Are water coolers safe?

[iLikeMudkipz]

This might seem like a stupid question but, are they?

I want to get a water cooler for my new rig but i'm scared the cooler might break one day and destroy my computer.

Also if it isn't too much to ask, could you guys please explain how water coolers work too.

 

[phil_livesey]

There's always a possibility any cooler could fail, either by falling off (air coolers) or by leaking water (water coolers)
I have to say, i've never heard of an air cooler falling off the motherboard, more than likely this will be because it was mounted improperly. But i've heard a few stories about water coolers that have broken and ruined everything inside the case.

However a lot of testing is gone into making sure that a failure occurring is very slim.

Stick with a decent brand like corsair or nzxt and you should be fine, but obviously look into the one you wanna get to make sure.

They work by having a liquid inside the tubes that is pumped around your system, it absorbs(?) the heat and gets pumped to the radiator, where the heat is then transferred to the radiator and then blown out of the radiator with a fan. (very bleak description but roughly that's how they work)

 

[Motopsychojdn]

Your best bet if you are interested in water or liquid cooling is to check out the Watercooling sticky over in overclocking section, this will help you understand a bit more and decide which, if either is the right course for you
http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/277130-11-read-first-watercooling-sticky
Allinones like the corsair H100 are sealed and should never leak, a custom loop is as safe as you make it, the onus is on you to ensure everything fits together properly and you should be fine
Moto

 

[diellur]

I would say they are...as said above, AIO units are sealed and, assuming you don't damage them, are as safe as an air-cooler. Have a look at the recent Tom's article on the $1.6k PC; the trouble they had with the NH-D14's weight (possibly) suggests that air cooling has its own risks. If you accidently nudge your PC tower, you won't dislodge a waterblock...you may cause a 1kg+ weight to come loose, and your GPU is directly below it...

I've used air-cooling and AIOs; I definitely prefer the AIOs but that's because I prefer silence (heavy air-coolers can operate as quietly as AIOs, but the weight issue turned me off). Custom water, which I'm venturing into now, is more complex but as long as everything fits it'll be fine...simple plumbing, and how often do the pipes in your house leak? Also, the idea is to leak-test a WC loop before you fire up a system...any component which suffers from a leak can be thoroughly dried before being powered up.

WC works by piping water through waterblocks, which go on your hot components. This water is then routed to a radiator that has fans providing a cooling airflow through them, venting the heat out of the case. Apart from allowing quiet operation and providing better cooling, WC allows you to set where the heat is taken out of your system, as opposed to having hot air circulating in your case.

 

[iLikeMudkipz]

Best answer selected by iLikeMudkipz.