Conclusion
It really comes as no surprise to this reviewer that the Water 3.0 Pro is an excellent performing cooling solution. It has all the right cards from the get go, ultra thick 49mm radiator, nice thick tubing, and a pump and cold plate that we know to be good from past experience. Add in an innovative fan blade design with a 2000rpm top end and it was sure to be a top shelf performer. What did surprise, was just how well it was able to do. No other 120mm AIO that we have tested has been able to achieve the overclock that the Water 3.0 Pro held in check. In fact, very few 240mm AIO radiators could hit that level of performance. Add in an extremely straight forward installation process, and compatibility with all socket types and the Water 3.0 Pro is nearing legendary status.
On the other side of the coin however there is one glaring defect: fan noise. Now I am sure there will be those that will say: so what, it performs so well who cares how loud it is? Or I wear headphones so it doesn’t matter. And I generally would agree with you, but not it this case. I have heard some atrociously loud fans in my time, but none are on the same level as those included with the Water 3.0 Pro. It’s not that they are just deafening so much as the obnoxious pitch that they are almost constantly emitting. A new set of high performance fans with a much lower dB count would definitely be in order for prolonged use.
At $84.99 USD from our favorite online retailer (before a $10 USD rebate) the Water 3.0 Pro is at exactly the price we would expect.
Thinkcomputers.org would like to award the Water 3.0 Pro a 9 out of 10 score! If not for those fans, this AIO would have been a solid 10.
Pros:
– Ease of use/installation
– Excellent performance
– Price
Cons:
– Overbearingly loud fans