Thermaltake Water 2.0 Pro and Performer
Overview
Hardware: CoolingWHAT WE LIKED:
Excellent performance, Low maintenance, Flexible tubing, Excellent value for Performer modelWHAT WE DISLIKED:
Tricky backplate installation, Pro model a bit expensiveDiscuss in the Forum
Introduction
When Intel introduced the Sandy Bridge processors, there was talk among the overlockers that water cooling wouldn’t be necessary for low TDP (Thermal Design Power) processors due to the chip running so cool. Well, we were kidding ourselves. Even with good power efficient chips, effective cooling is still required and water cooling is one of the best options available.
This fact created an opportunity for chassis and air-cooler manufacturers to jump into the water cooling segment. self-contained water coolers have become mainstream because they are affordable and user friendly. We have seen more than a dozen kits in the last couple of years from Corsair, Antec and Zalman. AMD and Intel also have their own branded all-in-one water coolers. Thermaltake recently released their new series of self-contained water coolers – the Water 2.0 Performer, the Water 2.0 Pro, and Water 2.0 Extreme. Today we will be looking at the Performer and Pro models.
The coolers look very similar to the models offered by the competition. If it weren’t for branding on the pump unit and fans, it would be easy to mistake the Water 2.0 units for the Antec Kuhler H2O units. In fact, the pump/heat-exchanger and radiators used on the Performer and Pro models are the exact same ones used in the Kuhler H2O 620 and 920. This isn’t too surprising since Asetek manufactures all these coolers for both Thermaltake and Antec.
Sit back and enjoy as we look at the overall performance, design and features of both the Thermaltake Water 2.0 Performer and Pro. Do these units live up to Thermaltake’s promise of next generation closed loop liquid cooling? Read on to find out.
This is the Cooler Thermaltake donated to the PCs4VETS Purple Heart Project… Excellent!