Liquid Cpu Cooling Vs Fan And Heatsink

Cpu coolers generally come in two varieties.

Liquid cpu cooling vs fan and heatsink.

The purpose of a heatsink is to dissipate heat with or without a fan attached. The first is an air cooler which comes with a big metal heat sink and a fan that pulls air away heat from the cpu. The main difference in air vs water cooling is the presence of a heatsink. Before we even get into the pros and cons of both liquid cpu coolers and air cpu coolers first we need to discuss some factors you ll need to consider before you can determine which style cooler is right for you.

By matt safford 18 september 2020 here are the best cpu cooler solutions air and liquid aio for a range of systems from small form factor builds to overclocked big rigs. Liquid cooling also makes your pc run quieter because you won t have fans constantly running at a high rpm. The pros and cons of liquid cooling a cpu. Liquid cooling is the best way to cool a cpu because water transfers heat much more efficiently than air.

However liquid cooling a pc can also be dangerous if water leaks onto hardware. Five things to consider before you choose. The self contained loop of water cools quietly so you don t have to worry about loud fans breaking your focus while fighting that last big boss in your favorite game. Again this can vary in that there are air coolers with fans specifically designed to reduce noise and fan settings or fan selection can impact the amount of noise generated.

A water cooling kit will reduce the need to use more than one fan in your pc case. Having a fan is usually best though as it will allow the heatsink to be directly cooled and help remove hot air from the chassis in question. Water blocks that come with aio coolers which attach to the cpu are far smaller than the traditional heatsink and fan which air coolers use. Liquid cooling especially when using an all in one aio tends to be quieter than the fan on a cpu heatsink.