Packaging And Components 

One attribute that is always great about Thermaltake is their packaging. The outside of the box is fairly straightforward. The majority of it is covered with unadulterated specs. Located on the left and right sides of the box is the hard tech information about the setup, as well as some notable features. On the front of the box, there is a very detailed image of the system which clearly portrays all of the major components included. On the back of the container are the detailed individual part pictures and labels. There are also individual shots of the different processor and motherboard types and their respective adapters installed. To top it off, there is a sturdy handle.

Once the box is opened, a well thought out shipping design becomes apparent, with fitted Styrofoam padded slots for every component. Any standard impacts on this box would not affect the integrity of the water system. These features should give users a good understanding of what they are going to pull out of the box before they even open it, as well as inspiring a real sense of confidence in Thermaltake.

While laying out the parts, one feature of this setup comes to light: it is much larger than most would anticipate. Concerns about space availability are hard to ignore, as discussed later. Besides the main parts, an additional small box contains all of the adapter components for each supported socket type in individual bags. Welcome relief comes by finding a container of super coolant, a roll of uncut tubing, and a tube of thermal paste. These save a trip to the store and indicate flexibility in the setup.

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The shining part of the whole box is a beautiful water block embedded with a single blue led. The water block has an acceptable lap job out of the box and there is sufficient surface area for the water to travel across. Another impressive item is the detailed manual. The entire book is simple, organized, and well done. There are pictures for each step with real installs, as well as assembly drawings that make understanding what needs to be accomplished a possibility for those not-so-savvy users. This manual has all the options individually laid out with update material included for new support features released after the system's purchase. They didn't leave anything to the user other than tools.

After inspecting all of the water sealed components for any shipping damage, the problem of placement has to be considered. Where are these intended to go? Where would these components actually fit? Is there space around the computer? Where would the tubes run? Can the reservoir fit at all? These questions are serious issues with this kit, especially if a large case is not available.

This kit is obviously designed to work best with larger Thermaltake cases. There were some problems with the large P160 Antec full-tower case used in today's review. The 120mm radiator block of the cooling system was just too large for the rear 120mm fan mount. The Thermaltake unit would make the case too crowded if it was placed inside. Luckily, the 120mm radiator looked like it would fit outside without any issue, despite the raised beehive design of the rear fan guard. Thermaltake made up for the lack of internal flexibility with the external options. The radiator has various sizes of mounts to ensure external compatibility with almost all cases. It can even be mounted to the bottom screws of the PSU if using a mid-tower case. Unless you are willing to make your own mount and have an enormous case like the "cube", the external radiator will go outside no matter what. Yet, this is not an inconvenience with the attachable feet. The stands are fitting for most applications and hold the 240mm radiator steadily.

The pump is not hard to fit and has mounting rails to screw to the bottom of the case. However, the adjacent reservoir is about as tall as a video card and wide enough to become competitive with the PCI expansion space. Fortunately, everything can be mounted outside the case. In the case being used today, nothing fits inside other than the pump and reservoir. A space constraint problem arose when the Audigy sound card wouldn't fit unless it was raised 3 PCI slots to just above the pump. Thermaltake made little effort at making this compatible internally with a variety of cases. However, any space problems are correctable with the external mounting options or simply modifying the design with parts and a Dremel.

Due to the modular design of the Bigwater 745, an enthusiast's creativity has some breathing room. The included 3/8" tubing has an extra .5 meters for the average setup so you can over measure to be safe. One note to keep in mind: if you intend to use all of the tubing included, there is not enough coolant included to fill the whole system. That takes about 750cc of coolant which is about 5/3 of the included container.