Thermaltake Bigwater 760 Plus

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Need a complete, all-in-one watercooling kit? Overclockers Club has a review of Thermaltake's Bigwater 760 Plus posted today that you might want to check out.

Typically when you think about a do-it-yourself water cooling kit, a lot of work and assembly ideas might go through your head. Luckily, most of the work with the Bigwater 760 Plus is already done for you. Simply mount the block and drive bay unit, cut and clamp the hoses, fill it, and turn it on (checking first for leaks, of course).
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I'll admit...when I saw "Thermaltake" and "Bigwater" in the thread header, I was about to get a headache. Hopefully these units aren't plagued by the same issues the last gen Bigwater were.
 
Granted it would increase the price, but I'd have gone with a copper rad, better block, and 7/16" tubing. Other then that it's trading a pair of adjoining 120mm Fan slots for a pair of adjoining 5.25" bays without limiting the tubing length. Not bad at all, might pick one up when they go on sale in a few months ;)
 
I might pick one up to throw in my Tai-Chi with the big rad that came with it. Be interesting to see how it does with an extra rad in the loop since that seems to be where it needs help.
 
Meh. Every Thermaltake water kit I've ever used or come across has had issues. Who remembers the ThermalTake Aquarius II CPU Cooler? The springs that came with it started rusting within a few months of using. The plastic reservoir tank developed cracks from the factory installed screws that held it together.
 
techrat said:
Meh. Every Thermaltake water kit I've ever used or come across has had issues. Who remembers the ThermalTake Aquarius II CPU Cooler? The springs that came with it started rusting within a few months of using. The plastic reservoir tank developed cracks from the factory installed screws that held it together.
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Same with the Tai-Chi. I've replaced everything in it except the radiator & fill reservoir.
 
Well I went & picked one up to play with. Setup the way it is supposed to be, it was hitting the thermal shutdown set in the bios. (60c) I added an old Koolance PC-2 aluminum radiator to the loop. It helped a little. The temps dropped about 5c at idle with 3 120mm fans at full tilt on the radiators, but it was still very close to the shutdown temp under full load. The hoses were hot to the touch. The pump was pumping. Now before anybody says "hey, those old Koolance radiators are only 1/4 inch", the inside of the Thermaltake aluminum radiator steps down to 1/4 inch inside just past the hose fittings.

I disassembled the 760. Ditched the radiator & cage that it came in. Pulled the speed adjustment wires from the fan & soldered the bridge on the circuit board of the fan.

I used the hose, pump, block, & reworked fan. (I have a fan controller) I cleaned & flushed the old Tai-Chi copper tube radiator that came with the case. Hooked it all up with the old Tai-Chi fill reservoir. Core Temp now reports an idle temp of 17c and a max of 40c during the burn-in with OCCT.

It only cost me $90 for the 760 plus. That's the only reason that I even tied it.
 
techrat said:
Wow. What a way to learn that Thermaltake water kits are still crap.
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hahhahahaha quoted for truth.

I like thermaltake's ideas, and i quite like my case, but their execution in water cooling leaves a lot to be desired.
 
thesecond said:
hahhahahaha quoted for truth.

I like thermaltake's ideas, and i quite like my case, but their execution in water cooling leaves a lot to be desired.
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I'm still struggling to comprehend how a water kit with large diameter hoses and a fairly large pump... still can't keep the CPU from reaching thermal shutdown temps. Meanwhile my Corsair H60 (thinner hoses, less liquid overall, MUCH smaller pump, thinner radiator) has a max CPU temp of 38c and that's overclock.
 
techrat said:
I'm still struggling to comprehend how a water kit with large diameter hoses and a fairly large pump... still can't keep the CPU from reaching thermal shutdown temps. Meanwhile my Corsair H60 (thinner hoses, less liquid overall, MUCH smaller pump, thinner radiator) has a max CPU temp of 38c and that's overclock.
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That's a good question. I still don't have an answer. I thought that I messed up the first time that I ran it. So I reseated the block & got the same results. Granted my 1090T is @ 1.44 volts @3.8Ghz, but the Xigmatech 1283 that I had on it would idle at 17c in core temp @ hit 45c at full load with the same voltage & clocks. I expect the temps to drop over the next 2 weeks; they always do. The end result of this experiment is better cooling. Just not with the stock Thermaltake 760 setup.

It still wasn't a bad deal. I got a newer style water block. (vs. the old gold koolance CPU-300-H06 i had) All the hoses, clamps, pump, coolant, & a fan. Separately it would cost more with shipping than what I paid for this.
 
techrat said:
I'm still struggling to comprehend how a water kit with large diameter hoses and a fairly large pump... still can't keep the CPU from reaching thermal shutdown temps. Meanwhile my Corsair H60 (thinner hoses, less liquid overall, MUCH smaller pump, thinner radiator) has a max CPU temp of 38c and that's overclock.
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Probably a function of poor pump flow rate, and/or poorly designed block, and/or bad block mounting by the end-user, and/or the coolant thermal and viscocity properties I'd guess, without having seen one. Also high ambient temp.

Thems the list of usual suspects.
 
techrat said:
I'm still struggling to comprehend how a water kit with large diameter hoses and a fairly large pump... still can't keep the CPU from reaching thermal shutdown temps. Meanwhile my Corsair H60 (thinner hoses, less liquid overall, MUCH smaller pump, thinner radiator) has a max CPU temp of 38c and that's overclock.
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Its the rad 100%. The orientation sucks. It tries to suck air in through a little hole in the front of your case, make it change a 90 degree angle to blow downwards, and exhausts inside of your case? Its a neat idea, but throws the idea of efficiency out the window.

The h60 sucks/blows one direction, has great and easy airflow, low turbulence. Its way more efficient at removing heat from the rad.
 
The radiator body is no thicker than a 120mm fan. The actual tubes & fins are even smaller. Plus the 1/4 inch inlet inside the radiator doesn't help either. It really sucks ass.
 
I like the idea of it being in the bay vs up top above my parts.

So theres nothing you can modify with that setup to make it efficient? im paranoid to buy the H100, i plan on OC my i7 the moment i get a water cooling setup.
 
BlackThought said:
I like the idea of it being in the bay vs up top above my parts.

So theres nothing you can modify with that setup to make it efficient? im paranoid to buy the H100, i plan on OC my i7 the moment i get a water cooling setup.
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Having it in the bay means it has terrible airflow through the radiator. The fan attempts to suck in the air from the side, and blow it down through the rad into the case. Its a cute idea, (which spawned in the mid 2000's when watercooling just started growing, and water solutions were both creative and wacky) but its probably the least efficient way of doing it. To make it more efficient you could add more radiators to the loop, but at that point getting an H100 will still be cheaper and you'll have the option of blowing the hot air out of your case instead of into it.

tldr: get an H100 or a custom loop.
 
I can't believe they didn't count mixing metals as a con. No one should ever buy kits that use any aluminum components. It's not 2002 anymore.
 
thesecond said:
Having it in the bay means it has terrible airflow through the radiator. The fan attempts to suck in the air from the side, and blow it down through the rad into the case. Its a cute idea, (which spawned in the mid 2000's when watercooling just started growing, and water solutions were both creative and wacky) but its probably the least efficient way of doing it. To make it more efficient you could add more radiators to the loop, but at that point getting an H100 will still be cheaper and you'll have the option of blowing the hot air out of your case instead of into it.

tldr: get an H100 or a custom loop.
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Thanks for the info, guess ill get the H100

Side note, my i7 made it today :D i feel powerful just holding it
 
Kardonxt said:
I can't believe they didn't count mixing metals as a con. No one should ever buy kits that use any aluminum components. It's not 2002 anymore.
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I agree. Its dumb dee dumb dumb. Somebody should run one for a year, and then bench it against a brand new one and see the difference.
 
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