Many question marks arise when choosing between computer or air water cooling technologies, as the transition to using water cooling has become an urgent 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, 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 the work of this system 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.
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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.
- Closed Loop Water Cooling: or as it is known by 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.
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Computer Water Cooling Features
Computer water cooling provides a quantum 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: Using colored liquids in tubes makes your computer look more aesthetically pleasing than its counterparts, and makes your computer look like a painting from the future.
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 in installing it: If you think that your experience in installing the air cooling system entitles 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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What is computer air cooling?
The most common computer cooling system to this day, as its mechanism of action depends on placing thermal paste on top of the processor and then installing the heat sink on it. The thermal paste enhances the heat transfer from the processor to the heat sink, and then the fan installed above the heat sink dissipates the heat.
With all that simplicity in the working mechanism, and even by installing the parts, you can build an air cooling system for your computer, and even perform some maintenance or exchange parts without the need to be very expert, and if you want better efficiency, you can upgrade the air cooling devices if your device allows it, and of course The cost will still be lower than that which you would pay for the water cooling of an expensive computer which requires a lot of experience, accuracy and caution while dealing with it.
Air Cooling Features
- Affordable price: Even when choosing a high-quality air cooling system hardware, its price will still be low compared to the water cooling system of the computer.
- Fits most users’ needs: This system effectively meets the requirements of most users, and there is no need to use a more efficient system.
- Easy to install: As I mentioned earlier, the installation of this system does not require any previous experience, you just need some simple instructions and information to get started.
Disadvantages of air cooling
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- Noise: Fans emit a lot of noise due to their mechanism of action, but the types of fans are divided according to the price category you are looking for, so you will find fans with high noise and others with very low noise, but in all cases, water cooling remains less noisy.
- Requires more space: Fans and heat sinks take up more space than tubes require.
- Ineffective for high-performance uses of the computer: When using the computer for high-performance tasks, the cooling devices will reach an ineffective stage, and this can lead to hardware failure or even a sudden shutdown of the computer.
Which is better water cooling or air cooling for computers?
If we are talking about efficiency, then there is no doubt that the computer’s water cooling system is significantly superior to its counterpart. But the choice is not made in that way, as the best among them will be relative and differ from one user to another according to his needs, and his ability to spend money.
After determining your budget that you can monitor, you should think about your use of the computer, if your normal uses do not exceed the use of the browser and some video display programs, for example, in such a case the air cooling system will be very effective, but if you use the computer for games or programs Editing and editing, for example, and you need to overclock the processor, here you have to think about upgrading the cooling system, but specify exactly what you need because even in the latter case you can use a better air cooling system than yours or even resort to using closed-loop water cooling. Think carefully before choosing and determine your budget and needs.