My system is now Liquid Cooled...

[thegermankid]

Hi, I just registered today and wanted to introduce myself. I am 22 and a PC freak since I can walk. I'm from Germany and study in the US for 2-3 Years. Unfortunately, I kind of lost track in the last years due to education, and other interests (i.e. cars ).
I was always fascinated by the liquid cooling technology... so to personally mark my re-entrance in the endless world of computers, I bought a water cooling kit. The Thermaltake BigWater 735, more something for beginners. I read several good reviews about it and it was pretty cheap. I know most people probably rather build their own but I didn't want to start from scratch. :/

I would like to hear some comments about using a water cooled system and your experience.... I'm very happy with it so far... a little annoyed by the humming "noise" of the pump but thats not a biggie.
I also bought a E6600 recently and it runs with 37 C (on load) at a rather slow and silent radiator-fan speed.

Pic1 - Pic2 - Pic3
Pic4 - Pic5 - Pic6

As you can see, my tower was a little too small and I had to mount the radiator externally which I will try to avoid in the future...

-Ric

 

[thegermankid]

No, not yet this was just the first day... I have to build trust in the system. But I will... I had the e6300 last year and oc'd it...I love the core2duos for that. The cooling results were not nearly as good though. I can post perfomance-scores here if someone cares

 

[thegermankid]

Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 @ 3.06 GHz

3DMark Score 10411 3DMarks
SM 2.0 Score 4572 Marks
SM 3.0 Score 4626 Marks
CPU Score 2711 Marks

This is without any adjustment... I'm sure there's still room for more. CPU Temp is 43 C (after the test).

-Ric

 

[thegermankid]

lol... what are you running?
I don't want to push it right now because my north-bridge gets really hot (burns my fingers ) and I need to include it in the WC system first.

 

[nzxtlexa]

keep going! north bridge shouldn't restrict you too much on that mobo but water cooling your NB is good anyway. Good temps so far for 3ghz.

 

[Groveling_Wyrm]

thegermankid - Welcome to THG, and congrats on the watercooling rig. From the pics, it looks like you did a VERY good, clean installation.

However, you should know, that the Thermaltake Bigwater 735 is at best, a beginner's watercooling setup for overclocking (And just so happens to be one that I have experimented with).

You would be wise to monitor your temperatures well with that setup. You could take the cpu to levels that the water cooling loop can't handle and thus could cause heat issues.

Also, you want to keep an eye on that pump. The Thermaltake P500 pump is not known to be the best pump in the world. If you stop hearing that humming noise, I would be concerned.

You made a decent start, but be careful though, as watercooling is addictive!

 

[thegermankid]

Thanks for the advice. I learned a lot of bad things about this kit since I have it. It uses mixed-metals (aluminum and copper) and this is should be prevented (possible corrosion).
I also read the same thing about the pump and I am being very careful about it. I try not to leave the PC unattended until I fix those (not yet existing) issues.
My case was too small to fit everything in there in a good looking manor, I did my best

 

[WestWarrior]

You made the same mistake as me. I first bought the Bigwater 735 when I was getting into WCing with very poor performance.

Also, I'm pretty sure that the kit doesn't use mixed metals.

 

[thegermankid]

no the radiator is aluminum and the water block is copper.... you can even see it on the official site from thermaltake.

 

[WestWarrior]

If you take the radiator apart you will find that it basically runs the liquid through a small length of copper tubing with some Aluminum fins attached. The liquid only touches copper in the loop.

 

[ouch1]

If you take the radiator apart you will find that it basically runs the liquid through a small length of copper tubing with some Aluminum fins attached. The liquid only touches copper in the loop.

Even then you will find that the radiator is way too restrictive. I recommend getting a ThermoChill PA120.2 since they are one of the best performing dual 120mm radiators available.

http://www.dangerden.com/store/product.php?productid=204&cat=15&page=1

Slap 2 good 120mm fans (push or pull config) for good cooling, or 4 120mm fans (push & pull config) for great cooling. Either way you will get better performance and more flow than the Thermaltake radiator.

-ouch1

 

[richardscott]

i used to have themaltake wc until about a month ago i realised how crap it is then bought this setup

alphacool ap1510 1500l/h
2x 360mm rads
ek supreme cpu block
8800gt wc.

the first thing you should upgrade is the rad as ures is aluminium , and its crap juust get any half decent all cppper one and a better pump the waterblock is ok aslong as you dont have a quad.