Date: October 4th, 2006
Article by: Joe Anderson (Hardware Reviewer)
Edited by: Nathan Glentworth (Owner / Head Editor)
Product was submitted by: Thermaltake
<--CLICK FOR DEALS ON A WATER/LIQUID COOLING SYSTEM IN THE UNITED STATES
<--CLICK FOR DEALS ON A WATER/LIQUID COOLING SYSTEM IN CANADA
CONCLUSIONS AND AFTERTHOUGHTS
The Bigwater 735 liquid cooling system represents the latest stage in the evolution of the Bigwater series. Thermaltake has increased tubing size, nearly quadrupled the flow rate and added another channel in the waterblock. And what rewards did they reap for these improvements? Well, none, to be honest. I'm frankly a little disappointed by the unimproved cooling performance. Granted, I'm no expert in the watercooling field, but a couple of things seem to leap out as issues with the 735.
First of all, an updated radiator design with better flow and cooling characteristics should have accompanied the other upgrades. Tubes and fins, especially small tubes and fins don't really cut the mustard anymore.
Secondly, a waterblock with a more efficient design could easily drop temps several degrees. Just getting the fluid closer to the heat source would help, and the serpentine channel design is really starting to show its age. Thermaltake now has several direct competitors in the entry level, inexpensive watercooling market, and the Bigwater 735 needs some improvements to keep up, much less move ahead.
Having said all the above, the Bigwater 735 is still not a bad value for the novice watercooler or the quiet computing enthusiast. As of this writing, you can pick up the 735 for under $115 US, which is inexpensive as watercooling kits go. It's basic, having only a CPU block, but compatible VGA and chipset blocks are available at competitive prices. The manual is quite good, the system is easy to install and comes complete with everything one would need to add liquid cooling to a CPU. The Bigwater 735 is also has good versatility, in both socket support and configuration options. The new Bigwater 735 kit from Thermaltake is a great product, but could have been better.
Pros:
- Inexpensive (as watercooling goes)
- Good availability
- Great manual
- Quiet
- Good cooling
- Easy installation
- Complete kit (for CPU only)
- Wide compatibility
- UV tubing and LED's on block and pump
Cons:
- Unimproved cooling from last generation
- Unimproved radiator
- Pump/reservoir unit rather large
- Barely enough coolant for an external mount
If you have any further questions about this water cooling kit, pleqase feel free to post them in our forums HERE.
