Thermaltake has just released two new all in one watercoolers, the WATER2.0 Performer and WATER2.0 Pro, available right now on NewEgg. The $70 Performer and $100 Pro are very similar, with the Pro offering dual fans and what Thermaltake describes as a Thicker Watercooler, which will offer better cooling thanks to the pair of fans. Check out the full press release below.
City of Industry, California – May 8, 2012 – Thermaltake brought water cooling technology to the mainstream in 2002 with the introduction of Aquarius and BigWater Series of liquid cooling solutions for computer enthusiasts and DIYers. The solutions were developed by garnering enthusiast communities’ experience and feedback, coupled with Thermaltake’s core expertise in thermal management. The goal was to enable PC enthusiasts to achieve higher PC performance by providing additional cooling needed in order for the CPU to run at higher frequency. Today, Thermaltake is introducing its WATER2.0 line of liquid coolers and announcing immediate availability of the all-new WATER2.0 Performer and WATER2.0 Pro all-in-one closed-loop CPU liquid coolers.
The “2.0” in the name denotes the progression and improvements that Thermaltake has made in the performance liquid cooling segment as well as the new approach which WATER2.0 solutions are taking. While traditional D.I.Y. (do-it-yourself) liquid cooling kits offer expandability, the same benefit often complicates installation and filling these coolers introduces a risk of mixing water and electronics. WATER2.0 specifically addresses these concerns by having a closed-loop design, meaning all the fluid that are required for maximum performance are pre-filled and sealed inside so the users do not need to handle any type of liquid during installation or operation.
“WATER2.0 is not a direct replacement of air cooling solutions. The all-new WATER2.0 is an improved performance-driven solution that offers added benefits of simple installation, no-maintenance and extreme reliability to the traditional liquid cooling kit. After a long period of research and development, we came to a point where WATER2.0 has reached the performance standard that Thermaltake has set forth while ensuring a fluid user experience from installation to actual operation. Now is time perfect time to discover an all-new performance-driven alternative CPU cooling solution” commented Ramsom Koay, Director of Marketing for Thermaltake.
Water2.0 Pro
WATER2.0 Series closed-loop CPU liquid coolers are available in three different performance categories that cater to different performance requirements or applications. The WATER2.0 Performer features dual 120mm PWM fans with a high-performance 120mm x 25mm radiator that can be mounted to any chassis with an available 120mm case fan mount. The liquid circulation is handled by a high-efficiency, low-profile pump that sits on top of the all-copper cold plate. The low-profile pump is ideal for high-performance systems where high-end air cooler may interfere with enthusiasts-grade memories that often come equipped with taller heat spreaders. A dual-PWM adapter is also included allowing both included PWM fans to be connected to a single PWM fan header on the motherboard to ensure synchronous fan speed operation.
For more performance, the WATER2.0 Pro utilizes a much thicker radiator, 49mm compared to 25mm found on the Performer model, to dramatically increase the heat-dissipating surface area by almost doubling the doubling the volume of the radiator. The WATER2.0 Pro also includes the same low-profile pump along with dual 120mm PWM fans including the dual-PWM adapter.
Water2.0 Performer
While all of the WATER2.0 CPU liquid coolers provide performance and low-noise operation, WATER2.0 Extreme delivers the ultimate performance by incorporating a double-long (240mm x 25mm) radiator that further increases the available heat-dissipating surface area for maximum cooling power. WATER2.0 Extreme ships standard with dual 120mm PWM fans and it is capable of supporting up to four PWM fans in push-pull configuration. Targeting enthusiasts and overclocking consumers, the WATER2.0 Extreme also comes with Smart Control Software that allows the user to monitor status of various hardware elements within the cooling unit, in addition to creating cooling profiles that best matches the user’s working and gaming environment.
“WATER2.0 Series of closed-loop CPU liquid coolers are not just new products that Thermaltake is introducing,” stated Weller Chen, Director of Product Management at Thermaltake, “WATER2.0 represent a shift in design philosophy from Thermaltake that aligns user experience in the same breath with performance, as consumers can see from the maintenance-free operation as well as simplified installation.” The WATER2.0 Performer and Pro are now available at major retailers in the United States and Canada. MSRP for WATER2.0 Performer is USD $69.99, and USD$99.99 for WATER2.0 Pro. The WATER2.0 Extreme will be available in July at major retailers with MSRP at USD $129.99. For more information, please visit the manufacturer’s product page: http://thermaltakeusa.com/Products.aspx?C=1444.
An Asetek by any other
An Asetek by any other name…
more people get into it…
more people get into it… prices come down!
I can understand the appeal
I can understand the appeal of these things, but there’s really no benefit (certainly not for the price) over air-cooling. The radiators on these things are too small and the amount of coolant involved int he loop too little. They’ll work, but they almost never cool better than the alternative air-based option.
No – however, water-cooling
No – however, water-cooling (not even closed-loop) won’t be price-competitive heads-up over air-cooling.
That has never been the reason for water cooling compared to air-cooling.
However, one big benefit that water-cooling (especially closed-loop water-cooling) does have over air-cooling is lack of bulk at the plate/CPU-mounting end. Even the stock HSF used by Intel/AMD with LGA-type CPUs is not exactly the lightest it can be (even though it is designed for stock frequencies); high-performance third-party air-coolers are far bulkier. In fact, compare the CoolerMaster Hyper212+ (still a favorite among the DIY crowd) and Corsair A50 not merely to each other, but to budget closed-loop water-cooling (Antec’s KUHLER620 and Corsair’s own H40). The water-coolers (all of them) take up less space at the mount-point (the cold plate) by moving the equivalent of the radiating service (what dissipates the heat away from the hot surface(s)) from atop the motherboard to a far more convenient place – in the case of most non-enthusiast water-cooling, the radiator setup, fans and all, mounts in the same place that a 120mm fan would. No bulky air-cooling tower taking up space (or worse, blocking access to other parts of the motherboard); in fact, the cold plate for budget water-cooling systems (even in the case of the Thermaltake CL water-cooling setups)is dwarfed by the Intel-or-AMD-standard HSF – let alone tower-type air-coolers for CPUs. Better aesthetics, in other words.
And with the entry of more companies into water-cooling, the price has dropped compared not just to previous-generation water-cooling, but it’s come within striking distance of high-end air-cooling, which a well-designed budget water-cooling setup will beat – compare Corsair’s A50 and H60 coolers to each other in terms of performance.
Air-cooling still costs less than water-cooling; however, the price difference is not as great as it used to be.
So, are you saying we should
So, are you saying we should buy these water-cooling products @ twice the cost, and comparative cooling because….
they clear the “much needed” area around the CPU?
Really?
If you add the % of these that develop a fault and leak, or the ones that have a noisy pump, then you have even less reason to buy one.
The one above is very wide and has a 120mm fan on both sides making it more bulky than most air coolers.
“WATER2.0 is not a direct
“WATER2.0 is not a direct replacement of air cooling solutions”, what the heck is that supposed to mean?
Since it is only cooling your
Since it is only cooling your CPU, not GPU, chipset etc … and possibly because of the proximity of the radiator … they are trying to suggest that you should keep a few case fans running to provide airflow. It is a common comment with these all in one watercoolers.