Air cooling or computer water cooling, which is better?

The transition to using water cooling has become a necessity for some, while many users are still adopting the latter method. Of course, in any of the cases, there is no controversy about the importance of cooling the computer, as it is the necessity of moving hard hardware to safety, where heat poses a real threat to it that can lead to its complete damage, along with a lot of performance problems, but the choice between them needs to be defined. some things.

 Therefore, it is necessary to know the points of difference, the mechanism of action and the advantages and disadvantages of each of them, to be aware as a user before choosing and to dispel those question marks about the feasibility of each of the two technologies and which one is most appropriate for your needs.

What is a computer water cooling system?

The use of this cooling technology is not new, as it has been used to cool car engines and in electric and nuclear power plants, among others, to break into the world of computers recently. In general, cooling using water is more effective than cooling with air, thanks to the “specific heat” property of water, which makes it able to absorb heat from the surrounding medium.

As for the mechanism of this system’s work inside the computers, a small water box is installed on each chip to be cooled, where a metallic substance with high heat conductivity is placed between those boxes and the chips installed on them to improve heat transfer from the chip to the water. These boxes are connected to water pipes, one of which is to transport water hot and the other to return the cooled water.

 The pump transfers the hot water – the water is heated by the heat emitted by the chips – to the radiator, which in turn dissipates the heat with the help of fans, and then the cooled water is returned to the water boxes; The process is repeated again on a regular basis throughout the operation of the computer.

There are two types of water cooling

Custom water cooling: This type requires high experience in installing and selecting the appropriate parts, as it requires the user to install all parts of the tubes and coolers within the computer box, with extreme precision and caution to ensure that no error occurs that leads to water leakage. It can be used to cool the processor, graphics cards, etc. within the computer. Some famous companies in the world of computers design ready-made computer assemblies with an integrated water cooling system, but if you encounter any problem with the device, you will often need to contact the manufacturer because of the difficulty of dealing with these pipes and the danger of breaking them.

Example showing custom water cooling

Closed Loop Water Cooling: or as it is known as closed-loop water cooling, this type is designed, tested and installed by manufacturers to reach the user, who will only have to install the piece within the computer case with simple steps, as it does not require experience as the previous type, but Of course, it is not as effective, as it is intended to cool the processor only.

An example showing closed water cooling.

Computer Water Cooling Features

Water cooling for the computer provides a qualitative leap in the world of cooling electronic devices and a step that will change the way a lot of people deal with their devices, as it will provide the following features:

More effective cooling: As I mentioned earlier, the specific heat of water enables it to absorb heat better than using air cooling, which means that the computer hardware will be safely away from the dangers of overheating, and it will help to provide better performance at lower temperatures.

Noise reduction: Due to the fact that fans are not completely dependent on cooling the computer, the noise that we are used to since the inception of computers is reduced, especially when using them for tasks that require high performance such as games.

Less Occupied Space: Tubes take up significantly less space than fans.

Better Appearance: The use of colored liquids in the tubes makes your computer look more aesthetically pleasing than its counterparts, and makes your computer look like a painting from the future.

Chart showing a comparison between air cooling (numbers on the right) and water cooling – Source: corsair

Disadvantages of computer water cooling

Despite the high efficiency and the obvious difference that this system offers; However, it is not without its negatives, which for some may be insurmountable, which are the following:

The high price: the complexity of the components needed to build the water cooling system is significantly reflected in its price, which is considered a high cost, in addition to the fact that choosing components of poor quality will expose you to many problems and its malfunction may cause damage to other computer parts in the event of water leakage, for example.

High experience to install it: If you think that your experience in installing the air cooling system allows you to install the water cooling system hardware, you should rethink this point, as it requires high skill, from choosing the right tools for your computer hardware to the correct techniques for installing them after choosing the appropriate measurements for the pipes and their locations. Of course, this does not apply to the closed-loop type, or if you have enough money to buy a ready-made assembly.

Possible risks of any malfunction that may occur: Dealing with liquids in the cooling process needs more accuracy in terms of the temperature of the liquid and the speed of pumping the liquid in the pipes because in the case of increasing or decreasing the pumping speed will lead to problems, in addition to the potential problems of water leakage, especially when committing No error in the installation process.

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