Thinking getting Thermaltake Big water SE as my first WC kit

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Xerodeluxe

Gawd
Joined
Jul 25, 2004
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599
I always wanted to have a water cooling kit for my build. But they seem complicated, expensive, and takes time. Well, I went to my local Frys just to browse around and checked the Thermaltake Bigwater SE. It gives you everything (resevoir, cpu clock, radiator, etc.) All in one kit for a price of $109.99. I was tempted to get it right out the door. But I always research before making the investment. I checked reviews and they were decent. So what do you guys think? Should I get this or get something else.

Thermaltake's BigWater SE Watercooling kit

My other alternative is the Zalman CNPS9500 LED.
 
zalman all the way. high end air before bottom of the barrel water.

water cooling is only worthwhile when you are willing to throw the time into planning it and more money than you seem prepared to spend.

watercooling is most worthwhile when you use it to quiet down a noisy GPU cooler.
 
Well, I wanted to be quiet too. On my last build I wasnt concerned about noise till I left it on idle during the night. Became noisy and bearly slept through the night. Been thinking about watercooling for a long time. Could use the less noise.

Also, how do the Bigwater SE on overclocking?
 
Xerodeluxe said:
Well, I wanted to be quiet too. On my last build I wasnt concerned about noise till I left it on idle during the night. Became noisy and bearly slept through the night. Been thinking about watercooling for a long time. Could use the less noise.

Also, how do the Bigwater SE on overclocking?
Click to expand...
running a64, the CNPS 9500 does just as well as the bigwater SE..........and is very nearly silent when you set it to be quiet.

you're not going to get a record setting OC using either cooling solution.

as i said above, the big advantage to watercooling is quieting down the GPU, and the bigwater limits your GPU cooling options for later water add-ons. stick with good air until you can get good water.
 
Yep, you most benefits with water when cooling the GPU. The idle temps on my 7800GT fell from 45C to 31C and the load temp went from 65-70+ to 45C.
 
DFI Daishi said:
zalman all the way. high end air before bottom of the barrel water.

water cooling is only worthwhile when you are willing to throw the time into planning it and more money than you seem prepared to spend.

watercooling is most worthwhile when you use it to quiet down a noisy GPU cooler.
Click to expand...

Actually, the bigwater outperforms the zalman quite handily.But, I wouldn't do a big water either way. For a budget this is what I would get:

Dtek whitewater: $25
CSP Mag: $50
Black Ice Pro III:$30
Radiator: $20
Tubing: ?? get whatever you want for $15
And for a water block prob. a maze 4 for $35
 
sabrewolf732 said:
Actually, the bigwater outperforms the zalman quite handily.But, I wouldn't do a big water either way. For a budget this is what I would get:

Dtek whitewater: $25
CSP Mag: $50
Black Ice Pro III:$30
Radiator: $20
Tubing: ?? get whatever you want for $15
And for a water block prob. a maze 4 for $35
Click to expand...

Perfer to get kits that come all in one. Whatever you just post is new to me.
 
Just build a custom one. I never used a WCing system prior to last weekend when I built one from different components i got from ~6 online retailers. It's not that difficult, and you save money and get better performance by shopping around....
 
Go with the Zalman watercooling unit. My big water pump totally sprung a leak as the seal on the pump came apart.
I swear it is a manufactors defect, but they won't admit it as usual.

I wouldn't go at all with Big water anymore.
 
Im going back to Fry's on Wednesday to give it a look again. (I go there everyday after school).

Prices:
The Bigwater SE- $109.99
or
Zalman 9500 LED- $59.99 (I Believe)

What im looking for is low noise and great overclocking features. Im going to overclock a AMD x2 3800+ to at least 2.5ghz.
 
Xerodeluxe said:
Im going back to Fry's on Wednesday to give it a look again. (I go there everyday after school).

Prices:
The Bigwater SE- $109.99
or
Zalman 9500 LED- $59.99 (I Believe)

What im looking for is low noise and great overclocking features. Im going to overclock a AMD x2 3800+ to at least 2.5ghz.
Click to expand...

Well, the bigwater > the 9500 so I'd go with the bigwater.
 
sabrewolf732 said:
Well, the bigwater > the 9500 so I'd go with the bigwater.
Click to expand...
The Zalman is safer...as others reported, the bigwater has leaked in the past...
oh..you might want to consider the BigWater 775 over the BigWater SE
 
I say stick with what you have right now for a little while longer, then buy a setup that's better than both.

But, stuck with a choice between the two, Zalman.
 
i have a x2 3800 and i got it to 2.5 stock cooling but i have a zalaman 7700 and i dont notice any noise and watercooling isnt worth it if your not gonna put some money in it
id like to see what you get though and what overclock you end up having let us know
 
{NcsO}ReichstaG said:
as others reported, the bigwater has leaked in the past...
oh..you might want to consider the BigWater 775 over the BigWater SE
Click to expand...

Even though I have the BigWater SE, I will agree that it can leak. I had the radiator leak on me only because I screwed the pipes on a little too tight and it pinched the rubber seal so that it didnt seal anymore.

Now that I have mine done correctly, I am getting idle temps as low as 25C and loads in the mid 30's. It was a cheap solution and is working great. I got mine because whenever I do any sort of 3d modeling on my desktop, I don't want to to lock up on me.

As for the BigWater 775, the only difference is that it has another radiator which would have been nice to have.
 
Happy to join this thread. I looking to by a cooling solution and i am stuck between the bigater se and the Zalman cnps9500. Although its nice to have a water cooling solution i enjoy as well the peace of mind of an air solution. In my case the radiator of the bigwater will be out of the case if that makes any difference. My aim to do a good oc. Now i am running at really low temps with the stock intel's heatsink.
 
For all of you guys buying a Big Water SE. I had one just die on me, the pump failed and as I emptied the system I saw that the water was no longer clear and was a cloudy dark green. I believe the standard liquid doesn't cut it for the algae build up. I had a system running 24/7 for only about 5 months.

The upside is that it was my first system and was extremely easy to install. My system had two cold cathodes always on so that probably helped the algae growth. I would purchase something like Hydrx concentrated coolant mixture to fortify the TT stuff.

The new 745 kit would probably be better for cooling a GPU and CPU rather than the single radiator from the SE. I have mixed feelings about Thermaltake watercooling.
 
Xerodeluxe said:
Perfer to get kits that come all in one. Whatever you just post is new to me.
Click to expand...
I love the ignorance.

The BigWater is crap. There, I said it.

If you're gonna go H2O, do yourself a favor and do it RIGHT the first time -- especially if you want to push it and OC.

Like somebody above me has mentioned, high-end air is gonna provide a a better cost to performance ratio than a crappy preboxed H2O all-in-one. On top of it all, Thermaltake products aren't exactly well regarded for their quality control. People have mentioned pumps failing, leaking, poor tubing, etc. When you're dealing with WATER inside your computer, that's definitely a risk I wouldn't want to take.

YMMV, but if I were you, I'd spend a little more time reading/learning instead of wasting money on a piss-poor "kit".

Just my 2 cents. Awaiting flames...
 
I know Takeabao was expecting flames, but I agree as well. I got lured by the price tag and got mediocre performance. I thought I saved a hundred bucks from buying a Swiftech kit, but ended up buying one anyways, to replace the bigwater. Now in total I've spent upwards of $400 just to get the result that I was originally expecting. It failed after 5 months of running only.

Thermaltake Bigwater SE:
Opteron 170 2.6GHz 1.45V
45 Idle and 60 load (dual prime 95 stable)

Swiftech Apex Ultra:
Opteron 170 2.8GHz 1.45V
32 Idle and 42 load (dual prime 95 stable)

For the single core A64s the Bigwater may cut it, but I don't know about running one with a dual core.

I looked the 745, but didn't want to dump more money down the drain, because, it has the same waterblock as the SE, and only improves in flow by using a more powerful pump, thicker tubing and 3 120mm radiators. The waterblock can't possibly generate enough surface area to remove the heat. It's too thick and retains the heat. The reason why the Bigwater SE did well before was because of a weak pump and small tubes which allowed the water to contact that waterblock more, but a more powerful pump and greater flow probably would yield minimal benefits.

I just threw the pump out for the Thermaltake Bigwater SE. I don't even want to spend a penny mailing it out for an RMA, since the radiator, waterblock, and (cool looking) reservoir are full of organic crap due to the crappy fluid. I'm not going to risk installing that garbage into another system. Bear in mind the 745 kit also uses the same fluid. That's why in my previous post I recommended getting supplementary concentrated coolant.

I'm not biased and I know all about being on budget, the Thermaltake stuff has a place in the market, but it's not a perfect product.
 
Flexion said:
I know Takeabao was expecting flames, but I agree as well. I got lured by the price tag and got mediocre performance. I thought I saved a hundred bucks from buying a Swiftech kit, but ended up buying one anyways, to replace the bigwater. Now in total I've spent upwards of $400 just to get the result that I was originally expecting. It failed after 5 months of running only.

Thermaltake Bigwater SE:
Opteron 170 2.6GHz 1.45V
45 Idle and 60 load (dual prime 95 stable)

Swiftech Apex Ultra:
Opteron 170 2.8GHz 1.45V
32 Idle and 42 load (dual prime 95 stable)

For the single core A64s the Bigwater may cut it, but I don't know about running one with a dual core.

I looked the 745, but didn't want to dump more money down the drain, because, it has the same waterblock as the SE, and only improves in flow by using a more powerful pump, thicker tubing and 3 120mm radiators. The waterblock can't possibly generate enough surface area to remove the heat. It's too thick and retains the heat. The reason why the Bigwater SE did well before was because of a weak pump and small tubes which allowed the water to contact that waterblock more, but a more powerful pump and greater flow probably would yield minimal benefits.

I just threw the pump out for the Thermaltake Bigwater SE. I don't even want to spend a penny mailing it out for an RMA, since the radiator, waterblock, and (cool looking) reservoir are full of organic crap due to the crappy fluid. I'm not going to risk installing that garbage into another system. Bear in mind the 745 kit also uses the same fluid. That's why in my previous post I recommended getting supplementary concentrated coolant.

I'm not biased and I know all about being on budget, the Thermaltake stuff has a place in the market, but it's not a perfect product.
Click to expand...

Your temps are awfully high. I ran a venice with 1.73v and 2.7GHz with a slk948u and 40cfm fan and I loaded at 42c. I used a thermal sensor too. You're also wrong about the flow part, no block that I know of has an inverse curve with temp delta/flow.
 
Maybe so about the inverse curve. There has to be (some) performance increase, read "minimal benefits" I don't think that the TT waterblock design can match the surface for that of any danger dens, swiftys, etc.
 
Flexion said:
Maybe so about the inverse curve. There has to be (some) performance increase, read "minimal benefits" I don't think that the TT waterblock design can match the surface for that of any danger dens, swiftys, etc.
Click to expand...

Of course it can't, the block is pretty primitive.
 
Hmm, just came across this thread with my Bigwater SE system in the mail, I have to say I'm a bit worried...

I got it mainly because I want something that will both fit in my PC and still allow it to be portable (for LANs). I currently have a 3000 venice @ 2ghz, not planning on going too much higher either, just looking for less noise.

Would a different waterblock be able to accept the same sized hosing that this kit uses?
 
necrophagist said:
Hmm, just came across this thread with my Bigwater SE system in the mail, I have to say I'm a bit worried...

I got it mainly because I want something that will both fit in my PC and still allow it to be portable (for LANs). I currently have a 3000 venice @ 2ghz, not planning on going too much higher either, just looking for less noise.

Would a different waterblock be able to accept the same sized hosing that this kit uses?
Click to expand...

It will be fine, don't worry.
 
Search for waterblocks using 1/4" interior diameter and 3/8" exterior diameter tubing and you'll be fine. The quick connects are the best part of this kit and it was easy to install. The current waterblock should handle the venice fine.
 
Oh my God, i can see here that alot of people are saying Thermaltake Big Water SE is a crap, hahhahahahahahahahahahaaaaaaaa. To be honest and tell me how many one of you actually used it,

But any way for OP all i am saying is listen carefully, because i am a proud owner of the Thermaltake BigWater 745 and previous owner of the BigWater SE.

I heard the same stories again and again from different people about how bad BigWater SE is, but i tried and to be honest i was never happier than before with my CPU cooling.

First of all you can Buy ThermatakeBigWaterSE for $76 from Directron.com right now, and second i used it with my Opteron [email protected] 24/7 for almost a half year, and it was so nice and quite i loved it. The good thing was the looks plus performance which you cannot find in Air cooling.

Temperatures where:

Idle = 29C
Hell Load = 45C

I was so impressed with my first Thermaltake BigWater Se water cooling that i could not resist and bought a New BigWater 745, and i am loving it also. Now my temperatures are with the same setup.

Idle = 28C
Helllllll Load = 40C

I can understand that water cooling setup might be confusing for you, or you might be afraid of leaking. Let me tell you one thing, if you want to get into the water cooling game and you are inexperienced get Thermaltake BigWater SE for $76 from Directron.com, because it is so easy to setup it might take you no more than 1 hour to complete the whole installation even you will be doing first time.

I was using XP-90c before and i never ever got my temperatures so low even with the side of the case open. All these temperatures vary from place to place, but you have to becarefull how you apply the thermal greece or what ever you are going to use. I use Artic Silver 5 and very very thin layer, which i think is the right way.

But any way choice is yours, after my post you will see some people screeming at me, that you can build better custome water cooling or what ever.

I have a challenge to any one here in this forum to build a better water cooling for $76, with out all that hasle and peace of mind of quick connects, quiteness, no leakage, and quality of the product for BigWater SE?
 
I have to agree with the ease of installation and cost. I do like the quick connects and looks on the Big Water kits. I made a recommendation in the earlier post, that if someone gets a Thermaltake system, then they should get extra concentrated coolant, because my system died at 5 months 24/7 use due to algae growth (2 UV lights could've contributed to it.) I don't know if the stock coolant is all that great.

Definately a good entry level kit. I could've had a bad pump or a bad batch of coolant. ;)
 
BigWater is a good kit with one exception: The coolant. If it's your absolute first WC setup, do yourself a favor and use something non-conductive before you kill the computer. Unless of course, you have a test-mobo.
 
annaconda said:
Oh my God, i can see here that alot of people are saying Thermaltake Big Water SE is a crap, hahhahahahahahahahahahaaaaaaaa. To be honest and tell me how many one of you actually used it,

But any way for OP all i am saying is listen carefully, because i am a proud owner of the Thermaltake BigWater 745 and previous owner of the BigWater SE.

I heard the same stories again and again from different people about how bad BigWater SE is, but i tried and to be honest i was never happier than before with my CPU cooling.

First of all you can Buy ThermatakeBigWaterSE for $76 from Directron.com right now, and second i used it with my Opteron [email protected] 24/7 for almost a half year, and it was so nice and quite i loved it. The good thing was the looks plus performance which you cannot find in Air cooling.

Temperatures where:

Idle = 29C
Hell Load = 45C

I was so impressed with my first Thermaltake BigWater Se water cooling that i could not resist and bought a New BigWater 745, and i am loving it also. Now my temperatures are with the same setup.

Idle = 28C
Helllllll Load = 40C

I can understand that water cooling setup might be confusing for you, or you might be afraid of leaking. Let me tell you one thing, if you want to get into the water cooling game and you are inexperienced get Thermaltake BigWater SE for $76 from Directron.com, because it is so easy to setup it might take you no more than 1 hour to complete the whole installation even you will be doing first time.

I was using XP-90c before and i never ever got my temperatures so low even with the side of the case open. All these temperatures vary from place to place, but you have to becarefull how you apply the thermal greece or what ever you are going to use. I use Artic Silver 5 and very very thin layer, which i think is the right way.

But any way choice is yours, after my post you will see some people screeming at me, that you can build better custome water cooling or what ever.

I have a challenge to any one here in this forum to build a better water cooling for $76, with out all that hasle and peace of mind of quick connects, quiteness, no leakage, and quality of the product for BigWater SE?
Click to expand...


As I've said, it is actually a decent kit and the 745 is more than decent (still incapable of matching a solid custom). I'd have to agree, some of the people in this thread are "OMG TT?! NO!1" noobs.
 
Well, I already bought the Bigwater SE kit at my local frys for $109.99+tax. (I know, kinda pricey. But hell I went for it anyways.) Well, I took everything out and I was confused what to do. So, I looked at the maunal and check to see how to assemble it. It has plenty pictures of how to do it but in very low resolution. Though it may have pictures, the detailed instructions were kinda vague. But after 2 hours of cautious assembly I was able to get it running. Here is some pics.

2DAF8741.jpg

2DAF8738.jpg

2DAF8722.jpg


I have to say im pleased with the results with this kit. Though I bought it at $109.99+tax its still at a decent price for a beginning watercooling kit. As for assembly, especially for new watercoolers, expect time to be consumed because the instructions were hard to read and to understand. And for heat, Tempetures are 30*-32* on Idle but im not sure how to detect on load. (will update on that when I can get a program to do it)


Price: 7/10
Assembly: 7/10
Cooling Temptures: 8.5/10
My Satisfaction with this product: 8.75/10
 
Volkum said:
You didn't leak test that kit before installing it? :eek:
Click to expand...

Balls to the walls baby. When I got mine I just installed it and was like "leakage be damned" :D
 
Well i am glad you choose the right product, but i am feeling sorry that you could have saved some more money by ordering from Directron.com for $76.
 
annaconda said:
Oh my God, i can see here that alot of people are saying Thermaltake Big Water SE is a crap, hahhahahahahahahahahahaaaaaaaa. To be honest and tell me how many one of you actually used it,
Click to expand...
okay then. no, i have not used a thermaltake bigwater kit of any sort.

every thermaltake product that i have ever had the misfortune of being near while it was running was cheaply built and much louder than advertised. i won't buy a thermaltake product anytime in the near future because of their track record.

so, would you be honest and tell me if you have used a well put together watercooling kit, to give you a good basis for comparison to the bigwater?
 
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