ChillTec TEC vs. Thermaltake Bigwater 760i

[Skippman]

Well, it's happened.

I've been having problems with my Crossfire setup as those who read my thread know. What started as a simple GPU upgrade to the Powercolor 4870 1G has me worried that my E6600 at stock clocks won't keep up with it. Now I know this little demon is known for it's overclockability but I'm concerned about heat. My system runs at near 45c on average using a Zalman cooler and I'm worried if I try to pull more mhz I'll burn it out. So it's time to upgrade my cooling solution.

I'll preface this with saying I have ZERO water cooling experience. I've read lots of peoples threads on here and know enough to know that without someone supervising me, I'm gonna make a mistake and fry my mobo and proc. So I'd prefer to stick to a prebuilt kit. I'd also like to keep the thing internal to my machine so the Nautalus is right out.

I was considering the BigWater but could find no update to the article since you found out putting in a blowhole would make big changes to the system temp. While I was looking for notes on it, I came across the ChillTec. Since they're both about the same price I figured I'd ask the crew which you'd chose and why.

[FZ1]

I'd skip both and get a swiftech kit.

[Skippman]

Seeing has they don't have an in-case design and I've no water cooling experience I don't really feel comfortable with a Swiftech as my first WC kit.

[XstollieX]

Well there is only one way to get experience with water cooling and that is to do it. If you take your time, pay attention to detail it will all go well. If you run into an issue we are all here to help. My three biggest suggestions are:
1. Leak Test
2. Leak Test
3. Leak Test
There is a real good write up in the cooling section about it.
http://forums.legitreviews.com/about8978.html
I leak tested for 24 hours each time i set up.
If this is the chill tec you are thinking about
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications ... u=ULT33186
One of the local guys I know in this area played with it. He said he had gotten better temps from a thermaltake maxorb
He seems to know his stuff but feel free to take it for what its worth as third party info. I had no exp. with water either but it turned out pretty easy to set up.

[FZ1]

Seeing has they don't have an in-case design and I've no water cooling experience I don't really feel comfortable with a Swiftech as my first WC kit.

Sure they do, you can mount the rad inside (mine is) and the pump is on the cpu block. The swiftech kit was my first wc kit and I had no problems...it was very easy to assemble.

[Skippman]

The swiftech radiators won't fit in my case. I already have one radiator I bought designed to mount 2 80mm fans and it won't fit inside.

[DMB2000uk]

The swiftech radiators won't fit in my case. I already have one radiator I bought designed to mount 2 80mm fans and it won't fit inside.

You just need one of these:
80mm-120mm Rad Adaptor
(I think these are the same if you want a US seller).

And one of these:
swiftech kit

Dan

[Skippman]

I don't have room for a 120mm case fan. I know everyone here loves Swiftech but I really don't feel comfortable building an all component water cooling kit for my first foray into water cooling. I also am not to thrilled about having to replace my case as there's no other one on the market (aside from that one Nate just reviewed) that has a anodized interior.

*EDIT*

I just looked at that kit and it IS self contained so I appologize to Dan for automatically assuming the Swiftech kit would be a parts kit. I might just have to learn to accept the fact that I'll have to get a less attractive case if I want to get any more agressive w/ my rig.

[DMB2000uk]

We like swiftech as they work so much better than the other cheaper alternatives, I've used the bigwater, and I wasn't too impressed with it's performance (not to mention the one I used was rather loud). So if it seems that we are trying to push swiftech on you it's only because we want you to have the best performance for your money.

You mentioned wanting to know the blowhole results, does that mean you'd consider making a blowhole in your case?
The updated temps were (in case you missed it in the original review):

Making the faux blow hole resulted in 27c idle and 37c load temps. ... Overclocked we ended up with 27c idle and 42c load.

Back to trying to convince you to get the swiftech kit :

What about using the adaptors on your 80mm blowhole at the top of your case? Is there any room there?

The swiftech kit is very easy to install, in fact it is going to be the exact same amount of pipes to connect up as the thermaltake kit.

If you still don't want the Swiftech kit after reading this post, then I'll not push the matter any further (and will try to help you on any other questions you have )

Dan

[Skippman]

Won't fit unless I put a second blow hole in there above the drive bays. The current blow hole is right in the center of the case lid, just enough room for the 80mm fan before it hits the PSU. The 120mm would def hit the PSU.

I might just have to get a new case.

[Skippman]

After reading more about the TEC, I think that's definatly a dicey way to go about things. I'll stick to water cooling.