$50 watercooling setup...

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WarlordOne

Limp Gawd
Joined
Mar 14, 2006
Messages
500
So my s939 amdx2 3800+ is stable @ 3Ghz on air with a Zalman 7700alcu. I keep it @2.75Ghz because it seems that this speed is where the performance peaks with my combination of components. I've been perfectly happy with the set up.

Along comes black friday and Thermaltake puts the Bigwater 735 on sale for $49 with free shipping. So I quick read up on it; see the weaknesses in they system and buy one anyway. Here it is:

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I didn't see how it would be possible to crack the acrylic waterblock by just mounting it but it appears that at least one person has done so. I mean the acrylic top looks thick! Still, I went ahead and mounted it using spring clamps

To make sure I wouldn't have to deal with excess noise the entire bottom area of the case is insulated and the pump is mounted the case loosely with fan isolators. The fans on low speed and even the HDD's are louder than the pump.

I was also concerned about having copper and aluminum in the circuit but everything in the kit is copper. The radiator only has aluminum fins, with copper pipes so no issues there.

As for my final results. The system idles -1.10Ghz @24-27°C and under full load -2.75Ghz @ 38-41°C with push/pull fans on low speed. Overall, I'm pretty impressed by such a cheap system. Considering I wasn't even on the market for one. So far, so good.
 
i think the narrow diameter of the hoses may not allow enough circulation to disipate the spikes in temp of a newer cpu. just my insecurity?
 
Its 50 bucks. This kit is really for the guy with next to zero cash coming in who wants to just get started into water cooling and has an older rig that they want some extra performance out of. I mean some of the reviews on this kit are terrible, but i often see bad reviews for even the best kits due to ID 10 T errors. It certainly isn't taking up much space in his rig and looks nice enough. At 50 bucks this is cheaper than a lot of the mid range air coolers on the market.
 
HSADJADI said:
i think the narrow diameter of the hoses may not allow enough circulation to disipate the spikes in temp of a newer cpu. just my insecurity?
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tubing diameter means very little when the fittings are 1/4" threaded. You're only increasing system volume with larger tubing, not flow rate. You could have 10' thick tubing, it's still only going to flow as fast as that fitting, head pressure or block restriction, allow. It certainly would have no effect when cooling only one component.
 
All the reviews I read said it was horrible compared to real watercooling setups. Most of them say it is competitive with a xp-90, which for 50 bucks what more could you expect?
 
Aku12 said:
All the reviews I read said it was horrible compared to real watercooling setups. Most of them say it is competitive with a xp-90, which for 50 bucks what more could you expect?
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Probably the shitty block. Buy hey, if it works for some people god bless em.
 
Damn, I have been looking for a water cooling system, that would have been perfect for me. Too bad I missed it.
 
OMG OMG OMG ALLL THERMATAKE IS SHIT, YOUR COMPUTER WILL EXPLODE ANY SECOND, I WOULD NOT BE CAUGHT DEAD WITH THAT CRAP IN MY MACHINE... oh, wait. nevermind.
 
Most of the bad things I've read about Thermaltake seem to stem from 2 things.

1) User error
2) Overly high expectations

That said, I realize that there have been legitimate problems and failures that exist but I've seen no evidence that these are higher than normal. Anyway, I make enough money to buy just about any toy that catches my eye. I didn't need a watercooling kit for my media server/HTPC which is what this is. I also didn't need a new Thermaltake Toughpower PSU for it, or the Antec Nine Hundred. The fx60 I bought will probably be the last thing I do to it.

I have been tempted to throw together a top of the line i7 system with a couple of G280's and a badass water cooling setup but it would be for nothing. I mean I don't game that much, mostly console and a bit on my Laptop when I'm at work but that's about it. The new build would just sit there and serve media and get used by my wife for browsing.

When I think about it that way it's hard to justify a new build or top of the line watercooling.
 
BillParrish said:
OMG OMG OMG ALLL THERMATAKE IS SHIT, YOUR COMPUTER WILL EXPLODE ANY SECOND, I WOULD NOT BE CAUGHT DEAD WITH THAT CRAP IN MY MACHINE... oh, wait. nevermind.
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LOL.. i was waiting for Bill to come and say something :p

for an old system like that then i would totally mess with a 50 bux TT Kit, but not on a new machine, ive had a few of their kits and they lasted between a month or two months before something went up with em, however i do use some TT stuff now and again, like right now i have their SpinQ cooler which i like a lot :D
 
If I recall correctly, Thermaltake Bigwater 735 kits were known to have pump problems that Thermaltake addressed with their later kits. Most review sites ding the kit for the build quality, but I think that pump failure may be the biggest concern. Old hardware you don't care about? That seems fine and $50 is pretty cheap. I'd still take and spend a few more dollars for a flow meter and keep monitoring those temps.
 
Not bad advice. I've got it set to shut down if the temps rise above a set point. Still, part of me wouldn't mind if this thing blows up and melts down so that I'd have a good reason to build a new PC.

My internal termoil is my frugal side fighting my greedy side. Damn it, greedy me! Why don't you win out big once in a while?!?

MrE said:
If I recall correctly, Thermaltake Bigwater 735 kits were known to have pump problems that Thermaltake addressed with their later kits. Most review sites ding the kit for the build quality, but I think that pump failure may be the biggest concern. Old hardware you don't care about? That seems fine and $50 is pretty cheap. I'd still take and spend a few more dollars for a flow meter and keep monitoring those temps.
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I actually have a TT tide water all-in-one GPU cooler. It cooled my old x850xtpe quite well for about a year. Then the temps magically started rising for some reason. Pump still worked. It's now boxed up in my closet. Yet another addition to the "fail" pile.
 
nice good to see it worked for you, should of jumped on this for my old pentium dell rig :p
 
BillParrish said:
OMG OMG OMG ALLL THERMATAKE IS SHIT, YOUR COMPUTER WILL EXPLODE ANY SECOND, I WOULD NOT BE CAUGHT DEAD WITH THAT CRAP IN MY MACHINE... oh, wait. nevermind.
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I'd have to agree. I donno about the loop, but that PSU is a known junker :(
 
For $50 its definitely worth it. I have found moving from the all in one's to complete custom with a PA120.3 that once you move to water 1. your temps are lower than air cooling, 2. even moving from an all in one to custom my temperature difference there was only a few degrees. So it's really worth the move to water even if it's something like this. The few things will Thermal Take that concern me are the 1/4" restrictive tubing and the very weak pump. That said, in my experience with this type of kit over a custom one in my sig that cost me significantly more the temperature difference wasn't more than 8-10 degrees. Granted I might have ran more powerful fans but the point is you can get good cooling from even a low end water and you dont need to spend $500.

Even the best air cooler will continue to get hotter when running long runs of prime. The heat isn't getting dissipated outside of the case, it's just circulating the air inside the case. The longer it runs full load the warmer that air gets. There comes a point with water where the system may be maxed for thermal capacity but the temperture wont continue to rise. Also, once the application loading the hardware is stopped water cooling will return the system to ambient very quickly.

For $50 you got a decent setup there, enjoy it! :)
 
Thanks!

dnottis said:
For $50 its definitely worth it. I have found moving from the all in one's to complete custom with a PA120.3 that once you move to water 1. your temps are lower than air cooling, 2. even moving from an all in one to custom my temperature difference there was only a few degrees. So it's really worth the move to water even if it's something like this. The few things will Thermal Take that concern me are the 1/4" restrictive tubing and the very weak pump. That said, in my experience with this type of kit over a custom one in my sig that cost me significantly more the temperature difference wasn't more than 8-10 degrees. Granted I might have ran more powerful fans but the point is you can get good cooling from even a low end water and you dont need to spend $500.

Even the best air cooler will continue to get hotter when running long runs of prime. The heat isn't getting dissipated outside of the case, it's just circulating the air inside the case. The longer it runs full load the warmer that air gets. There comes a point with water where the system may be maxed for thermal capacity but the temperture wont continue to rise. Also, once the application loading the hardware is stopped water cooling will return the system to ambient very quickly.

For $50 you got a decent setup there, enjoy it! :)
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The reviews on the Toughpower series of PSU's are very good. Either you don't like Thermaltake or you just don't know what you're talking about.

MrWizard6600 said:
I'd have to agree. I donno about the loop, but that PSU is a known junker :(
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WarlordOne said:
The reviews on the Toughpower series of PSU's are very good. Either you don't like Thermaltake or you just don't know what you're talking about.
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Yea, I'm not sure where this is coming from, but the one thing Thermaltake knows how to make is a good PSU. Even Jonny Guru and crew @ the [H] give high marks to the Toughpower series PSUs. My last PSU was a Toughpower 750watt modular and it served me well.
 
Jeez... I pay more than $50 for just the fans used in a W/C setup, lol.

But hey, if it works for you, then that's what counts, right?
 
A friendly reminder to all, if you say its crap you need to say why, hopefully with some technical reasons or a link - but something please - even is it is just "It is my opinion ...", "I think that..." . Despite my objections to the management you are allowed opinions.

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, etc. etc. and remember, too much alcohol in the loop usually causes undesirable side effects.
 
BillParrish said:
A friendly reminder to all, if you say its crap you need to say why, hopefully with some technical reasons or a link - but something please - even is it is just "It is my opinion ...", "I think that..." . Despite my objections to the management you are allowed opinions.

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, etc. etc. and remember, too much alcohol in the loop usually causes undesirable side effects.
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Yeah i see your point, no reason to just bash a product cause its in the low end of the market. ALot of the discussion and reviews i have read state that the block and radiator are made from different materials, then others are saying they are not. Obviously this is considered a factor for corrosion. I have zero experience with this kit by the way so that is all just heresay. The primary example given for reasons not to by this kit at least what i have seen is the pump. The pump fails to start alot apparently if it works at all and apparently dies pretty fast. Still thats just what im hearing from people. I mean its like the guy who buys something just cause its cheap he usually does that cause hes poorly educated about a product.
 
The WC set-up wasn't bashed; it was the Thermaltake Toughpower CM PSU that was. Only it's not a low end product and is well-regarded in reviews.

As for the kit, I'll tell you now that there is no aluminum in this systems' water loop so galvanic corrosion is not an issue. I've heard that concern before, it must come from misinformation or maybe confusion with a different product such as the 760i.

All pumps fail, it's only a matter of when. When water cooling you should assume that your pump will fail at some point and take the proper precautions.

I don't see how being cheap or frugal means a person is ignorant. I've seen plenty of people lay down wads of cash like idiots. All you have to do is tell them that something is "top of the line". It work both ways.

bluesteel said:
Yeah i see your point, no reason to just bash a product cause its in the low end of the market. ALot of the discussion and reviews i have read state that the block and radiator are made from different materials, then others are saying they are not. Obviously this is considered a factor for corrosion. I have zero experience with this kit by the way so that is all just heresay. The primary example given for reasons not to by this kit at least what i have seen is the pump. The pump fails to start alot apparently if it works at all and apparently dies pretty fast. Still thats just what im hearing from people. I mean its like the guy who buys something just cause its cheap he usually does that cause hes poorly educated about a product.
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WarlordOne said:
The WC set-up wasn't bashed; it was the Thermaltake Toughpower CM PSU that was. Only it's not a low end product and is well-regarded in reviews.

As for the kit, I'll tell you now that there is no aluminum in this systems' water loop so galvanic corrosion is not an issue. I've heard that concern before, it must come from misinformation or maybe confusion with a different product such as the 760i.

All pumps fail, it's only a matter of when. When water cooling you should assume that your pump will fail at some point and take the proper precautions.

I don't see how being cheap or frugal means a person is ignorant. I've seen plenty of people lay down wads of cash like idiots. All you have to do is tell them that something is "top of the line". It work both ways.
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Not really saying their ignorant but good points all around none the less.
 
Well, that is slightly cheaper than my "play" loop on my HTPC but if it works exactly the way you want it to then that's fine.

I have been having a go with cheap water cooling to run alongside my gaming PC setup. I used 8/10mm pipe throughout, the idea being for simplicity and ease of working with it. It has a EK Southbridge Waterblock - Plexi : EK-SB VGA 790i fitted to my P43 northbridge, an end of line Alphacool NexXxos HP Pro S775 block, a cheap Thermaltake CL-W0132 P500 Pump running at 7v (12v for priming), a total of 6 meters of 8/10mm pipe to link to a twin 120mm rad that sits on a window sill ready for the summer and my left over Swiftch res from my old water kit. I only have 4 straight connectors in the loop with the rest being right angle ones to see how it affected flow and temps (didn't make any difference that I can see).

The loop itself flows very little water (the flow meter turns about 2-3 times a second, I would estimate about 500ml a minute) but the temps are only 40C fully loaded on my B3 Q6600 at stock and 28C idle, I think this proves that flow rate only really has an effect when you really start getting upto high power CPU's and saturating the water heat capacity.

All in all, if your loop works for you then that's all the matters, its amazing what you can now buy for very little money that does similar jobs to the expensive stuff.
 
HydroBudz said:
tubing diameter means very little when the fittings are 1/4" threaded. You're only increasing system volume with larger tubing, not flow rate. You could have 10' thick tubing, it's still only going to flow as fast as that fitting, head pressure or block restriction, allow. It certainly would have no effect when cooling only one component.
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Do you mean 1/4"G threads or 1/4" fitting? I assume the latter because that's the only one which makes sense.

I read that the tubes are 3/8"Id while the barbs are 1/4". I hope I'm wrong about this.
 
The main problem with the TT WC setup is the waterblock, and the mixed metals. The waterblock tends to crack easier than other waterblocks, since the supplied coolant has such a high percentage of additives... It shears right through that plexi top, producing stress fractures, and eventually breaks around the fitting threads.

From experience :mad:
 
For those who didn't catch this before, there is no aluminum in the water loop. So again, galvanic corrosion is not an issue.

Also, I used spring clamps and offsets to mount the block so as not to cause excessive force on the top, having learned from others mistakes. So again, cracking of the plastic top should not be an issue.

As for the tubing and barbs, this is a 3/8" system BUT the tubing diameter of the rad is only 1/4". It should be fine, and it would be an easy fix but I really don't think it's worth it with only the cpu on the loop.

One more pic:

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edit* I will however be looking into using a different coolant such as distilled water with biocide.
 
The coolant mix I have used for over 2 years now is 99% distilled water to 1% autostore best antifreeze. My gaming loop has had this mix in it for well over a year with no growth at all, my HTPC setup has kept the same for 2 months now and that is running about 70% of the day again no growths at all (I usually use the same fluid I drain when re-filling unless I see a problem).
 
WarlordOne said:
As for the tubing and barbs, this is a 3/8" system BUT the tubing diameter of the rad is only 1/4". It should be fine, and it would be an easy fix but I really don't think it's worth it with only the cpu on the loop.
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That's actually good, in terms of seal, because you're using oversized barbs.
 
young boy said:
Do you mean 1/4"G threads or 1/4" fitting? I assume the latter because that's the only one which makes sense.

I read that the tubes are 3/8"Id while the barbs are 1/4". I hope I'm wrong about this.
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What I'm saying is that flow is restricted by the fitting and block, tubing diameter will have no impact on flow rate if the ID of the tubing is larger than the ID of the fitting. All you are doing is adding volume to the system.

For a simple test get a 5' length of 1" PVC and 3" pvc. Glue a 1/4" threaded male adaptor to one end and a 1/2" male adaptor to the other of both. Hook a garden hose to the 1/2" side and turn it on. Doesn't matter if the pipe is 1", 3", 10" it's going to flow the same out of the 1/4" side regardless of pipe diameter, only volume is added.

Anyone that thinks that using 1/2" tubing is getting better flow should read a little about flow rates with restriction. Volume does not equal better flow. Head pressure equals better flow. This is plumbing 101.
 
Guys, one look at the pics in the OP will show you that the block is a low restriction open channel block (same one I have with the Bigwater 745 kit) and the fittings are sized properly for the tubing and are 3/8 (9mm) G4 compression fittings. The comment about the rad is not relevant to flow consideration as it is 1/4 inch round copper tube high flow - low restriction ( same as the 745 kit) not the flat tube higher restriction type typically used. The coolant velocity/flow in these systems is very impressive compared to a typical flat tube rad and nozzle impingement type block loop. The primary reason a powerful pump is not required.

There are no issues with the Tt coolant at least with these systems in my two+ years of direct experience with one. I have no experience with pre-filled systems and those may be a concern (long periods of storage with no coolant movement) and I would not shell out $10+ bucks a bottle to replace/buy more Tt coolant. I top off with just distilled water. The high flow and lack of any restrictions leave no place for any "gunk" to build up. The fluid is thin anyway with no evidence of "thickening" due to too much additive(s).
 
ive had no problems with my Thermaltake Bigwater 760is ...
Cools my Q9400 @ 3.8Ghz Nicely 32/29/30/28 across the board @ idle ... an about max of 52C @ load

100$ water kit , an its quiet , does what it needs to
 
HydroBudz said:
What I'm saying is that flow is restricted by the fitting and block, tubing diameter will have no impact on flow rate if the ID of the tubing is larger than the ID of the fitting. All you are doing is adding volume to the system.

For a simple test get a 5' length of 1" PVC and 3" pvc. Glue a 1/4" threaded male adaptor to one end and a 1/2" male adaptor to the other of both. Hook a garden hose to the 1/2" side and turn it on. Doesn't matter if the pipe is 1", 3", 10" it's going to flow the same out of the 1/4" side regardless of pipe diameter, only volume is added.

Anyone that thinks that using 1/2" tubing is getting better flow should read a little about flow rates with restriction. Volume does not equal better flow. Head pressure equals better flow. This is plumbing 101.
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Agreed. With length of tubes barely over a few meters, having the ID of a tube bigger than the ID of the barb is uselss.

I misread you because you said 1/4" thread.
 
Here's to great deals on simple wc systems. I'd like a nicer setup, but would rather spend the $ on updated components for my system. I got in on a coolermaster aquagate system for around $25 shipped a while ago. Works better than the air cooling, particularly at the time. The fan speed regulator isn't completely steady, but it was still cheaper than any decent A/C heatpipe cooler+fan on the market.
 
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