Is the processor worth cooling by water?

Surely many of you have asked yourself sometime: cooling the processor by water. We tell you all about it inside.

We are all concerned about the temperatures of our processor, so we started looking for solutions on the market that allow us to have this component as cold as possible. Among these, we find water cooling, which is postulated as one of the ideal. So, we have decided to give you a review to tell you if it is worth it or not.

Index of contents

How to water cool the processor?

The main solution is liquid cooling, which can consist of a coolant or water. It must be said that a liquid cooling system is complex and expensive, so we must start at this point.

We find two types of liquid cooling: AIO (All in One) and "custom", which are the more complex of the two. As for the first, its operation is basic:

• We install the pump head on top of the processor and the radiator with the two fans at the top of the box. The pump head is placed on top of the processor and transfers heat from the processor through tubes that go to the radiator. Once at the destination, the radiator expels the heat through the two fans.

On the other hand, the operation of custom liquid cooling is more complex and several components are involved:

• Block of water. It is installed on top of the processor to transfer its heat through the liquid. Deposit. It retains extra water in the circuit to gradually replace air bubbles. Bomb. Push water or coolant throughout the circuit to expand it to all components. Radiators and fans. Its task is to cool the circuit by absorbing its heat and expelling it through the fans. Joints or closures. Through the joints we can close or open the circuit.

So this is how both liquid cooling kits work, but the question is, is the processor worth water cooling?

To know the answer to this, we will evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of this system, contrasting it with conventional air dissipation.

Advantages of cooling the processor by water

There are many benefits that we can obtain in the event that we want to cool the processor by water. So, take some paper and a pen because we will put them down for you.

Fewer degrees

Currently, the system that allows the processor to be as fresh as possible is liquid cooling. This is quite interesting because we can extend the useful life of the component, simply by having it cooler than normal in carag phases.

Overclocking

Image: Flickr; Campus-Party-Brazil

As a consequence of those less degrees, we have the possibility to do an extreme overclock and to raise the processor to high frequencies. The main reason why users choose this system is because of the cooling it produces in the processor.

We will be much calmer with such a system, especially when we use the PC for very hard tasks, such as rendering, etc.

Sound

Unlike an air sink, the sound is practically nil, even when we have a more basic kit than normal. This is because we do not need a large fan that is working piecemeal, but the water is practically not heard circulating.

Likewise, in AIO systems we will not listen to fans at full speed, except in specific cases.

Esthetic

Not to mention that the PC earns a lot of integers aesthetically speaking. This is because we can add RGB lighting to our kit, such as choosing the color of the fluids that we are going to use. Therefore, it facilitates the customization of our computer.

You can always make your tower a disco. I am sure that someone reading us will have RGB lighting everywhere. Leave a comment below if you are one of these!

Disadvantages of liquid cooling

As always, nothing is rosy, so we have to inform you of the disadvantages that we can find in using such a system.

Price

The truth is that they are much more expensive compared to an air sink. Not to mention the custom kits, which can reach € 360, which is quite a high price. Obviously, quality pays, but options come down to certain people with higher budgets.

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A standard AIO liquid cooler usually costs around € 80-90. If we want to go to a better one, we exceed € 100.

Dimensions

On the other hand, we must bear in mind that we need to meet certain requirements to be able to use them in our boxes. First of all, we require a good box, which means more money. Why? For several reasons:

• Ventilated upper. We are going to need an upper grill in which to install the radiator and fans, so we must have a box that has this. Tube and tank installation. We will need space to install the tank and all the tubes of the circuit. There are configurations with up to two tanks, which requires much more space. As a general rule, we will require an E-ATX form factor.

Maintenance

I am not going to say that it is very expensive, but it is very laborious. Fluids must be changed every 6 months (in custom kits) and it is not something that is done in 5 minutes. Changing the thermal paste takes us a long time, in addition to that it is very cheap.

However, maintaining an AIO is much easier.

Galvanic corrosion

Without wishing to get fully into the matter, we have already discussed it in our article on galvanic corrosion. It is a phenomenon that occurs by mixing metals, such as copper and aluminum, for example. Finally, the block of water that cools the processor is corroded.

That is why we say that you must know how to use these systems because they have many peculiarities.

Conclusions

Liquid cooling offers the most performance when it comes to overclocking. It has very interesting benefits, such as disadvantages that makes us reluctant to it. With the aforementioned, it remains that you will ponder what is most worthwhile and conclude whether it is worth it or not.

We hope this tutorial has helped you. If you have any questions, comment below and we will respond shortly.

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Would you equip your processor with liquid cooling? Do you prefer AIO or custom? Are you left with air dissipation?