Here is what you need to know when choosing between liquid cooler CPU and air cooling, including the working principles of both methods and which one is suitable for you.
Like any powerful PC hardware, the CPU generates heat during operation and requires proper cooling to achieve optimal performance.
As Mark Gallina, the thermal and mechanical architect of Intel Systems, explains, "During normal operation, the transistors inside the CPU convert electrical energy into thermal energy or heat." This heat will increase the temperature of the CPU. If there is no effective way to dissipate heat, then the CPU will exceed its safe operating temperature.
But what is the best way to keep the CPU running at the ideal temperature? There are many ways to cool a processor, but most desktops and laptops use air or liquid-based coolers.
We will discuss liquid cooler CPU and air cooling: how they work, their respective advantages and disadvantages, and which one might be suitable for your setup.
How does a CPU cooler work
The working principles of air and liquid CPU coolers are similar. Essentially, they both do the same thing: absorb heat from the CPU and redistribute it from the hardware.
The heat generated by the processor itself is distributed to the metal cover of the CPU, which is called the Integrated Heat Sink (IHS). The heat is then transferred to the base plate of the CPU cooler. Then, this heat is dissipated to the fan through liquid or heat pipes, blown out from the cooler, and eventually leaves the computer.
Although the basic mechanisms are similar, these two methods achieve heat redistribution in very different ways.
Let's start with the air cooler.
Cool with air
In the air cooler, heat is transferred from the IHS of the CPU through the applied thermal paste to the conductive substrate usually made of copper or aluminum. Thermal energy is transferred from the substrate to the connected heat pipes.
Heat pipes are designed to conduct heat from one location to another. In this case, the heat is transferred to the heat sink far from the motherboard, freeing up space for other components such as RAM. These pipes transfer energy in the form of heat to the thin metal fins that make up the radiator. These heat sinks are designed to be exposed to the cold air to the maximum extent and then absorb heat from the metal. A connected fan pushes the hot air away from the heat sink.
The effectiveness of air coolers may vary, depending on a variety of factors, such as the materials used in the building (for example, copper is more conductive than aluminum, although aluminum is cheaper) and the size and number of fans connected to the CPU cooler. This explains the changes in the size and design of air-based CPU coolers.
Larger air coolers usually dissipate heat better, but there is not always space to accommodate large cooling solutions, especially in small computers.
We will further explore the advantages of air cooling, but first, for the sake of comparison, let's review the liquid cooler CPU.
Cool with liquid
Like air coolers, there are many options available, but most fall into two categories: integrated (AIO) coolers or custom cooling circuits. Here we will mainly focus on the integrated (AIO) cooler, although the basic principles of these two types of liquid cooling cpus are the same.
Similar to air cooling, this process begins with the substrate, which is connected to the IHS of the CPU through a layer of thermal paste. This allows for better heat transfer between the two surfaces. The metal surface of the substrate is part of the water block, which is designed to be filled with coolant.
The coolant absorbs heat from the substrate as it passes through the water resistance. Then, it continues through the system and goes upward through one of the two pipes to reach the radiator. The radiator exposes the liquid to the air, which helps cool the liquid. The fan on the radiator takes the heat away from the cooler. The coolant then re-enters the water block, and the cycle starts again.