When looking for a gaming PC, you typically have two options. Air Cooling or Liquid Cooling. There are some advantages to both, however high-end system typically stick with liquid cooling for its superior performance and flexibility.
Pros & Cons of Liquid Cooled Gaming PCs
You may be trying to make a final decision on what type of cooling system you want to go with for your new gaming PC. Let’s look at some of the pros and cons of liquid coolers.
Pros of Liquid Cooling
Temperatures
High end liquid cooling systems typically offer the best thermal performance of any mainstream option. When pushing overclocked modern multicore CPUs and GPUs to the max liquid cooling can be a must at times.
Noise Levels
Liquid cooling systems use a combination of fluid, radiators, and fans to carry heat away from system components. Distributing the heat pulled from a processor or graphics card over a radiators surface area allows fans running at low RPM to push warm air out of your system quietly.
Traditional air coolers which don’t have nearly as much surface area rely on fans spinning at high RPM which can cause significantly more noise.
Styling & Customization
A big part of the gaming PC market is customizing the look and feel of your system. With the exception of a few models, air coolers don’t really allow this.
Liquid cooling allows you to create something that looks truly unique. You can select colored tubing, colored coolant, fittings, mounts, blocks, fans, and radiators. There are endless options and configurations available.
System Stability & Longevity
Liquid cooling does a great job of keeping temperatures down. When PC components get hot and stay hot for extended periods of time it can cause premature degradation or component failure.
Cons of Liquid Cooling
Pricing
While air cooling is relatively inexpensive, liquid cooling your gaming pc can cost as much as a good GPU. Buying fittings, tubes and all the other components can add up quickly.
Potential System Damage
If built properly you shouldn’t have to worry much about your liquid cooled system. However, there is still the risk of leaks, pump failure, corrosion and other issues.
Portability
Once set up, you wouldn’t want to move a liquid cooled system around a lot. Especially if you opted to go for hard tubing. Unlike air cooled systems, liquid cooling can be at risk if it is constantly being bumped or dropped.
Buying a Liquid Cooled Gaming PC
Overall liquid cooling is a great option that should be under consideration for anyone looking to build or buy a gaming PC.
If you want a liquid cooled gaming PC but don’t want to go through the hassle of having to build it yourself. Velocity Micro offers some of the most powerful liquid cooled gaming desktops available.
Charlie O'Donnell
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