Thermaltake Bigwater 745 or Gigabyte 3D Galaxy II

[kamikaze27]

Need help from someone who has used either of these personally. I've narrowed myself down to these based on budget. I've done a little research, and they seem to be still neck on neck.

Who has permanent eyes on these?

 

[Noubourne]

No one with a clue considers either of these as options.

Petrastechshop Basic water kits start at $205. That IS the entry level for water imo. I've never seen another water kit in that price range that I would spend any money on.

 

[kamikaze27]

dude, thats a $40-$50 delta... at over $200 I have many options, whats happening at $150?

 

[thilanliyan]

I had the old 3D Galaxy...I chose it since it had 1/2 inch tubes and out of a lot of water cooling kits(not the high-end ones) it did the best. Search xbitlabs.com and they had an article comparing lots of watercooling kits. I was actually using it to cool my previous video card.

I started using it to cool my current CPU but then the waterblock cracked and I stopped watercooling altogether and went back to aircooling...much fewer hassles. If I were to do it over again I would NOT buy a kit. Or if I did it would be from Swiftech, Danger Den, or some other higher end company.

As far as cooling went, my Big Typhoon keeps the same temperatures as the 3D Galaxy did for my CPU so what's the point.

 

[kamikaze27]

I gotta at least try it out though. But if, for the sake of argument you had to choose a WC system at around $150, what would you be inclined to go for?

 

[SparkyJJO]

for $150, none. I'd stick with air at that point. Poor WC isn't going to be any better - in fact can be worse - than good air.

 

[kamikaze27]

Okay, and at $200? I dont think I should be forking out more than that..

 

[dampeal]

The Corsair Nautilus 500 is a great setup, especially for beginners, and even experienced users will like it... uses Delphi parts, at least teh pump and the block are Delphi, not sure of rad, and I think the res is custom for the Nautilus

oh edit, I forgot to answer the main question..

the TT 745 is not bad if you mod the block, I found that drilling into the block, several 'holes' will create more surface area and more turbulence to keep the water in the block longer and allow the water to collect more heat from the block...

I did have problems with the TT745 leaking though, I used some Blue LeakLock and it solved the problem with that, but it should not have leaked in the first place..

as for the Galaxy I have no experience with it..

 

[aigomorla]

Originally posted by: dampeal
The Corsair Nautilus 500 is a great setup, especially for beginners, and even experienced users will like it... uses Delphi parts, at least teh pump and the block are Delphi, not sure of rad, and I think the res is custom for the Nautilus

oh edit, I forgot to answer the main question..

the TT 745 is not bad if you mod the block, I found that drilling into the block, several 'holes' will create more surface area and more turbulence to keep the water in the block longer and allow the water to collect more heat from the block...

I did have problems with the TT745 leaking though, I used some Blue LeakLock and it solved the problem with that, but it should not have leaked in the first place..

as for the Galaxy I have no experience with it..

Rofl i think you've been reading my posts. Ive been trying to push newbie watercoolers into getting this kit over any other kits as starting kits.

Here is my reason ops and i hope you take my advice because i am going on 4th year watercooling and have seen enough mistakes noobies makes to warn them.


1. Dont get any TT kits. They have made 3 pump revisions last year and i dont know how long this pump revision will last. The bigwater 745 requires you also to mount a rad externally which is a hassle since it has no quick disconnects. Also the radiator is not a thin pipe design. Its more tubes what are wraped around. Not a very effective means at cooling.

2. The gigabyte kit has some promises, but it was discontinued so fast, that starts to make me wonder. I would stay away from this kit as you can get a better one for cheaper and have it be more effective.

3. the Nautilus 500 is a great kit for starting watercoolers. Why? your going to ask..

a. Because unlike the kit in TT and Gigabyte, the Nautilus uses a Liang DDC (delphi)pump as its heart. This is a proven pump that is raited industrial quality. It will push and dish, and take a beating. Also if you decide to get greedy and want more cooling, Strip the pump, pair it with another swiftech 350, or Liang DDC (not the DDC+ or 355, these are 18W Versions) PM me later when u decide to go on a upgrade route, and i'll help you plan it.

b. The CN (corsiar Nautiulus gonna abrevate from now on) is also very small, fits ontop of almost any case, has quick disconnects for easy transportation, and as many reviews claim, its actually newbie proof.

c. If you have the extra budget, id get a Swiftech APEX 220H2O with apogee GT revision. It costs the same as the non GT revision. Its about 250-260, but you get everything you need from coolant additive, to cpu block, tubes, clamps, pump, and a nice 120x2 radiator with rad mount for external mounting. That kit will seriously pwn all the kits you listed and the CN as well in terms of cooling and power. But it also has 2x the price tag of the CN.




Keep it mind, the CN is also powerful enough for you to add a GPU block on the loop as well and not compromise too much on cooling. Most other kits only claim they can do a GPU, but if you look at head pressures, NOT FLOW RATES, of the pumps ur comparing, the CN is on a completely different league.

 

[dampeal]

I actually ran my Nautilus with CPU, GPU and NB blocks, only about two degrees higher on the CPU with all teh block running..

and yeah i forgot the Delhpi pump is actually a laing....

also for my corsair I modded it, replaced the rad with Black Ice Pro and the fan with a Noctua NF-S12.. got better temps and made it alot quieter..

Link to my mod HERE

 

[aigomorla]

Wow thats a great mod to do on that little kit.

with a BI Pro you should get better temps. I would of recomended the GTS over the BIP as its ment more for low CMF fans.

But great mod 😀

EDIT: Hey ops, the nautuilus goes on sale for 129.99 and ive seen them as low as 99.99.

I wouldnt look at any other starting kit besides this one.


Also if u get greedy later on, id swap the cpu block out with the D-Tek Fussion as its proved to even outdue storms with same head pressures. Did i also mention it outdid the ApogeeGT by 5C at the swiftech challange 😱

Xtremesystems.org quotes: Swiftech said they mounted there Apogee GT wrong and therefore its accurate results couldnt be shown. ROFLROFL... I wish i saw fugger's face when swiftech said that.


<i have one coming in the mail btw 😛>

 

[nealh]

Originally posted by: dampeal
I actually ran my Nautilus with CPU, GPU and NB blocks, only about two degrees higher on the CPU with all teh block running..

and yeah i forgot the Delhpi pump is actually a laing....

also for my corsair I modded it, replaced the rad with Black Ice Pro and the fan with a Noctua NF-S12.. got better temps and made it alot quieter..

Link to my mod HERE

but that's the problem with a kit..you will want to make it better..your are better off buying higher quality up front and avoid the upgrading ..it will just add cost..

Or like me get good stuff and want to upgrade to better..WCing is addicitive IMHO

 

[dampeal]

Originally posted by: nealh

Originally posted by: dampeal
I actually ran my Nautilus with CPU, GPU and NB blocks, only about two degrees higher on the CPU with all teh block running..

and yeah i forgot the Delhpi pump is actually a laing....

also for my corsair I modded it, replaced the rad with Black Ice Pro and the fan with a Noctua NF-S12.. got better temps and made it alot quieter..

Link to my mod HERE

but that's the problem with a kit..you will want to make it better..your are better off buying higher quality up front and avoid the upgrading ..it will just add cost..

Or like me get good stuff and want to upgrade to better..WCing is addicitive IMHO

Actually the CN500 kit is excellent the way it is, it wouldn't need upgraded the parts are very good as is, I just had the parts lying around and figured why not do it, I was very happy with the performance of the CN500 at stock..

but I like to do mods, and like I said I had the parts..

 

[aigomorla]

Originally posted by: nealh

Originally posted by: dampeal
I actually ran my Nautilus with CPU, GPU and NB blocks, only about two degrees higher on the CPU with all teh block running..

and yeah i forgot the Delhpi pump is actually a laing....

also for my corsair I modded it, replaced the rad with Black Ice Pro and the fan with a Noctua NF-S12.. got better temps and made it alot quieter..

Link to my mod HERE

but that's the problem with a kit..you will want to make it better..your are better off buying higher quality up front and avoid the upgrading ..it will just add cost..

Or like me get good stuff and want to upgrade to better..WCing is addicitive IMHO

Well neal concidering that the pump alone to get would cost him 60 dollars. The kit is only 129-149. That means the money he lost when doing an upgrade will be far less then if he went with the other kits. The nautilius isnt as hard as the average watercooling kit to setup as well.

Also it takes a while b4 you can go off and get expensive parts on first build. It took me 2 builds to get off kits, APEX220 to be exact, b4 i stepped up to expensive blocks/parts on first builds. My QX uses 3 DDC+ with petra tops. Thats almost 300 dollars in pumps alone. I can sympathize with the op when he wants a cheap starter kit to play with b4 he steps up to the bad boys.

Even then Neal, You and i still have our eyes on TEC but we have yet to grow Balls to step inside that too. 😛

But heres just a little tease for ya op on what a Mid/High performance kit can do.

30 min Orthos Burnin with 30min RTHDRIBL on 7900GT doing 570mhz.
IDle temps was 17C with outside ambient of around 60F

My idle temps rarely exceed 1-2C of outside ambient unless my GFX cards are running something. then at most it adds 1C to it tops. My delta for loads are never greater 14C CORETEMP and about 7-8C motherboard diode temp.

Did i also mention 30C on Overclocked RTHDRIBL 30min 7900GT's kick butt 😛

That is my opty, my QX has better parts. 😀

 

[nealh]

Originally posted by: aigomorla

Originally posted by: nealh

Originally posted by: dampeal
I actually ran my Nautilus with CPU, GPU and NB blocks, only about two degrees higher on the CPU with all teh block running..

and yeah i forgot the Delhpi pump is actually a laing....

also for my corsair I modded it, replaced the rad with Black Ice Pro and the fan with a Noctua NF-S12.. got better temps and made it alot quieter..

Link to my mod HERE

but that's the problem with a kit..you will want to make it better..your are better off buying higher quality up front and avoid the upgrading ..it will just add cost..

Or like me get good stuff and want to upgrade to better..WCing is addicitive IMHO

Well neal concidering that the pump alone to get would cost him 60 dollars. The kit is only 129-149. That means the money he lost when doing an upgrade will be far less then if he went with the other kits. The nautilius isnt as hard as the average watercooling kit to setup as well.

Also it takes a while b4 you can go off and get expensive parts on first build. It took me 2 builds to get off kits, APEX220 to be exact, b4 i stepped up to expensive blocks/parts on first builds. My QX uses 3 DDC+ with petra tops. Thats almost 300 dollars in pumps alone. I can sympathize with the op when he wants a cheap starter kit to play with b4 he steps up to the bad boys.

Even then Neal, You and i still have our eyes on TEC but we have yet to grow Balls to step inside that too. 😛

But heres just a little tease for ya op on what a Mid/High performance kit can do.

30 min Orthos Burnin with 30min RTHDRIBL on 7900GT doing 570mhz.
IDle temps was 17C with outside ambient of around 60F

My idle temps rarely exceed 1-2C of outside ambient unless my GFX cards are running something. then at most it adds 1C to it tops. My delta for loads are never greater 14C CORETEMP and about 7-8C motherboard diode temp.

Did i also mention 30C on Overclocked RTHDRIBL 30min 7900GT's kick butt 😛

That is my opty, my QX has better parts. 😀

Holy crap

 

[kamikaze27]

I'm following all this, sorta.

I had a look at corsairs home page with N500. Where did you see it at $129? or even $100?

Yeah honestly I would prefer to play safe, I'm a modder, but a moderate modder. I've kept away for a while becuz I know how obsessed I get.

If I get a WCS, I know its not going to stop.

Q = the waterblocks, are they all universal in terms of the piping that they use, or will I have to step-up or down the size, cuz thats gonna look like s**

 

[WoodButcher]

2 points from experience,
3/8 ID or larger tubing,
NOT Thermaltake!!!
The bigwater pump is not worth the time it takes to install let alone pay for, It is noisy even suspended from rubber bands. Upgrade before you buy or stay with air!