Upgrading BigWater, where to start?

gcaster · 20 Jan 2011 at 01:45

Hi guys,

Sorry for having 2 threads going simultaneously, I made a bit of a balls up of my first post here and never got round to asking the main question I wanted to. :rolleyes:

So as I mentioned in the other thread, I have a ThermalTake BigWater 735 + AquaBay Reservoir watercooling system. Having read through a bit of the chat on here about these I can see they get a lot of abuse.
I've been running mine for around 3 1/2 years with no fatal errors yet but I can't vouch at all for the cooling as I've not done any real overclocking with it. In fact, the only reason I have it is because it was free when I had my build done. Suffice to say, now that I'm looking to overclock I want to upgrade it with a view to having it replaced over time.
What components would you recommend upgrading first, ie which will get the most bang for buck and help me drop my CPU temp the most?

Thanks in advance.
G

gcaster · 20 Jan 2011 at 02:15

My CPU at the moment isn't overclocked very heavily at all and during Prime tests it sits at around 70C. I'd really like to get this down before I go any further.

EDIT: That's just for a single core, my cores seem to vary a bit.
Idle temps are about: 55, 55, 48, 50

gcaster · 20 Jan 2011 at 02:49

Those things are HUGE!
To be honest I think I'd rather persevere with WC and build a good system over time. Am I right in thinking a single 120mm radiator just isn't enough to keep a CPU cool? If so how many are recommended and where will they fit in an NZXT Phantom case?

gcaster · 20 Jan 2011 at 03:10

Just come across a Phobya Xtreme 200 radiator which would probably sit in the top of the case quite nicely and with a bigger area than 2x120mm rads seems like it could be a good shout.
I'll have a look at upgrading the pump first though as you recommend. What kind of flow rate should I be looking at - the TT is a bit piddly at 400l/h.

gcaster · 20 Jan 2011 at 03:49

Go on then, what else are you using lol?

There's clearly going to be a major Achilles heel to my system if my pump rating is alright, my pressure head is rated 0.9m higher that yours as well. I have a feeling my waterblock (although described by TT as "second to none" :confused:

) is going to be the flaw as I assume they're the hardest component to produce to a high spec.

gcaster · 20 Jan 2011 at 04:02

I've just had a major facepalm moment!
On turning the fan on my rad up to full speed (aka noisy as hell mode) my core temps have just dropped a 10C each. Now I feel really rather stupid, time to go to bed I think!