Watercooling heat exchange rate to the room?

Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
charlieklla

charlieklla

Honorable
Feb 14, 2014
63
0
10,640
Let me start off by saying my computer room gets very hot. I recently upgraded my computer to a better case and noticed that, with more air flow (more and faster fans), the room heats up faster. So would watercooling (lower temps with less airflow than a stock cooler and fast big case fans) make the room heat up slower? Yes I know the room will still reach the same max temperature, but would it take longer to reach it with watercooling and lower CFM in and out of the case?
 
Solution
Darkbreeze
Lowering the speed of any fans, whether on the radiator of a loop or the heatsink of an air cooler will decrease the speed the room warms up by lowering the exchange rate, yes, but it will also increase the rate of speed at which the cpu heats up and also the threshold at which it remains. If you have a cpu and case that are getting hot enough for it to be uncomfortable (What size is the room?) I would think that reducing the amount of cooling to your cpu would be unwise. That being said, it probably won't make much difference to the room after ten or fifteen minutes it will equalize and as you said before, will be just as warm except now you'll have a cpu that's warmer too. Is there no way to add some ventilation to the room?
Sort by date Sort by votes
Darkbreeze

Darkbreeze

Retired Mod
Jun 24, 2014
80,414
7,633
176,790
No. Water coolers in general, and lets make that clear for the naysayers, in general, have a higher cooling efficiency than an air cooler which means they have a higher rate of heat transfer. That means they will heat the room more quickly or possibly at an equal rate depending on the cooler. You still have the same approximate number and size of fans assisting with the heat exchange, they are simply doing it at a more remote location than with a tower or top down cooler.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
charlieklla

charlieklla

Honorable
Feb 14, 2014
63
0
10,640


Yes I understand that it transfers heat away from the cpu faster, but if I use a watercooling loop and lower speed fans wouldn't that move the hot air into the room slower?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Darkbreeze

Darkbreeze

Retired Mod
Jun 24, 2014
80,414
7,633
176,790
Lowering the speed of any fans, whether on the radiator of a loop or the heatsink of an air cooler will decrease the speed the room warms up by lowering the exchange rate, yes, but it will also increase the rate of speed at which the cpu heats up and also the threshold at which it remains. If you have a cpu and case that are getting hot enough for it to be uncomfortable (What size is the room?) I would think that reducing the amount of cooling to your cpu would be unwise. That being said, it probably won't make much difference to the room after ten or fifteen minutes it will equalize and as you said before, will be just as warm except now you'll have a cpu that's warmer too. Is there no way to add some ventilation to the room?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Solution
hunter315

hunter315

Champion
May 12, 2009
10,653
3
51,960
I'm pretty sure it was a matter of skewed perception that you believe that the room is heating up faster with your better airflow. High airflow results in a large amount of medium temperature air leaving the computer, while low airflow results in a small amount of high temperature air leaving the case.

Thermodynamics doesn't care about how fast you blow air through things, the amount of energy entering the room is going to be the same, it doesn't matter if you have a water cooling loop, a tiny fan, or a bunch of big heatsinks, if you are pumping out 400W of heat it will increase the temperature of the room at the same rate no matter if its a small or large volume of air that is containing that energy. Having lots of airflow might result in the air in the room mixing better so where you are sitting you notice the temperature change quicker than if it has low airflow and just wallows in its own heat.


Really the only true solution to a computer that overheats your room is to either reduce its heat output(undervolt/underclock) or get an air conditioner which will move the heat from inside your room to outside your house.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
charlieklla

charlieklla

Honorable
Feb 14, 2014
63
0
10,640


All of the components (stock cooling) are running at good temperatures. Less than 70c while gaming. Parts: i5 4670 - AMD Radeon HD 7850 PCS overclocked to 1000mhz

The watercooling wouldn't need to run at max fan speeds to maintain a temperature below 70c would it? Wouldn't that mean the room would be cooler for longer because of the fans not pumping hot air out as fast as they are now?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
charlieklla

charlieklla

Honorable
Feb 14, 2014
63
0
10,640


I have an independent air conditioner for this room. I'm trying to save money on the electric bill haha.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom