In a comprehensive study, the thermal conductivity, dynamic viscosity, and the rheological behavior of a SiO2/water nanofluid are investigated experimentally at the temperatures, solid concentrations, and the shear rates of 25 degrees C to 50 degrees C, 0% to 1.5%, and 400 to 1400(s(-1)), respectively. The Response Surface Methodology (RSM) is utilized to obtain regression models for the thermal conductivity and the dynamic viscosity. Subsequently, the sensitivity of the aforementioned models to 10% changes in the temperature, and the nanofluid concentration is analyzed. Afterward, Nondominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm II (NSGA-II) is utilized to find the maximum thermal conductivity and the minimum viscosity. The nondominated optimal points are presented through a fitted correlation on a Pareto front to make the results more practical. The measurements of the investigated nanofluid could be summarized as a paper of a handbook. The workability of the investigated nanofluid is also examined in both laminar and turbulent flow regimes through analysis of the heat transfer merit graphs. To this end, the ratio of the dynamic viscosity enhancement to the thermal conductivity enhancement and the Mouromtseff number are chosen as two criteria of the laminar and turbulent flow regimes, respectively. Finally, the results are compared with those for SiO2/glycerin and SiO2/ethylene glycol nanofluids to check the workability in different base fluids. From a thermal-efficiency point of view, the SiO2/water nanofluid is not suggested for use in both laminar and turbulent pipe flows, except in temperatures higher than 30 degrees C and volume concentrations lower than 1% for the case of laminar flow. This is because the favorable heat transfer enhancement of the nanofluid is more than the unfavorable increase of the pumping power. From the rheological point of view, though, a SiO2/water nanofluid would be a good choice in lubricating moving surfaces for both laminar and turbulent flow regimes. It is found that in higher nanofluid concentrations, the thermal conductivity of a SiO2/water nanofluid is highly influenced by temperature. Moreover, adding nanoparticles at temperatures of 35 degrees C to 40 degrees C would have the highest increasing effect on the thermal conductivity. It is also revealed that increasing the temperature does not significantly affect the viscosity when 1% SiO2 nanoparticles are suspended within the water.