Anyone Using An AIO Liquid Cooler For Their PC?

[Judge]

Just wondering. Assuming some hardcore gamers out there may swear by- or at such a cooling system. Seems to be a lot of controversy around them, particularly in how they are installed relative to their optimal lifespan.

A subject that manufacturers themselves don't seem to be particularly specific about. Though I suppose what makes or breaks such considerations is the length of the coolant hoses relative to the distance they must travel inside any one computer case apart from how- and where the radiator and fan array is attached to the case itself.

So far in contemplating the building of my next PC, the jury says "No Way!" so far. Though I suppose if one positions their radiator and fan array in such a way that it minimized air bubbles in the pump from prematurely wearing it out, it may not be as risky as it may seem. Clearly they don't dissuade JayZ from installing them.

Yet you can find other YouTube presentations where they don't even discuss this. Go figure!

 

[maycontainthunder]

Yes. Mine is a 360 by Thermaltake though it is discontinued now (Floe Riing RGB). Not had any issue with it apart from the odd rattle of air. Mine is mounted in the side of the case rather than the front mostly to fill an otherwise blank space. The case is made for three mounting options front, side or back... side looks best when you look in anyway.

Performance-wise I have my suspicions that it isn't that much better than an air cooler. The only advantage is heat transfer is better with a liquid. In theory this means you can get rid of the heat faster... I still have suspicions as to how efficient it really is.

 

[Judge]

Performance-wise I have my suspicions that it isn't that much better than an air cooler. The only advantage is heat transfer is better with a liquid. In theory this means you can get rid of the heat faster... I still have suspicions as to how efficient it really is.

Interesting to have placed it along the side of the case. But then I'm guessing it may allow for better airflow not being so close to other components, if this is in fact the case. Kind of like using a vertically mounted GPU separating it from direct contact with the motherboard. A feature I like very much.

Though according to this one particular source, placing the pump well above the radiator and hoses is considered a "no-no". One that allows air bubbles to intrude into the pump, slowly damaging it with time. With the reciprocal being the optimal way to set up an AIO cooler. Though easier said than done unless you have a small case with long hoses. So there's a lot to making this decision to go liquid cooled as opposed to air-cooled.

Seems as time goes on, it's getting every more complex to build a system.

 

[maycontainthunder]

Here is a video on a build using the same case as mine.

Mine is a re-casing of an existing machine due to cooling issues. The old case would not take the huge air cooler I had removed from an old build (too big, touching the GPU PCB and fouling the side fan not good!). I changed my mind on the plan and went for an AIO.

 

[Judge]

Mine is a re-casing of an existing machine due to cooling issues. The old case would not take the huge air cooler I had removed from an old build (too big, touching the GPU PCB and fouling the side fan not good!). I changed my mind on the plan and went for an AIO.

Looks like yours would pass JayZ's concerns. With the pump lower than where the hoses meet the radiator.


LOL, yeah a scenario I know quite well. On this system, I think at best I can slide a piece of paper between the side of my case and the CPU heatsink that protrudes so prominently. Luckily the case and the heatsink are made by the same manufacturer, making it a precise if not worrisome fit.

 

[Jordy]

Yes. Mine is a 360 by Thermaltake though it is discontinued now (Floe Riing RGB). Not had any issue with it apart from the odd rattle of air. Mine is mounted in the side of the case rather than the front mostly to fill an otherwise blank space. The case is made for three mounting options front, side or back... side looks best when you look in anyway.

Performance-wise I have my suspicions that it isn't that much better than an air cooler. The only advantage is heat transfer is better with a liquid. In theory this means you can get rid of the heat faster... I still have suspicions as to how efficient it really is.

I know from benchmarks that those entry level single 120mm aio loops are worse at cooling your cpu than a hyper evo 212, i think you need at least 360mm to get a benefit from water. One advantage water cooling has is that you would only need the water cooler fans, instead of cpu fans + case fans. I dont think its worth it though, if you want a fast system just buy better hardware, if you want a quiet system tweak your hardware to run at their optimal performance/heat ratio, and keep fans at their optimal noise/airflow ratio.

 

[Judge]

I know from benchmarks that those entry level single 120mm aio loops are worse at cooling your cpu than a hyper evo 212, i think you need at least 360mm to get a benefit from water. One advantage water cooling has is that you would only need the water cooler fans, instead of cpu fans + case fans. I dont think its worth it though, if you want a fast system just buy better hardware, if you want a quiet system tweak your hardware to run at their optimal performance/heat ratio, and keep fans at their optimal noise/airflow ratio.

A tough balancing act, but I'd prefer an array of fans running at the same RPM and with noise less than 20dBA than a water cooled system. At least so far. But I'll need to run all those fans directly from the power supply and not the motherboard. Still debating on whether I use a case with channels allowing for air from the left and right sides, or simply acquiesce to one where the entire front is mesh and fully open to airflow.

Noise remains a big concern, especially when I'm not a gamer and not prone to using software involving prolonged and heavy CPU/GPU cycles.

 

[maycontainthunder]

A tough balancing act, but I'd prefer an array of fans running at the same RPM and with noise less than 20dBA than a water cooled system. At least so far. But I'll need to run all those fans primarily directly from the power supply and not the motherboard.

Be aware of the cost. I chose RGB Riing fans on cost. It was down to the only internal fan controller I could find costing £55 and around £15/fan. The fans came as a set of three with a five channel controller... I always use all available spaces in the case.

 

[Suzette]

Way back, way, way back, in the days of B.B.Cs, Archie and Veroica and Doom and 9600k baud modems, I drooled over terabytes and teraflops as theortical. No one, at that time, had firgured out the threading and 32k enctyption was "State of the Art". A cooling ststem meant taking the top off and maybe putting some blue ice packs near the CPU.
My oh my times have changed.

 

[Judge]

Way back, way, way back, in the days of B.B.Cs, Archie and Veroica and Doom and 9600k baud modems, I drooled over terabytes and teraflops as theortical. No one, at that time, had firgured out the threading and 32k enctyption was "State of the Art". A cooling ststem meant taking the top off and maybe putting some blue ice packs near the CPU.
My oh my times have changed.

Oh yeah. Not to mention that cooling has never been the same since the advent of Apple's M1 CPU.

No fan, no appreciable heat. Amazing from my perspective. But then it's probably something no one who manufacturers cooling technology can appreciate- or want.

One thing for sure, the biggest obstacle to me owning a laptop has always boiled down to thermodynamics and little else. This may change...

 

[Raggamuffin]

Mine is over 4 years old and still going strong. Mine was a Cooler Master all in one. I went with the smallest one - 140mm. Even for a lower budget cooler, I've had no issues with it cooling my quad core i7 6700k.

I will do a new build eventually. But at this point I'll just wait until something breaks before I start buying new components.

Only had 2 components fail in over 15 years of PC building and gaming. Normally I had a new build before anything went wrong. One was a PSU - OCZ brand. The other was a Pallit GPU. It was a high end Nvidia series card, but I went with the budget brand of said series - and it cost me in the end.

Ed

 

[Judge]

Ironic that I have come to the conclusion that liquid-cooling versus air-cooling in a PC is largely academic in terms of temperatures relative to the CPU. That the most problematic component that can throttle back the CPU is the GPU. That the most current GPUs run absurdly hot and that virtually all the cooling considerations inevitably revolve around that one piece of hardware more than any others.

Not intending to be a consummate gamer, I suppose I can mitigate that heat concern in purchasing a lesser powerful GPU...maybe something around 6GB of memory. Enough with acceptable frame rates at 1080p, but running in a lower range of temperatures. One thing for sure, I have no interest in running anything beyond 1080p for HD video. Another complexity I've found is the balance between keeping it all relatively quiet versus maintaining adequate airflow. Considerations that made it somewhat difficult to finally choose a proper computer case. Which is why I chose a Fractal Design Define r5 case. Starting out with at minimum of three 140mm fans and a 140mm fan on a Noctua air-cooled heatsink for the CPU. Unlike a number of cases, the r5 has a front panel that opens...increasing airflow if and when needed. And I can always add more fans if necessary, or even consider liquid cooling. Nice.

Define R5

And of course this is the worst possible point in time to be building much of any system, given the supply-chain crisis and lack of computer chips relative to video cards. Inflating prices absurdly, with no clear end in sight other than some wishful thinking on the part of some online tech gurus.

For now I'm going to take a closer look at Radeon cards, as Nvidia seems so fixated on taking advantage of the situation at the detriment of their own customers. But then as usual, the customers don't count. It's all about delivering quarterly results to their shareholders.

One thing for sure is how much more complicated building a PC has gotten since I built this 2013 machine I'm on right now. Thermodynamics seems more relative now than at any previous time in terms of building your own desktop system.

And thermodynamics is a major reason why I've stayed away from laptops all these years. They continue to get ever more powerful, but it seems only Apple is really focused on thermodynamics with the advent of their M1 cpu. Where the PC world has no equivalent presently. Just faster, hotter and more throttle-prone CPUs from Intel and AMD.

 

[Judge]

Which is why I chose a Fractal Design Define r5 case. Starting out with at minimum of three 140mm fans and a 140mm fan on a Noctua air-cooled heatsink for the CPU. Unlike a number of cases, the r5 has a front panel that opens...increasing airflow if and when needed. And I can always add more fans if necessary, or even consider liquid cooling. Nice.

Define R5

Until I stumbled onto the Fractal Design Define 7 case. The "bomb". Way better product for my needs. More expensive though, but I'll pay the price to find one case without any compromises. Bigger case, better airflow. Especially if I use 140mm fans. With a front panel that is both hinged on both sides, as well as totally removable with multiple dust filters. With a fan header to connect many fans rather than connect two or three directly to the motherboard. Still debating though whether I replace all the fans with the Noctua brand.

Though the present price range of competitive video cards seem so outrageous that I may have to settle for using an integrated GPU within a CPU. At least until the prices come down...if they really do.

Define 7

 

[Nemesis_2k7]

Just wondering. Assuming some hardcore gamers out there may swear by- or at such a cooling system. Seems to be a lot of controversy around them, particularly in how they are installed relative to their optimal lifespan.

A subject that manufacturers themselves don't seem to be particularly specific about. Though I suppose what makes or breaks such considerations is the length of the coolant hoses relative to the distance they must travel inside any one computer case apart from how- and where the radiator and fan array is attached to the case itself.

So far in contemplating the building of my next PC, the jury says "No Way!" so far. Though I suppose if one positions their radiator and fan array in such a way that it minimized air bubbles in the pump from prematurely wearing it out, it may not be as risky as it may seem. Clearly they don't dissuade JayZ from installing them.

Yet you can find other YouTube presentations where they don't even discuss this. Go figure!

No i stopped using them, as they are a gimmic, and they cause more problems than they solve. I use a big air cooler, and it does a better job anyway. I find those AIO coolers are more for bragging rights and visual aesthetics. Having said that, a PROPER water cooling setup, with compression fittings, things like that, is much better. also much more expensive. A good noctua air cooler is definitely the way to go. The other thing about AIO coolers is they recycle allot of hot water / air. And it becomes counter productive.

 

[Judge]

No i stopped using them, as they are a gimmic, and they cause more problems than they solve. I use a big air cooler, and it does a better job anyway. I find those AIO coolers are more for bragging rights and visual aesthetics. Having said that, a PROPER water cooling setup, with compression fittings, things like that, is much better. also much more expensive. A good noctua air cooler is definitely the way to go. The other thing about AIO coolers is they recycle allot of hot water / air. And it becomes counter productive.

I'm inclined to agree. In seeing so many temperature tests comparing one from the other, the only real draw I see in fluid cooling systems are the visuals. Makes a computer more exotic looking. Though things like that along with RGB lighting is of no interest to me. But then neither are cases with tempered glass. For me it doesn't have to look good, but it does have to run great.

In contemplating building another system it will use a Noctua heatsink and fans.