Thermaltake Water 3.0 Pro CPU Cooler Review

Thermaltake’s Water 3.0 Pro will have a pre-sales tax MSRP of $94 in the USA meaning that its price will obviously vary by region. This will probably translate into European pricing of about €90-100 and UK pricing of £85-95. Based on the current pricing of the Water 2.0 Pro, which is $115/£90 I think these are accurate numbers. Thermaltake have informed us that the ETA on availability for the Water 3.0 series is the end of June so you can expect to see them in stores around early July.

At this price we can see the Water 3.0 Pro is priced similarly to the Seidon 240M and Antec Kuhler 920 and slightly more than the H80i. Unfortunately we do not have a H80i to compare this product to, which is sad as the H80i is clearly its main competitor in the market place along with the Antec Kuhler 920. Though the Water 3.0 pro uses a thicker 49mm radiator compared to the 38mm radiator on the Corsair H80i, this should give it a slight performance advantage. It also features a totally redesigned pump unit which should give it both a noise and performance advantage over the older Antec Kuhler 920 which uses a previous generation Asetek design.

Examining the Thermaltake Water 3.0 Pro’s performance we can see it certainly performs slightly above where it should and in most scenarios matches similarly priced 240mm AIOs. This performance didn’t really come at a huge noise premium either, the Water 3.0 Pro was broadly inaudible but there are definitely quieter units out there. If Thermaltake offered lower (starting) RPM fans you’d definitely be able to get more peaceful acoustics at idle. For example 800-2000 RPM fans would allow quieter idle noise but still have the same maximum speed to allow for the same performance at load – I am disappointed Thermaltake didn’t take this advice onboard from previous reviews I had written and read by others which stated that the fans could have been quieter.

The rest of the design is what we would expect of an Asetek unit. The tubing is flexible rubber which is good, the mounting kit is simple and effective which is also good. The radiator is is made from aluminium not copper, but for the price point this is to be expected.  Spending an extra 15% over the MSRP of a Water 3.0 Pro gets you a fully copper Swiftech H220 – something worth considering for people with more space in their case.

That said the Water 3.0 Pro has a significant advantage in that it supports the vast majority of cases. Unlike 240mm AIOs that often have case compatibility issues with a lot of midtowers, the Water 3.0 Pro will fit in almost any case that has a rear 120mm exhaust fan slot. Consequently, the Water 3.0 Pro is a strong contender if your case doesn’t support 240mm AIOs.

Pros

• Will fit in the majority of cases with 120mm rear exhausts
• Offers excellent performance for the small form factor
• Fans offer excellent level of cooling performance
• Simple and easy mount
• 4 pin PWM splitter if you have only one CPU PWM header
• Flexible tubing
• Fully braided pump cable
• 50mm Thick-rad

Cons

• Fans are too loud at 1000RPM, should start at lower speed like 600/800RPM
• Quite pricey considering for the same money can get you a Cooler Master Seidon 240M or 15% less gets you a Corsair H80i, Thermaltake could consider a slight price reduction
• Fans aren’t sleeved all the way to the motor
• 2 year warranty doesn’t match the competition

Subjective Issues

• Lack of LEDs (some people may want this, others may be glad it is not included)
• No fan control ports on the pump (you may want these but having them missing also saves on cable clutter)
• No fan control software

My Verdict: The Thermaltake Water 3.0 Pro is a well designed high performance 120mm AIO unit. If your case doesn’t support a 240mm AIO then i’d highly recommend considering this instead as you lose very little (if any) performance over a bigger 240mm AIO. The design shown here is tried and trusted and you cannot go wrong with it. The Thermaltake Water 3.0 Pro has an ability to cram an extreme amount of performance into a very small form factor. Yes most enthusiasts won’t be overwhelmed with joy to hear that it is an Asetek rebrand and it certainly doesn’t match up to a custom water cooling kit. However, it makes up for this in price and the ease of use. It will offer you an extreme level of performance without having to upgrade to a larger case. If your case doesn’t support 240mm radiators or tall CPU heatsinks then I would advise you to strongly consider the Thermaltake Water 3.0 Pro as one of the leading double thickness AIOs on the market.

Thank you to Thermaltake for providing this review sample.