Thermaltake Water 3.0 360 ARGB Sync Review

1. Introduction2. Unboxing and First Look3. The Installation Process4. Testing Methodology5. Performance and Comparisons6. Closing Thoughts7. View All Pages

For a 360mm AIO liquid cooler, the Thermaltake Water 3.0 360 ARGB Sync is a very capable unit.

On the surface, it looks like a reasonably conventional 360mm AIO, with it's Asetek pump and standard installation method. Diving deeper, however, reveals Thermaltake has done a lovely job with its ARGB lighting. Not only are there easily enough preset effects and and colours to keep you happy when using the included controller, you also get support for ASUS, MSI, Gigabyte and ASRock motherboards that have an ARGB header for even greater control.

Performance is pretty much as expected for a 360mm AIO, given it improves over a 240mm or even 280mm AIO cooler. This AIO sat within the top three positions of each of our different clock speed tests, with performance similar to that of the ASUS Ryujin. If you want to overclock your CPU to the max, though, we did see the Ryujin perform slightly better with our i7-7700K overclocked to 5GHz, but the Water 3.0 360 is not far behind at all.

As an overall package, the Thermaltake Water 3.0 360 ARGB Sync is a very good AIO. It is slightly more expensive than some competing 360mm coolers – but then balanced against that, you get the wonderful ARGB illumination from the CPU block and three included fans, so anyone looking for a high-performance yet blinged-out liquid cooler would be well served by the Water 3.0 360.

The Thermaltake Water 3.0 360 ARGB Sync is currently available from Overclockers UK for £158.99 inc. VAT HERE

Pros

• Three high-quality Thermaltake ARGB fans included.
• The black rubber coating on CPU pump and fan cables help with a more premium feel.
• Installation very easy as it follows Asetek mounting.
• Great options for controlling the ARGB LEDs with a controller included, as well as adapters for supported motherboards.

Cons

• A little dearer than some similarly sized AIO coolers.
• Outperformed by the ASUS ROG Ryujin at 5GHz.

KitGuru says: In terms of value for money, the £158.99 price point may seem a little steep considering there are some cheaper 360mm AIO coolers available. When you consider the impressive ARGB lighting capabilities of this cooler, however, it makes for an appealing proposition for anyone looking for a high-performance AIO that also has excellent LED lighting.

Become a Patron!