"Water" vs. "Liquid" vs. "Air" cooling

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miha2

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I'm (and I think a lot of people) interested in cooling. What's better,

"water" which is a self-made (distilled) water cooling system being an example,
"liquid" which is Corsair H60 being an example, or
"air", which is the most usual cooling system, stock cooler being an example*?

Of course, water is a definite winner, but "how" better is it? What makes each special, how low a temp can be with each cooler? If possible, a few benchmarks would be really nice and helpful.

*I heard that some (I think it's just 1 CPU, but may be wrong) AMD CPUs are sold with liquid cooling in a box, by default.
 
Solution
TheDualshock
It goes in this order with high-end stuff :
1. Water
2. "Liquid"
3. Air

The reason why water is superior is because you usually have a custom loop that's interconnected to many radiators and a reservoir. The heat is spread equally among a bigger volume of water which results in lower temps. Closed looped liquid coolers have a limited amount of liquid to absorb the heat compared to water. Air speaks for itself.
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TheDualshock

TheDualshock

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It goes in this order with high-end stuff :
1. Water
2. "Liquid"
3. Air

The reason why water is superior is because you usually have a custom loop that's interconnected to many radiators and a reservoir. The heat is spread equally among a bigger volume of water which results in lower temps. Closed looped liquid coolers have a limited amount of liquid to absorb the heat compared to water. Air speaks for itself.
 
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Solution
neon neophyte

neon neophyte

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water and liquid are the same thing. you are comparing custom liquid cooling and closed loop liquid cooling.

air is cheapest and capable of cooling like a mid range closed loop liquid cooling solution, sometimes a bit better. problem is, it is typically louder for those results.

closed liquid cooling is decent but somewhat pricier than air cooling. usually has mediocre results considering the cost.

custom liquid cooling is whatever you make of it. it can be considerably better than either of the previous 2 solutions but it will cost you more.
 
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bgunner

bgunner

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Both, what you call water and liquid coolers, are the same. they both use liquid to wick away the heat from the CPU. The way you should have worded it is All In One (AIO) or closed loop liquid cooling and Custom Loop liquid cooling. The difference is the AIO is prebuilt and comes with a preset length of hose and only cools one component where as the Custom Loops can cool the whole system with one loop and the ability to use multiple and different size radiators.

So far the AIO's only barley keep up with a Noctua DH14 air cooler for performance. This is because you can not change the size of the radiators with the AIO's. The plus side to the AIO's verses the Noctua I mentioned is they do not put much stress on the motherboard's cooler mount. The Noctua is very heavy and can damage thin cheap boards.

Even Custom loops are only as good as the cool air that they pass through the radiators. The cooler the air the cooler any Cooler will keep the CPU.
 
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miha2

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So, basically, what I mean and what you all are saying is that it won't differ temperature-wise between a pretty expensive but extremely good water cooling and, let's say, Corsair H100 or any other expensive liquid cooling system. Right..?

Add: let's say, I want to OC a 4790K (devils canyon, 4GHz by default) to 6 GHz. Temperature-wise... Now, is it the same?
 
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miha2

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Listen, I divided the 2 not for no reason.

Sorry, I was raged that nobody would read what I write, and so screwed it up. I was saying that the two are not the same, they are different, and THAT is EXACTLY why I wrote separately about each. Most (if not all) replies still, however, were stating that the 2 are the same. Weren't they?
 
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neon neophyte

neon neophyte

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how do you not understand this "water cooling" and "liquid cooling"" literally mean the EXACT same thing

and we went on to tell you what it is you obviously mean, which is "closed loop cooling" and "custom loop cooling." those are the 2 that are different. if anybody here is not understanding others, it is you miha.
 
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miha2

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Quotes say nothing for you? Examples? I'm not interested to read if the words mean the same or not, I'm interested to read how they differ. Temperature-wise, noise-wise, other factors-wise. OK, what about this then: Custom loop cooling vs. closed loop cooling vs. air cooling. Good enough? If not, please tell me how I can better my question, because I'm here not to argue, but to get a good answer.
 
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rubix_1011

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Have you read through the links further up the thread? This should be able to answer just about everything you're asking.

Several people (including myself) took a lot of time to put that information together in order to quell these kinds of threads.

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-2232179/water-cooling-meta-sticky-read-water-cooling-inquiries-content.html

Great set of links to get you started.
Click to expand...
 
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TheDualshock

TheDualshock

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Custom loop cooling (The one you do yourself which isn't pre-built) are the best overall except price. They do take alot of time to install but that's what it's about. AIOs (closed looped) are usually second in the high end of coolers. Air coolers are usually last but are also the cheapest (depends on the cooler). For noise, go for an AIO or Custom loop (although some air coolers (Noctua's) is pretty darn good and quiet). For best temps, custom loops are usually the best.
 
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USAFRet

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A custom liquid cooler has the potential, if done right, to return a lower max temp than a regular store bought all in one liquid cooler.

The better air coolers have the potential to equal the regular store bought liquid coolers. And generally for less cost and complexity.
 
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miha2

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All right... moderators here? Can you delete this thread? Because it leads to nowhere. I won't be able to get an answer on my question here anyways, so it's a waste of time. CLC vs. CLC. Differs a lot.
 
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rubix_1011

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In attempt to help, I'd like to reiterate that I've posted a link that has a lot of information to answer your questions.

These links have a substantial amount of information that can help answer your questions. Please read through those as they will definitely be able to help you get a grasp of the concepts being debated in this thread.

I've personally had this exact same discussion/debate with countless people in threads, hence the reason why the stickies and other informational threads exist...to help direct forum users to sources of content to help answer questions without the same concepts being hashed out over and over and over.
 
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Ricardo Waitos

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After testing all three the only reason I would recommend a custom loop over the next best Hi100 is aesthetics and bragging rights. In a NORMAL system you can create some very pretty rigs with custom loops, and show your friends your pretty pc?!$% I highly doubt my friends would give a toss what my PC looks like to be honest and as I move in those circles my outlook has always been the same... In a lot of situations forced air will produce the results you needs without overspending or risking components. I prefer budget friendly and practicality over aesthetics and bragging rights,build to what you need, but if your idea of a night out is sitting over a Halo multi-player fiddling with your toggles whilst arguing my PC looks nicer than yours, then maybe a custom loop is for you?



I have always had my obvious concerns when pumping conductive fluids around my rig. Especially with the custom loops
 
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bgunner

bgunner

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You mustn't forget that Custom loops can be made to cool the CPU, GPU, Ram, VRM's and North Bridge (AMD) all in one loop with the proper pumps and radiators. This is the main reason to do a Custom loop. They can cool more than one component at a time if configured properly. The AIO's (closed loop coolers) can only cool one piece, either the CPU or GPU if the brackets fit your particular GPU.
 
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4Ryan6

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Yes there's a lot of people interested in cooling, But for what reasons?

Your opening post really made no direct need to know past stock cooling because unless you're overclocking, which by the way you did not mention!, leaves all those attempting to answer you with almost no intent behind your question, other than to surmise an answer!

[utl]http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-2196038/air-cooling-water-cooling-things.html[/url]



Now you finally ask a question to clarify why and what you need to know and FYI, you are not going to reach a 6GHZ overclock with your 4790K with literally any of the above that you've questioned regarding water, liquid, or air, cooling.

It will take sub-ambient or sub-zero cooling to reach a stable 6GHZ overclock with a 4790K.

http://lab501.net/intel-core-i7-4790k-intel-pentium-g3258-overclocking-study/

 
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Ricardo Waitos

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Under normal parameters, gaming, editing, mild to medium overclocking ect a custom loop in my eyes is simply an unnecessary hit on your pocket. There is the ability to cool everything with looping system, however I honestly don't think the majority will require a custom loop. I think this is for the serious enthusiast, people who already have the highest end equipment and want hardcore overclocking. If you have a mid range system it would be cheaper to upgrade components than add a custom loop to maximize overclocking potential.

You are looking at a starting budget of $300 to get you up and running, a full loop can go a fair way over $1000 upon optimization.
 
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Ricardo Waitos

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You take a snippet of my response and respond on that..... Just for those of you who haven't seen above, I said a loop starts at around $300 and CAN go over $1000.... I do love people like you ;).

I have been involved in every type of cooling system I can think of at one point or another, even botched together loops before the coming of liquid cooling. I am not the type of person to chat bubbles if I don't know anything about the subject in hand... No I am not running water loop at the moment no, not even a closed liquid loop. I am running forced air at the moment because it is all my system requires to run at good temperatures. I am not one for overkill.
 
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4Ryan6

4Ryan6

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That's what I thought! :)

 
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