When it's too freaking hot outside, what do you like to do to cool down?
Now you know how your CPU feels.
When your CPU does its thing, it turns electrical energy into thermal energy, and things can really heat up!
Ahhh that's better. While we here at Kingston do not recommend throwing liquid on your PC to cool it down,
there are both liquid and air cooling options available to make sure your PC stays at safe operating temperature.
This is DIY in 5! Alright, I m gonna go dry off now.
Hey everyone, I'm Trisha Hershberger and welcome to DIY in 5!
The show where we show you easy tech DIY tips in 5 minutes or less.
Today, we're going to discuss ways to keep your PC cool even when things really start to heat up.
Whether gaming, high resolution editing, 3D modeling or just multi-tasking like a boss,
the harder you push your PC, the more heat it will generate.
There are two main options to safely mitigate heat from your PC - air cooling and liquid cooling
and today, we'll go over the benefits and drawbacks of each so you can choose what works best for your build.
As always, if you find the information in today's video useful, we'd be honored if you'd like this video, subscribe to this channel
and ding that bell so that you don't miss out on any future tech tips.
First, let's discuss the more affordable cooling method for your PC - air cooling.
In an air cooled system, heat is transferred from the CPU to a heat sink
and then a fan pushes warm air away from the CPU and other critical components.
This method of cooling is the most commonly found in consumer PCs as it's cost-effective, easy to install and works great for most users.
To install an air cooler, all you need to do in most cases is secure some screws and properly plug in a cable.
In fact, most CPUs will come stock with an air cooling solution,
leaving you more money to spend on other components like faster memory or storage.
Air cooling is also simpler to maintain.
All you'll really need to do is make sure you clean the dust out of your PC every few months and you'll do just fine.
You can find a link to our video on how to do that in the description.
The downsides to air cooling are that some systems can take up quite a bit of space in the center of the case,
restricting access to other components and turning what should have been a simple upgrade into a real pain in the RAM.
And as air cooling uses fans to move the air, as the PC gets hotter, those fans spin faster, causing more noise.
Note there are air coolers and fans specifically made to run more quietly
but they will also cost a bit more as a result.
Finally, if you're really planning to push your PC to its peak performance, overclocking, gaming at Max settings in 4k etc.,
air cooling might not be enough to keep everything cool.
An overheating system not only limits your performance, it can cause components to fail.
For overclocking and performance enthusiasts, that's where liquid cooling comes in.
As with air coolers, there's a wide selection of liquid cooling options, but most fall into two categories -
all-in-one systems, also known as AIOs, or custom cooling loops.
Whichever you choose, the premise is the same.
A pump pushes the liquid coolant to and from a radiator through a water block which is attached to the CPU.
The heat is then transferred from the CPU to the cool liquid, which is then pumped throughout the system and cooled via that radiator.
While you can build this yourself to truly customize the look and performance, most people nowadays tend to go the AIO route
because it comes as a single unit and dramatically simplifies the install process.
Liquid cooling tends to be more effective as a cooling method because of the high thermal conductivity of water.
Just think about cooling yourself by standing in front of a fan vs jumping in a pool.
It's an oversimplification but you get my drift.
When it comes to noise levels, you may be thinking, wait a second, liquid cooling uses fans too!
It does, it is true, but the fans in a liquid-cooled system tend to rotate more slowly and quietly than those in an air cooled system.
Another benefit of liquid cooling your system is that, depending on your setup,
it can look super cool!
Whether it's custom loops with a special colored coolant or fancy RGB and LED logos,
there are more ways to express yourself visually in a liquid cooled PC.
The downsides to liquid cooling include cost -
it's a more complicated cooling system and therefore will cost more as a result -
plus they can be harder to setup initially.
Just working with liquid near expensive computer components can be super nerve wracking!
Plus, from a maintenance standpoint, you'll have to make sure the fluid levels stay within the proper range
and that the components stay clean and functional.
A leak could be catastrophic!
On a positive note, AIO liquid coolers mitigate a lot of these downsides
and installation, maintenance, and even cost - are more on par with high-end air cooling systems.
This is great news for new builders looking for a more affordable, simpler way to get into liquid cooling. Huzzah!
Ultimately, the decision is up to personal preference, budget, comfort level and system needs.
And if you are torn, keep in mind that there are both air cooling systems that specialize in features often associated with liquid cooling
like noise or RGB accents and vice versa, liquid cooling that's more affordable and easier to install and maintain (AIOs).
Whichever you choose, as long as you keep your PC temps chilled out, you'll be just fine.
My last PC build was an AIO cooler - what was yours?
Alright until next time everyone, I'm Trisha Hershberger and you've been watching DIY in 5!