Well, I'm back yet again. A scant few weeks ago, I took a look at Thermaltake's fairly good ProWater 850i kit, making just one observation - performance could probably see a great improvement if another, larger radiator had been added. While this concept had in fact been done before on their BigWater 745i, it was stunted  by mediocre radiators, a weaker pump, and an older waterblock. Considering that two of these three factors were corrected in the 850, logic would dictate that throwing the third improvement in would make this kit really shine. Though it's a shame that I don't have the older kits on hand to give a performance review against, I feel that this pair of reviews should give users a good idea of the performance they stand to gain, provided they have the desire, and the space to plumb a second radiator, as well as a videocard waterblock into the loop. That being said, let's crack open the box and see just what a $70 upgrade entails.

TMG2 Radiator Packaging, Features & Specifications:

If there's one thing that carries between all of my reviews, it's that even the most mediocre of products can garner several sales with flashy packaging. In this case, flash isn't called on so much as is subtle style, and that's just what's to be found. Product pictures, and an example of the installation grace the moderately sized box, and considering there really isn't all that much to say regarding a radiator, It's no surprise that such simple, minimalist design can be maintained. Before yanking the contents clean, let's take a look at it's features and specs.

TMG2 Radiator, Accessories, and Installations:

To the packaging itself, the fragile radiator is surrounded by a core of nice, soft foam, which, when fully exposed by the removal of the radiator, reveals a brief manual and set of accessories below. Technically speaking, this is intended solely as an external radiator, for which the anodized aluminum feet are intended to keep it propped up, wherever the user should decide to install it. Also included in the packaging are a pair of compression fittings, which come sadly without a warning. You see, compression fittings rather like to unscrew from the radiator when there's a nice, sticky tube in them, so make sure to grab the base, and the nut when turning. Also found in the accessories box is a set of screws for affixing a second set of fans to this radiator; the all of which is considerably more than you get from a traditional PC radiator, which comes with neither fittings nor fans. In this respect, the unit is an excellent value.

As to the design of the radiator itself, the weak channels and fins on the non-fan side are protected by a set of fan grilles, set almost in contrast of style to the soldered on threaded posts where the barbs - and their o-rings will thread in. These barbs are much simpler and more stylish to work with than the standard barbs and their clamps. as all the user really has to do is hook the nut over a piece of tubing, attach that piece, then tighten a nut - and the best part is that it maintains just as good of a leak free seal.

As to the actual matter of installation, it's normally as simple a removing four screws to bolt on the feet, then running the tubing through an included backplane... but I'm not the sort of person for the routine, the simple, the mundane. With a little bit of work, and a little careful cutting of the mesh on the roof of my CoolerMaster RC690, I managed to secure the radiator across the top two vents, leaving the fans mounted externally as an intake, before installing the rear fan, and plumbing up the rest of the kit.

Overall, it looks pretty stylish I would say. With the radiator in place, let's take a look at that waterblock.