Thermaltake Water 2.0 CPU Watercooler Review

In this review we looked at two of the latest watecoolers from Thermaltake called the Water 2.0 Pro and Performer.  These are self contained watercooling units with a pump and block assembly on the CPU and 120mm radiator that can be mounted almost anywhere.  Both coolers are identical except for the size of the radiator, the Pro cooler features a large 2 inch thick radiator assembly whereas the Performer is half that with a 1 inch thickness.

Overall cooler construction is quite good.  The pump and block assembly is extremely well built and features a multitude of screws to ensure there are no leaks.  Coolant is moved from the pump to the radiator using a thick rubber hose that is very flexible and resists kinking.  These hoses use a thick wall design which is good for strength but does limit how much liquid can be moved from one place to another.  The radiator is a simple two tank design that is split down the middle to increase surface area and cooling.

Installation was somewhat complex and did require a quick peek in the manual to make sure we were doing it right.  The trick is to make sure the spacers are facing the right direction before installing the mounting screw.  After that screw is installed it is almost impossible to remove so check and double check.  

When testing watecoolers you must make sure you don't over overpower the cooler as this will cause the system to collapse.  A cooler collapse is the point where temperatures will never level off and continue to rise.  Along the same lines to get accurate CPU temperatures you must run the tests long enough to ensure the entire system has warmed up.  Case in point is the results we saw in this review.  At default speeds the larger Pro cooler posted a lower overall temperature and better C/W rating however, when it came to the overclocking tests the temperatures didn't level off until the cpu reached 63c and took almost twice the normal time to level off. 

Given the expected C/W ratings of the Performance cooler we concluded that the included fans were not powerful enough to properly cool the larger Pro radiator.  Both coolers could handle a decent overclock on the LGA 2011 platform and should do the same, if not better, on LGA 1155.

Self Contained Watercooler
Easy Installation
Solid Construction
Dual Fans Included
Excellent Cooling Capacity

Entire system gets warm dumping heat into your chassis
Fans are underpowered