occupies the space of two 5.25" drive bays. It's part of Thermaltake's BigWater series of packaged water-cooling systems that include everything you need to assemble a complete water-cooling loop in your case. The BigWater 760i's drive bay mounting system is a novel concept - while we've seen other self-contained systems with similar specifications, they've been mounted externally. Thermaltake is no stranger to the enthusiast water-cooling market, with an exceedingly broad range of water-cooling products that range from cases with pre-installed water-cooling systems, to a broad range of individual liquid cooling system components, and even enormous external radiator systems. With the BigWater 760i, Thermaltake emphasizes simplicity and modularity. However, can the BigWater 760i offer enough of a performance improvement over enthusiast air-cooling solutions to earn its keep and make it an attractive alternative? We'll soon find out. [PAGEBREAK] [PAGETITLE=Packaging & Specifications] With the Thermaltake BigWater 760i, simplicity is the goal. Everything you need to get started, ostensibly, comes in the box, so it's a big one. It's glossy and colorful, depicting the system's features and specifications in detail. I'm glad Thermaltake chose to put all that extra space on the box to good use, instead of wasting it with a cartoon character...or something. The cardboard is sturdy, and the packaging has the feel of quality. Upon opening the box, we're greeted with a large yellow piece of paper, admonishing us to fill and run-test the system outside of a case, in order to check for leaks before assembling it in the case and potentially destroying components with leakage. We wouldn't want that. Here's what you get with the BigWater 760i kit: The radiator module, a copper water-block, plenty of UV-reactive yellow tubing, mounting hardware for the water block, the instruction manual and maintenance schedule guides, and a 500-milliliter bottle of UV-reactive ethylene glycol-based coolant with a squeezable filler bottle. It's everything you need to build a complete loop with a single water-block, but according to Thermaltake, you can even set the loop up to include other water-cooled components, like a GPU or northbridge water-block, which are sold separately. Here's a look at the specifications of the BigWater 760i system. Specification Value Model BigWater 760i Thermaltake Part No. CL-W0121 Exterior Dimensions(L x W x H, Radiator Unit) 232mm X 148.6mm X 85mm Package Weight 1.3(kg) Water Block Dimensions(L x W x H) 58mm X 58mm X 35mm Water Block Weight 311g Water Block Material Copper CPUs supported AMD Socket 939, AM2; Intel Socket 478, LGA 775 Water Block Material Copper Pump Flow 500L/hr Pump Motor 12V, Ceramic Bearing Pump Life 80,000hr Pump Noise 16 dBa Radiator Material Aluminum Fan Dimensions(L x W x H) 120mm x 120mm x 25mm Fan Motor 12V, Sleeve Bearing, 1200~2400 RPM, adjustable speed Fan Noise 16~20dBa Fan Life 40,000 Hr Liquid Tank Capacity 130mL Tubing Size 3/8" (9.5mm ID) With that, we will move onto our features overview. [PAGEBREAK] [PAGETITLE=Features Overview] Thermaltake's BigWater 760i is a fully self-contained water cooling system that fits into the space of two 5.25" drive bays, with only a pair of tubes running to the CPU water block, greatly simplifying installation. Here's a look at the BigWater's features, as well as the installation process. The BigWater 760i's main unit contains the pump, reservoir, radiator, and fan. The radiator fan is a 120x25mm size, and features blue LED illumination and continuously-adjustable speed control via a small potentiometer that's bundled together with the power supply connections. The pump is essentially the same as what's included with Thermaltake's AquaBay M5 system, except it's hard-mounted to the chassis and to the reservoir. The BigWater's radiator is an aluminum "motorsports"-style design, featuring louvered fins and dimpled tubing to increase effectiveness without increasing weight. The louvered fins create turbulent airflow, causing more of the moving air to be incident on the surfaces of the radiator instead of passing straight through. Similarly, the dimples in the surfaces of the radiator tubes create turbulent swirling of the fluid flow. The water block included with the BigWater 760i is 100% copper, and assembled using a brazing process instead of soldering, for improved heat transfer between the bottom and top halves of the water block. The interior of the water block contains "micro channels", which create turbulence in the fluid flow and increase the overall surface area through which heat exchange takes place. One important area affecting heatsink and water block performance is the quality of the surface finish on the base. Thermal paste is meant to fill microscopic gaps between the base of the thermal solution and the processor die itself, but direct contact is still the most effective means of transferring heat from a warm object to a cool object, and the fewer machining marks or grooves that exist on the base of the heatsink or water block, the better. The BigWater 760i's water block has an exquisitely-finished base, polished to a mirror shine. Old Abe Lincoln's head looked positively resplendent in the highly-scientific "penny test". Thermaltake has implemented a quick-disconnect system with the BigWater 760i, which is intended to simplify installation and removal of the system. The "no-spill" fittings allow the system to be quickly disconnected, but be aware that a small amount of fluid may remain in the connector itself. If you'll be disconnecting this system frequently, have a glass ready to catch the excess fluid that might drip out. [PAGEBREAK] [PAGETITLE=Installation] Installing the BigWater 760i is somewhat more involved than installing an air-cooled heatsink. However, the process is well documented in the instruction manual, which is one of the better manuals I've yet seen from Thermaltake. Resist the urge to toss out the manual first-thing, because there are some subtleties to the process that can jeopardize the mission if they aren't followed. In this review, I'm installing the BigWater 760i on a Socket AM2 motherboard. The water block is held in place by Thermaltake's signature H-style bracket. While mounting brackets like this one are par for the course with most water cooling systems, a clip-style retention mechanism that uses the existing AM2 socket lugs would have been greatly preferred, if only for the sake of ease of installation. With the H-bracket, you'll need to disassemble the existing bracket if you're installing the water block on a Socket AM2 motherboard. These photos show the steps in installing the water block bracket. As you can see, installing and removing the BigWater 760i's water block is a bit more complicated than installing your typical heatsink, but the process is straightforward, and well-documented in the instruction manual. The next order of business is to cut the UV-resistive tubing to the appropriate length. You can use pruning shears for this purpose, but a pair of sturdy scissors should work fine. I don't recommend trying to use a safety cutter (a.k.a. "box cutter") - I nearly cut myself twice before I discovered that scissors would leave a far cleaner edge than the one I was making. Once you've got your...

Thermaltake BigWater 760i

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