Thermaltake Tide Water Design & Installation

Thermaltake manufacturers almost every accessory imaginable for computers. They make cases, enclosures, case fans, CPU and video card coolers, chipset cooling, power supplies, water cooling for the CPU and now all-in-one video card water cooling, a first for the industry. Thermaltake managed to fit a pump, reservoir, radiator, and fan in a dual slot plastic box. There is a “Plus” model containing an additional water block to cover an SLI or CrossFire solution. Although small size does limit performance of the radiator and fan, we’ll have to see how this new idea fares against the standard air coolers.

The Thermaltake cooler features and all-copper radiator and an all-copper (nickel plated) water block. The fan has an intake on both sides, and exhausts air out of the case. The fan looks similar to the one used by ATI, however it’s smaller in diameter and the fins are shaped differently. There is a small reservoir with green coolant and a small pump right above that. Black tubing runs throughout the assembly and is surrounded by metal coils to prevent kinking.



The radiator has many fins placed close together to fit as many as possible in a small space. The copper water block is not as finely finished as the Accelero coolers’ bases or the perfectly reflective base of the Zalman VF900. The block came with stains on the outside. Although that won’t hurt performance since the core won’t make contact with the outside, it isn’t a good sign either way.

If there is low coolant, which can be measured through the window in the side of the assembly, it is easily replaced by unscrewing the cap to the fill port and pouring in new coolant. At the top of the cooler there is a switch that regulates the fan speed. Low speed is 1700RPM and high speed is 3000RPM. Faster fan speeds usually helps lower temperature levels but also raises noise levels. So Thermaltake gives users a choice for less noise and less cooling, or better cooling and more noise.


The fan and pump run from a Molex connector that is sleeved.

Tide Water Installation

Follow the steps outlined previously to remove the stock X1900XTX or 7900GTX cooler shown in the Accelero X1/X2 installations. We’ll be installing this cooler on an X1900XTX because it consumers more power and generates more heat than the 7900GTX. However, installation is the same for any card.

The Tide Water comes with two pairs of mounting bolts, with accompanying nuts. One pair is for NVIDIA cards and the other for ATI cards. Since NVIDIA cards have mounting holes with a smaller diameter, their mounting bolts have a thinner beam. There are also screws that hold down the water block to the mounting bolts and of course, washers. For cards with four mounting holes near the core, pick two that are diagonally opposite of each other. Stick a mounting bolt through a washer and PCB and then secure it from the opposite side with a matching nut. Do the same for the other mounting hole.

Next, you must move the extensions off of the water block to reach the mounting holes. Slightly loosen the screws holding the extensions to the water block and move them over the mounting bolt. Then take a screw and tightly fasten the extensions on both sides, so the block cannot move. The finished results are above and below.

What you may notice is that there is no cooling for the RAM, unlike all previous coolers. Thought RAMsinks are included with the “Plus” model of the Tide Water, they are not included with this model. Including them and raising the price another $5 would have been much smarter than forcing the end user to purchase their own.