Thermaltake Water 3.0 Ultimate CPU Cooler Review

System cooling is very important in high end systems. Gamers and enthusiasts are always looking for another way to push their system to its limit, whether it be by operating system tweaks or overclocking their CPU for every last bit of performance. With CPUs hitting overclocks in the 4.5GHz to 5GHz range, CPU cooling is very important. High performance air coolers are great for users who want to achieve such speeds, but they are bulky and can stress the motherboard and block off RAM slots for high end RAM. When these coolers are not an option, gamers and enthusiasts choose to go to water cooling.

Water cooling a PC used to be a daunting task. You would have to choose the right components and hopefully the proper sized tubing. The pump, reservoir, water block, and radiator were all separate and you had to figure out how to connect one part to another. However, in more recent times, companies have started selling AIO (all-in-one) coolers for CPU cooling. They are great for those who are too intimidated by the task, or those who simply want an easy way to get in on the action. But, most coolers available have single fan or dual fan radiators. The market is almost void of any 360mm all in-one-coolers, it is because of this, that the Thermaltake Water 3.0 Ultimate CPU Cooler has found a nice niche. In today’s review we will take a closer look into whether or not this CPU cooler is worth taking a look at.

PACKAGING, COMPONENTS, AND SPECIFICATIONS

The box has a “cool” blue and black color scheme. On the front is a picture of the cooler and the name in a water type font. It lists the cooler’s size and universal socket compatibility, basically the essentials for any buyer to know.

The back of the box depicts the dramatic advantage of this cooler over the stock Intel cooler when used on an overclocked CPU. It also lists features and specifics on compatibility. Even more specifications are on the bottom.

Inside the packaging we can see the cooler and components are housed in an egg carton type casing. It comes with the cooler, 3 fans, mounting hardware and instructions.

Intel socket support includes LGA 2011/LGA 1366 Core i7 and LGA 1150/1155/1156 Core i7/Core i5/Corei3. And for AMD, most sockets are supported: FM2 / FM1, A-series, AM3+ / AM3, Phenom II/Athlon II/Athlon/Sempron series, AM2+ / AM2, and Phenom II/Phenom/Athlon/Sempron series.

The aluminum radiator measures 393m x 120mm x 27mm and can support up to six 120mm fans, one set of 3 on each side.

The fans are their TT-1225 fans, rated at 20 dBA and a max airflow of 99 CFM. The connectors on each fan are 4 pin. The kit also comes with a 3-way fan adapter to connect the fans to a PWM header.

The total weight of the cooler is 2.9lbs. The CPU block comes with thermal paste pre-applied for even quicker installation.

Finally, it is out on the market now and MSRP for the Water 3.0 Ultimate is just $139.99, which very good price considering all you get. A similar custom water loop usually would cost a good bit more. And it boasts a 3 year warranty.