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Water2.0 Pro
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The Water2.0 Pro is almost the exact same setup as the Water2.0 Performer with the exception of a radiator that has more cooling surface. It’s still a 120 millimeter radiator on both products but the Performer has a 25mm thick radiator and the Pro has a 49mm thick radiator allowing for more internal cooling space. The Performer sports 1835 cm2, whereas the Pro sports 3730 cm2 total cooling area. Now you would think that about double the cooling area would double the cooling. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work like that. The almost double cooling space will get you a minimal reduction of load temperatures and if there’s any heat build up (there shouldn’t be) it’ll stave that off longer.
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Side by side the packaging is identical on both the Performer and the Pro. A few of the specifications are different and the thermal levels indicated on the side of the package claims the Water2.0 Pro cools slightly better than the Performer on the Intel 975 at 4 GHz full load. We aren’t so much concerned with the extra cooling from the Pro over the performer right now as we are the performance over the Intel stock cooler which Thermaltake claims to be around 15-17° Centigrade.
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Smart design on the packaging allows the wider Pro Radiator to fit in the same package with a minor alteration to the pocket it sets in.
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Like its little brother the Water2.0 Pro is a sealed unit. All that needs be done is attach the fans and tinker with the CPU socket adapters and in a short time you’ll be up and running.
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It’s probably a money saving thing but Thermaltake is pushing the PWM Fan connectors and pushing it as a feature for adjustable fan control. We don’t really consider having to go into BIOS and adjusting a 4 pin PWM fan as a feature of the water cooling kits. That’s a feature found on your motherboard allowing you to control the fans. To us a controllable fan feature is amethod of mechanically controlling the fan(s) speed.
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We let it pass on the Water2.o Performer without mentioning it but why harp on the same thing in two spots. Being somewhat a perfectionist when it comes to water cooling we can appreciate the thermal material thoughtfully provided pre-installed on the block. It’ll come in handy if you don’t have any performance-quality thermal paste handy.
The surface of any excellent water block should be like a mirror. There really shouldn’t be any crenellations or uneven surface. Both the Performer and Pro have Mill marks. In spots the thermal interface material will be thicker than others even if it’s only minute variations in the surface. Any variation in the thickness of the thermal material will decrease the overall effectiveness of your cooling solution.
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Notice how thick the Water2.0 Pro’s radiator is the 49mm (or 24mm thicker than the Performer) really makes a visual difference. Is it going to make a thermal difference we’ll find out a little later.
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We’ll have to wait and see about the installation but that entire unit with two fans is going to hang from the back of the chassis and with that thickness likly obscure as much of the motherboard as any titanic tower air cooler.
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Fully assembled and ready to go the Water2.0 Pro isn’t a bad looking water cooler but it’s not a beautiful cooling solution. A little more eye appeal would have gone a long way. There’s a need for low evaporation hoses here but how about lighted Fans, clear low evaporation hoses with some LED lighting effects. We are sure the coolers will do the job but lets face it nice looking attention catching parts sell and add to the look of the interior of your computer.
