Thermaltake BigWater 760is – Liquid Cooling Kit Review

Further Overclocking

The lower load temperatures now being experienced are due to the quick heat dissipation and the efficient cooling design. With this in mind I decided to try for an even higher overclock than previously achievable.

Bittersweet success was the order of the day as I was able to take this Q9550S to a clock speed of 4.1GHz. However, it took a bit too much voltage for my liking and as such, even though impressive, I am not comfortable enough to leave it there for 24/7 operation.

Noise

Many persons have bad things to say about liquid cooling setups and some of the more popular statements are, “It is loud”, or “The pump makes too much noise”, or “I can’t sleep at night”. Well, I’m going to dispel that myth right now (at least for this unit anyway).

When I first did the installation, the pump noise was somewhere between the low and high fan of my previous air cooler (V10). After having the BigWater running inside my system for a while, true to form, the pump got quieter and quieter. Now it only gives a low hum from 6 inches away, very faint sound at 1 foot away and it is inaudible at a distance of 2 feet. The fan is loud at full speed but it is also inaudible at 2 feet when set to low.

Keep in mind that for this test, I clearly did not use any fancy-schmancy equipment but instead, I used what just about everyone else will use, their ears. Also of note is that the radiator fan was left on its lowest setting.