It’s one of those dilemmas where the answer depends on what kind of desktop PC you are assembling. Fans take up far more space than the thin tubes of water in your average liquid cooling kit. Home Tips Components Liquid Cooling vs Air Cooling: What’s the difference, and which is better? When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Apart from the fan, this is an entirely passive process that works regardless of cooler orientation as it does not rely on gravity. This advantage affords you the choice between lower temps or lower noise levels. Fortunately, there are an ample amount of quiet PC fans … Installing an air cooler is mostly set it and forget it, so long as the mounting hardware exists they can be reused in new builds for a decade or more. So, what is better, liquid cooling or air cooling? And yet, it is incredibly important; the way that your PC is cooled will impact its performance, longevity, and noise levels. In short, if noise is a concern, buy a quality cooler – liquid or air – and simply set your fan curve to operate within an acceptable noise level. Air coolers can cause clearance issues with DRAM with tall heatsinks or … Having a fan is usually best, though, as it will allow the heatsink to be directly cooled and help remove hot air from the chassis in question. Factors to consider when choosing air cooling vs. liquid cooling. The installation process is fairly straightforward for both. They are proving that a liquid cooling system is better than a traditional air cooling system, and it is worth an effort putted in researches for improving it. Closed loop (AIO) and custom loop setups greatly differ in terms of performance and required setup, maintenance, space, etc. CPU water coolers are a bit more complex than air coolers because they actively pump liquid, which is why liquid coolers consume more electricity. Quality modern AIOs can be expected to last around six years or more, but all AIO liquid coolers will eventually fail. The circuit boards were completely immersed in a non-conductive fluid called Fluorinert™ which was cleverly re-circulated throughout the entire system. A behind-the-scenes shot from Mikevrpv’s PC Build. As always, the answer is… it depends. It’s often said that liquid coolers are quieter than air coolers of a similar price, but generalizations like that are misleading. A liquid cooling setup will take up a lot less space than an air cooling one with a large heatsink, a case full of colorful liquid-filled tubes looks rather nicer too! The major opponent of all personal computers and smartphones is heat. Buy Now Liquid cooling only wins if you’re willing to do a custom loop. There are two main components in an air cooler, which include: Heat sink; Fan; The heat sink comes as a large thermo-conductive metal which is placed on top of the CPU … Organizations setting up new data centers or updating existing ones might be evaluating whether it's a good time to implement liquid cooling or to stick with tried-and-true air cooling. We’ll dive deeper into the performance differences later, but the same wisdom applies here. Liquid cooling takes up less space than fans. An unlucky combination of GPU bulkiness, design flaws, and poor PC case fitment is often the culprit. It’s often said that liquid coolers are quieter than air coolers … if you think you will be replacing your system in 5 years. However, air coolers do have some flaws and we’ve listed them below. At 100% fan speed, this is a performance chart-topper if you don’t mind all the noise. You can also overclock your CPU when using a premium air cooler. Water coolers pump a distilled water and propylene glycol mixture over a micro-copper fin array attached to a cold plate which is mounted to your CPU. It also requires the most long-term maintenance, and the largest chassis to get working. You’ll have to decide for yourself what best suits your needs and budget. Unless you’re using a custom loop setup, that is, which far exceed any air cooling setup in performance. Liquid coolers require room in your case to mount the radiator while air coolers take up more immediate space around your CPU, which could pose clearance issues with side panels and larger RAM kits. Your email address will not be published. Some radiators will be longer and take up more fan slots, but also provide better cooling performance in turn. Unfortunately, not everyone knows how to adequately cool their PC, or what the differences are between the various methods of cooling out there. Higher level of efficiency. This warmed liquid is then passed through the radiator where aluminum fins conduct heat away from the liquid. In terms of real-world performance, the difference between air coolers and AIO liquid coolers is minimal, though that difference increases the more power your processor burns. I'm finding that liquid cooling is surprisingly cheap these days, with many going for around 40 bucks and supposedly performing better than a lot of the 60+ air coolers. Your email address will not be published. We’ll lay out the advantages and use cases for water cooling vs. air cooling, then make some product suggestions for different budgets which will hopefully let you make a more informed purchasing decision. It is not always true, when it comes to peer cooling many of the best air coolers on the market, easily beats … This will initially reduce performance, increase pump noise, and eventually lead to failure. If we put aside the cooling of the whole rig and focus only on the CPU, the first question to ask yourself should be what CPU are you going to use? If you want the best possible cooling performance, and money/time aren’t an object, then, If you want great cooling performance and your rig is spacious enough for a thick heatsink, then, If you want good-to-great cooling performance without spending too much money, then, If you want good-to-great cooling performance while keeping noise levels low, then, If you just think liquid cooling looks cool, especially with RGB, then. You pay more for RGB. If you want that extra edge, though, then go liquid. If your total system budget is under $1,000, you don’t plan on overclocking, and your CPU comes bundled with a cooler, you probably don’t need an aftermarket CPU cooler. Closed-loop liquid cooling is achieved through the use of all-in-one (AIO) liquid coolers. It also requires the most long-term maintenance, and the largest chassis to get working. For example, if you have a Ryzen 3600 chip and the stock Wraith Spire cooler installed, you won’t see appreciable gains going to a bigger cooler. How a CPU Cooler Works. Learn More Particularly as technology becomes more advanced, certain situations require more power. (That’s what we meant earlier about why anyone would go to the trouble of a custom loop.). If budget is your primary concern, you should stick with the stock cooler that comes with your chip unless it draws enough power to require the additional cooling capabilities of an aftermarket heatsink or liquid cooler. in case of Liquid Cooling vs Air Cooling, Water Cooling is more efficient and usually it can be a bit quieter as well, as the cooling does not rely on only driving around cooler air with ventilators. As long as you’re willing to invest in high-quality fans, either method will work for keeping a quiet PC. Even if your AIO liquid cooler doesn’t suffer a catastrophic failure, it will eventually break down. Learn More The most most widespread type of cooling solution which many people are familiar with is air cooling. It’s true. 01/09/2021 09:18 am GMT . When he isn't writing, he works on fiction, YouTube videos, and competitive gaming. Inside the copper or aluminum heat pipes is a coolant of either ammonium, ethanol, or distilled water. We’ve also listed the pros that air cooling brings to the table. Your source for battlestation inspiration. The main difference in air vs water cooling is the presence of a heatsink. Owing to the impedance of the electrical circuits in chips, heat is produced as a form of energy loss. Unfortunately, not everyone knows how to adequately cool their PC, or what the differences are between the various methods of cooling out there. But in terms of raw cooling performance, especially between a store-bought liquid cooler vs air cooler, the air cooler will come out on top. Many setups will also employ. However, if your system has an overclocked Threadripper pulling over 300 watts, you’ll see a much greater benefit upgrading to a higher class of cooler, regardless if that’s air or liquid. Very helpful article, thank you. To more easily understand the difference, we’ll put it this way: Two (technically three) will enter! And, while high-end liquid cooling out performs high-end air cooling, the difference between the two cooler styles’ performance is really not as significant as you might think. 01/09/2021 07:16 pm GMT. Liquid Cooling Vs Air Cooling. Likely the best value cooler on our list, includes slim and full-sized fans for better clearance in all systems. At 100% fan speed, this is a performance chart-topper if you don’t mind all the noise. However, generally speaking, computer performance hasn’t changed drastically in the last decade or so. If your processor is running at factory clock speeds, liquid cooling would be unnecessary and even if you plan to do some light overclocking, you are still good with an air cooler. Your email address will not be published. Last but certainly not least is custom loop liquid cooling. We’ll cover that subject more in a future article. Unless you’re using a custom loop setup, that is, which far exceed any air cooling setup in performance. The purpose of a heatsink is to dissipate heat, with or without a fan attached. Find out where to buy the NVIDIA RTX 3080 online right now with our regularly updated page right here. If price is your concern in this battle, then water cooling vs air cooling isn’t even a competition. Great performance and aesthetics, fits in most cases. (That’s what we meant earlier about, anyone would go to the trouble of a custom loop.). Check out our gallery showcasing the best gaming setups and PC Builds on the internet for more examples. Affiliate Disclosure: When you purchase products through our links, we may receive a commission at no additional cost to you. If you need an entry-level cooler, this lesser-known cooler is often on sale and offers great performance per dollar. Here’s a demo video courtesy of Gamers Nexus: This process causes the gas to condense back into a liquid, then through capillary action (like how oil moves up a wick in a lamp) this liquid returns back to the bottom of the heatpipe. Air-Based Cooling vs. Liquid-Based Cooling – Newly Updated Submitted by Dhruv Varma, Director of Business Development - APAC. Should you choose Liquid or Air coolers for your desktop CPU? When heated, this liquid becomes a gas and travels up the heat pipe where the heat load is spread across the aluminum fins and dissipated by a fan. We've curated a list of the best tech gifts big and small that the computer nerd in your life is sure to... Is your expensive graphics card succumbing to the forces of gravity? The issue is, noise isn’t generated by a radiator or heatsink: it’s generated by a fan, which both of these need to function at peak performance. 1. Liquid Cooling vs. Air Cooling: Which One is Better? We’re going to talk about liquid cooling vs air cooling: how they work, the pros and cons of each, and which might be right for your setup. Also, liquid cooling is much quieter than air cooling, since you don’t have to stuff your case with fans. NZXT Kraken X63 280mm - AIO CPU Liquid Cooler, ARCTIC Liquid Freezer II - AIO CPU Liquid Cooler, ARCTIC Freezer 34 eSports - CPU Air Cooler, 21 Brilliant Gifts for Computer Geeks and Gamers, GPU Backplate: An Easy PC Mod That Makes a Big Difference. Liquid cooling wins … usually. Required fields are marked *. This is the most expensive and difficult setup to get running, especially for a first-timer. This would dismiss abysmal coolers, like the Intel stock cooler, which is very low profile, but also kinda bad, especially once it has a few years under its belt. Aftermarket CPU air coolers often take up more space around your CPU, which could be a problem if you need to show off as much RGB lighting as possible. In this case, liquid cooling wins. Air VS Liquid Cooling Tested Again For Thermals and Noise. The time has come to buy a new CPU cooler. These don’t require much extra setup for the users, just a place to mount the radiator. Liquid Cooling vs Air Cooling: What’s the difference, and which is better? . In other words, it’s more efficient, and often quieter. Closed-loop liquid cooling is achieved through the use of. (Even liquid cooling setups need radiators and intake fans, in the same way that air-cooled systems do.). Air cooling wins in pretty much every way here. 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