Air Cooling vs. Liquid Cooling in PC Builds

What is liquid cooling, and how does it work?

Liquid cooling or water cooling is one of the best ways to cool down a PC due to the high thermal conductivity of water.

A liquid cooling system consists of water blocks, a pump, a radiator, pipes, and optionally a reservoir. The pump pushes the liquid coolant to and from a radiator through the water block, which is attached to the CPU. The heat is then transferred from the component to the cool liquid, which is then continuously pumped throughout the system.

When it comes to water cooling, you have two main options: AIO (all-in-one) liquid cooling and custom loop. AIO coolers come as a single unit, and you don’t have put the parts together yourself. With custom loop cooling, you can customize every aspect of your cooling system to give the best performance and visual appearance. AIO and custom loop cooling have different benefits and drawbacks, so it is important to distinguish between the two.

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Benefits:

1. Noise – Liquid cooling has quieter operation: the fans in a liquid-cooled system tend to rotate more slowly and quietly than those in an air-cooling system.
2. Performance – PC users who plan to game at maximum settings should consider water cooling. Pushing your PC to its limit requires more power, and therefore will potentially heat up your system to a dangerous level. Water cooling can bring these temperatures down faster and more efficiently than air cooling.
3. Visuals – Liquid cooling systems can be very visually impressive, as you can include RGB elements to enhance your machine’s visual appeal. Custom loop cooling can look very impressive as you can mix and match parts and have a completely unique system.

Although liquid cooling can be 2-10 times more effective than air cooling, there are still some drawbacks:

1. Cost – Custom liquid cooling will cost you a lot more than a standard air-cooling system. You are paying for the more complicated operation and the better performance. However, AIO cooling will have a price closer to air cooling.
2. Installation – Custom liquid cooling can be laborious to set up, especially for beginner PC builders. An AIO (all-in-one) liquid cooler is easier to install and should take you around 30 minutes. However, either way it can also be quite unnerving to have water running through your system.
3. Maintenance – Custom liquid cooling systems require more maintenance than air cooling, as you need to sustain proper fluid levels, and make sure the components are clean and functional. Also, if any of the parts of a custom cooling system fail it could be catastrophic for your computer. AIO requires less maintenance and, as everything comes assembled, the risk of the system leaking is reduced.