INTRODUCTION

   With the introduction of the first 120mm AIO (All In One) Liquid CPU Coolers a few years back regular users/consumers could now enter the water cooling world without the extra cost and work required when purchasing a custom kit. Of course it may have all started with the two most well-known AIO manufacturers in the world (namely Asetek and CoolIT) which in turn rebranded their solutions for a number of companies like Antec, Thermaltake and Corsair but now even more have joined up making the battle much fiercer than what it used to be. Competition is always a good thing however and so aside lower prices this has also brought forth the introduction of 240mm and 360mm AIO liquid CPU coolers which in some cases even offer performance comparable to custom water cooling kits. Thermaltake just released the Water 3.0 Ultimate a massive 360mm AIO liquid CPU Cooler but until that makes it here we decided to check their Water 3.0 Extreme 240mm AIO liquid CPU cooling solution.

   The beginning of every myth and legend is about dreams and desire: the challenging, creative and combative features of Thermaltake Group create an exciting and fascinating user experience to share with everyone, while allowing users to enter a selfless state in terms of function and potential. Thermaltake Group's 3 main brands: Thermaltake, Tt eSPORTS and LUXA2 have been merchandising throughout the world, and have successfully established 6 business footholds in areas such as Europe, America, Oceania, Japan and China, with 95 regional distributors and over 4000 premium retailers. All product planning is orientated by observation of global PC peripheral market and understanding of consumer demands. Thermaltake creates direct contact opportunities with resellers and consumers by participating major global ICT exhibitions and trade shows every year, and develop innovative marketing strategies for the promotions of new products. Meanwhile, Thermaltake incorporates the composite marketing system by making branch offices and regional distributors both the distribution channel and technical support or service center to provide instant support; by maintaining close contact with end users, we manage to strengthen corporate competitiveness and create the momentum for the growth of accomplishments. With its outstanding wisdom and strength Thermaltake Group is recruiting creative talents to build a cultural brand for the enjoyment of entertainment, e-Sports, technology and lifestyle!

   Just like every other AIO liquid CPU cooling solution in the market today the Water 3.0 Extreme by Thermaltake consists by a dual 240mm radiator (270mm total length), two rubber tubes, mini high-speed water pump and an all-copper waterblock. The set is completed with two 120mm high-speed PWM fans which can be mounted either facing outwards (ideal top installation) or inwards (front and side installations). This specific AIO liquid CPU cooling solution is manufactured by Asetek and as such Thermaltake also allows the end user to control the speed of its pump and fans via Windows with the help of a small control application. Well obviously this is not our first encounter with such a AIO liquid CPU cooling solution but it's been quite some time since we reviewed the Water 2.0 Extreme so naturally we want to see what the 3.0 version brings to the table.

SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES

PACKAGING AND CONTENTS

Thermaltake packs the Water 3.0 Extreme inside a similar box like their other two models so once again we see a large product image at the front, the LGA2011 compatible icon and their logo.

The specifications table along with a performance table comparing the Water 3.0 Extreme to the stock Intel HSF is placed on the right side.

3 of the main product features are listed on the left side in 11 languages.

The features and specifications of the Water 3.0 Extreme are listed at the rear and explained in-depth with the help of 6 pictures.

As usual the entire bundle is placed inside a cardboard tray which provides sufficient protection during shipping.

Included in the box along with the Water 3.0 Extreme and its two 120mm PWM fans is the installation instructions, software CD and all the necessary mounting screws, backplates and brackets for installation on Intel LGA1150/1155/1156/1366/2011 and AMD AM2/AM2+/AM3/AM3+/FM1/FM2 compatible mainboards.

THE WATER 3.0 EXTREME

Typically the radiator of the Water 3.0 Extreme is connected to the pump/waterblock via two rubber tubes.

Although the aluminum radiator of the Water 3.0 Extreme is 270mm in length and 120mm just like the one used in the Water 2.0 Extreme in width it is 11.3mm thinner (27mm vs 38.3mm).

Some of the fins in our sample were not in the best shape but i doubt that will affect performance.

The flexible tubes are 326mm in length so that should simplify installation.

The build-in pump is placed right over the waterblock and can reach speeds up to 3050RPM.

Just like with most AIO solutions you will need to plug the 3 pin pump cable into your CPU fan mainboard connector to provide it with power, the fans to the fan connectors leaving the pump (again so they can have power) and the USB cable to your mainboard USB connector (for the fan control software to work).

Both tubes can rotate 90 degrees to further simplify installation.

The all-copper base comes ready with a thin layer of thermal conductive material.

Thermaltake bundles two of their TT-1225 120mm PWM fans which can spin up to 2000RPM to produce 99CFM of airflow with just 20dBA of noise.

With the fans installed the Water 3.0 Extreme gets 52mm thick which is a very large difference compared to the 63.5mm thickness of the Water 2.0 Extreme.

THE CONTROL SOFTWARE

If you happen to like cars you will like the control software bundled with the Water 3.0 Extreme since it uses two speedometer-like gauges to indicate the current speed of the fans and the pump. Of course you can choose between three modes, extreme which sets full speed, silent which sets the fan speed to hardly 50% and custom which is where you come in. The program also offers two temperatures/fan RPM logs and temperature/fan speed alarms just in case you want to get deeper into things.

TEST BED

TESTING METHODOLOGY

   We always take things quite seriously when it comes to work so just like with the previous LGA1366 database we will not be testing each CPU Cooler on its own and with different ambient temperature levels and thus we can actually have yet another valid CPU Cooler database. Testing a CPU Cooler automatically means that you need to know where it stands against the immediate competition and to accomplish that we have spent both money and time through the years, something that we plan to continue to do so in order to get the most accurate results for the end consumers who read these lines. Every CPU cooler in this database is tested with the bundled 140mm/120mm/92mm/80mm fans while working at both idle speed and 100% of their speeds for all the temperature tests. CPU Coolers that do not come bundled with a fan/s are measured using a Noctua fan (size dependent on the model) to test for the temperature tests but due to the lack of a stock fan dBA level tests are obviously skipped. Single (120/140mm) watercooling solutions are tested with the radiator mounted at the rear of our test rig while dual/triple/quad (240/260/280/360/420/480/560mm) solutions with the radiator mounted at the top. For the dBA tests every cooler in the database was measured both while on idle mode or with the fan controller in the minimum setting and while on extreme load or with the fan controller all the way to the highest possible setting (PWM fans do that on their own without our intervention). Every single test takes place in a temperature controlled room of 23 degrees Celsius Ambient Temp with the help of two AC units placed diagonally inside the room. The Arctic Silver 5 thermal paste is used with every CPU Cooler in our latest LGA2011 database (although initially this was not the plan we had to change things to get the most accurate results). Finally it's very important to point out that just because a CPU Cooler is better than another when tested with our test rig that does not necessarily mean that the same performance differences will apply 100% for other CPU models and in other situations (such as different ambient temps and system configurations).

     To successfully record the load temperatures we use the latest OCCT application for around 6-10 minutes to push the processor to its limits and after that is done and the temperatures are recorded we wait for about 10-20 minutes for the CPU to cool down and record the idle temperatures. This is done to allow time for the thermal conductive material to achieve the optimal performance level. Same procedure is then repeated with the Passmark BurnIn Test as a failsafe just in case the OCCT results are wrong. This procedure takes a lot more time than the usual peltier/thermometer tests but this way not only can we deliver real world results to our readers based on real CPUs but we can also triple check the results using a variety of programs. Last but not least the temperatures were recorded using both the latest versions of AIDA64 and RealTemp while the noise level tests are performed using a high precision ExTech HD600 Decibel Meter placed about 10-15cm above the CPU Cooler. Still although the same testing procedure applies to all units do take into consideration that unlike the official numbers which are measured in special noise isolated labs with just the fans here we also have both the rest of the cooler and the rest of the system (although all system fans are turned off when recording noise levels).

TEST RESULTS

CONCLUSION

   When we saw that the 240mm radiator used in the Water 3.0 Extreme was not as thick as the one used with its predecessor the Water 2.0 Extreme model we were quite curious as to what Thermaltake had done in order to make up for that. The obvious course of action would be to increase the density of the fins and use both a better pump and better 120mm fans which they did and so the end result is actually slightly better than expected. Of course half a degree Celsius is not what I’d call a breakthrough especially since the fans and pump product slightly more noise than the ones used in the Water 2.0 Extreme (strange since Thermaltake claims that these fans are less noisy) but whatever performance increase we can get for the same amount of money is always good. The thinner radiator of the Water 3.0 Extreme takes less space and that should appeal to people with midi towers who just don't have much space to spare. The Antec Kuhler H2O 1250 did outperform the Water 3.0 Extreme again by half a degree but it has two significant drawbacks, it's fixed fans and noise levels so no matter how you see it the Water 3.0 Extreme is a slightly better choice overall.

   Price is also another plus for the Water 3.0 Extreme Liquid CPU Cooler by Thermaltake since it currently costs just USD99 inside the USA (Amazon.com) and 118.28Euros inside the EU (Amazon.de). Of course if you don't mind the mentioned drawbacks of the slightly better Kuhler H2O 1250 by Antec you can find it for even less but in the end that comes down to personal preference. The only really bad thing about the Water 3.0 Extreme is that it made us want to check out the latest Water 3.0 Ultimate even more but that's really not enough for us to keep our Golden Award away from it.

PROS

- Overall Build Quality
- Excellent Performance
- Thin Radiator (27mm)
- Fan Control Software
- Quad Fan Solution (Dual Ready)
- Easy Installation
- Price (For Some)

CONS

- Noise Levels (Extreme Mode - For Some)