this post was submitted on 20 Nov 2023
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Air is better than water

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[–] Zerush@lemmy.ml 52 points 11 months ago (2 children)

Where there is a will, there is a way

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[–] zurohki@aussie.zone 47 points 11 months ago (1 children)

It's definitely easier, simpler and cheaper.

Water cooling can be quieter, though. Some big radiators and you can cool a gaming PC with hardly any airflow.

[–] Custoslibera@lemmy.world 11 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Yep, it’s the GPU fans that are the real noisy ones. I can tolerate a noctua CPU cooler but GPU’s are like jet engines under load.

[–] DaPorkchop_@lemmy.ml 6 points 11 months ago (1 children)

I use a PowerEdge T620 as my daily driver, let me assure you the CPU fans at full speed can be heard clearly through 3 closed doors :P

[–] the_third@feddit.de 5 points 11 months ago

Server hardware with their 15000rpm fans will do that. We have a customer specializing in GPU intensive number crunching. They have little storage cupboards accessible from the hallway for every two person office. Their workstations sit there and the cables go through the wall to the desks.

[–] Voyajer@lemmy.world 29 points 11 months ago

Remember kids, if you're ever feeling useless, you'll always be more useful than a 120mm AIO.

[–] Zerush@lemmy.ml 25 points 11 months ago

Nothing like a gamer sandwich

[–] frezik@midwest.social 22 points 11 months ago (1 children)

It's a fun thing to do. I like my setup (O11 dynamic XL, two 360mm rads, dual pumps, both CPU and GPU blocks), but I wouldn't necessarily recommend it to anyone. It's a lot of effort and expense for a little gain. But it's a hobby on top of a hobby, and that's fine if you want to go for it.

[–] Ovent@lemmy.world 12 points 11 months ago (2 children)

Yeah, I'm CPU/GPU cooled for a good while now (4-5y). It's a lot of efforts and make it harder to upgrade. You gain a bit of silence, but it's really not worth for most people. Like you said, it's more of a hobbit than anything.

[–] tryptaminev@feddit.de 15 points 11 months ago (1 children)

it’s more of a hobbit than anything.

Bilbo Fannings

[–] Wild_Mastic@lemmy.world 11 points 11 months ago (1 children)
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[–] onlooker@lemmy.ml 19 points 11 months ago (1 children)

I think it depends on the use case. Personally, I simply don't jive with the idea of conductive liquids swirling inside my expensive PC.

[–] bjoern_tantau@swg-empire.de 9 points 11 months ago (3 children)

You're supposed to use distilled water which is not conductive. At least that used to be the case last I saw liquid cooling.

In the end it's simply not worth it for me. You still need to radiate the heat out, which usually means a big fan, which most air coolers nowadays have anyways.

[–] ornery_chemist@mander.xyz 10 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

I think water is rather rare as a coolant these days. Organics (chemical sense not farming sense) like propylene glycol or some kind of glyme aren't potentially corrosive to metals if spilled, are harder to grow shit in, have lower volatility, and have a higher thermal limit. Maybe also with a little bit of antifouling agent thrown in. My main gripe with them is that if you do spill them, they don't evaporate and you're slipping over the floor for the next few days because you missed a spot.

But yeah, air cooling ftw

[–] GaMEChld@lemmy.world 8 points 11 months ago

No coolant is non-conductive after it leaks. It will mix with dust that has built up on the surfaces of the components and become conductive.

The main reason for distilled water is to prevent corrosion and deposits forming inside the loop.

[–] zagaberoo@beehaw.org 6 points 11 months ago (2 children)

Liquid coolers are by definition just an extra heat exchange step unless you're venting heat into the ocean or something like a nuclear plant. Otherwise, the atmosphere is your final heat sink either way.

Unless a liquid cooling radiator is significantly larger than the air cooler that would fit directly on the CPU there's no point whatsoever.

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[–] PunnyName@lemmy.world 17 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (2 children)

Technically, no, air is a much worse thermal conductor, and most liquids are significantly better. It's a pretty efficient thermal INSULATOR, however.

The practical applications, however, make the movement of air OUT of your system an efficient cooling method.

[–] somtwo@lemmy.world 47 points 11 months ago (3 children)

Not trying to be contrarian or a smart-ass, but aren't water cooled systems kinda just air cooled systems with the radiator moved elsewhere?

[–] frezik@midwest.social 19 points 11 months ago (3 children)

Yes. The advantage is that you can make the surface area of the air cooling part much, much larger. I had a water cooled system that could do web browsing and other basic tasks with zero fan speed (though it was better to leave it on very low speed to avoid hunting behavior).

Also, there's some benefits to thermal mass. Short term spikes can be absorbed by the water without increasing fan speed.

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[–] tryptaminev@feddit.de 12 points 11 months ago (3 children)

Every liquid cooling system is pretty much that. Eventually you need to give it to the outside and the outside is usually air. Heck even river cooling for Power plants ends up "air cooling" through the rivers surface.

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[–] yesmeisyes@sopuli.xyz 5 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Usually copper heatpipes that are found in most air coolers have a drop of liquid in them to boost perfomance.

[–] Honytawk@lemmy.zip 5 points 11 months ago

Which are already build-in and don't require you to fill them with possible leaks.

[–] 0x4E4F@infosec.pub 16 points 11 months ago (2 children)

Not necessarily, but one, it's a lot cheaper, two, air leaks are not a problem.

[–] tekeous@usenet.lol 21 points 11 months ago

the bigger the air leak the better the cooling 🗿

[–] KrokanteBamischijf@feddit.nl 5 points 11 months ago (2 children)

Yes, this is the best argument in favor of air cooling. Air cooling has less points of failure.

With water cooling there's tons of potential problems that "haha wind go brrrr cooling" just doesn't produce: Water block gummed up with mold? Take a performance hit. Pump dead? Sucks to be you. Leak in the system? Enjoy replacing your motherboard.

Main issue you might encounter in air cooling is just "fan died, replace fan". (Obviously not counting thermal interface materials since they are required for both cooling solutions)

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[–] beefcat@beehaw.org 14 points 11 months ago (1 children)

I like not having to worry about a leak destroying all my expensive hardware.

[–] Karyoplasma@discuss.tchncs.de 17 points 11 months ago

I once had a PC with watercooling. It died because I was drinking with a friend and wanted to show it off. So I removed the sidepanel and my drunken self tipped the beer bottle which promptly spilled over the running mainboard. Welp, it was some form of water that killed my PC I guess.

[–] AngryCommieKender@lemmy.world 13 points 11 months ago

Molten Salt cooling. That can handle CPU temperatures of several million degrees. Your CPU may not handle that, but that's not my problem.

[–] satans_crackpipe@lemmy.world 12 points 11 months ago (1 children)

The only true path to water cooling is eliminating the air gaps between your block and CPU surface via full submersion.

[–] redcalcium@lemmy.institute 6 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

Behold! A fully submerged PC!

[–] BonfireOvDreams@lemmy.ml 12 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (9 children)

Quieter, less point's of failure, and in many cases taking up less space. I have compressed air for dust. In the consumer sphere and almost any enthusiast sphere, air cooling > > > water cooling

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[–] Anti_Face_Weapon@lemmy.world 11 points 11 months ago (2 children)

A big ass CPU heat sync and fan like that is usually at least as good as most water cooling options. Often times it scores higher on performance tests. It depends on your exact hardware of course.

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[–] SuiXi3D@kbin.social 9 points 11 months ago (2 children)

I literally just installed an NHD-15 and it dropped my idle temps 10 degrees vs my old AIO. Load temps are about 5-10 degrees cooler, too.

[–] zurohki@aussie.zone 14 points 11 months ago (1 children)

IMO, if you aren't using at least a 360mm radiator there's not a lot of point water cooling.

The point of water cooling is that you can transfer the heat from the heat producing component out to a large surface area by physically moving the hot liquid. 2x 360mm radiators give you a ton of cooling capacity. 1x 240mm? You can do almost as well for much less money with a really nice air cooler.

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[–] pigup@lemmy.world 9 points 11 months ago (1 children)
[–] Honytawk@lemmy.zip 12 points 11 months ago

That is why you have dust filters

[–] Player2@sopuli.xyz 9 points 11 months ago

Small form factor computers are a lot easier with water cooling. That way the GPU can be put right next to the motherboard, and the CPU radiator moved away from that area.

[–] randombullet@feddit.de 7 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Cries in SFFPCs

Hard to tame a 5800X3D in a 8L case

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[–] thmnwlf@discuss.tchncs.de 7 points 11 months ago (3 children)

yea but whatercooling is a complete new space in the whole building process, when building alone gets boring it opens a whole new door to customization, dedication and „learning“ (its not a really usefull skill), but if its something that pleases you, its just freakin cool, even tho it sucks compared to air cooling its a huge subspace in the custom pc scene. its an enthusiast thing for people who are a bit freaky :) i love it and im always happy when i look at my machine

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[–] TonyToniToneOfficial@lemmy.ml 7 points 11 months ago (3 children)
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[–] sheogorath@lemmy.world 6 points 11 months ago

It's all fun and games until you want a beefy setup in an ITX form factor.

[–] shiveyarbles@beehaw.org 6 points 11 months ago

Yes thank you. I went through a water cooling phase, what a pain in the ass. Worrying about the pump, algae, topping off reservoir, leaks ruining your motherboard. The concept is nice, but the reality is high fucking maintenance for no added value.

[–] okiloki@feddit.de 6 points 11 months ago (3 children)

My GPU had a shitty blower cooler, switching to water-cooling made my system so much more quiet!

[–] Blackmist@feddit.uk 9 points 11 months ago (2 children)

I don't understand why they sell GPUs for up to $2000, and they still come with the same crappy fans we had on $150 cards.

Want watercooling? Have fun invalidating your warranty.

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[–] ornery_chemist@mander.xyz 6 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Just bought one of those brown monsters for a new build, can't wait to try it

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