![\"The](\"\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Raptor-Signature_Cooling-300x199.png\")
So what is water cooling anyway?<\/strong><\/h2>\nWater cooling is the practice of using a liquid powered cooler \u2013 very similar to a car radiator \u2013 which takes advantage of the superior thermal properties of water to dissipate heat from the processor and often the video cards as well. Water cooled solutions can be simple, maintenance free, closed loop radiators like our LiquiCool 8 all the way up to insanely complicated set ups with custom tubes and piping, like our Intel Extreme Rig<\/a>. And yes, the liquid can be actual distilled water (which is non-conductive) but is often a glycol-based solution similar to car antifreeze which does dissipate heat better.<\/p>\nIs water cooling necessary?<\/strong><\/h2>\nTen years ago, I would have said yes, water cooling is a necessity on all high performance desktops. Components were much less efficient than they are now, and therefor generated significantly more heat, often resulting in instability or even shortening the life of the components. But with the latest hardware innovations of the past few years like Intel Broadwell-E<\/a> and Skylake<\/a> or NVIDIA\u2019s GTX 10 graphics<\/a>, improved efficiency has resulted in less power consumption and heat generation. This fact alongside the improvement of many air cooled solutions makes the expense of water cooling not needed for most users.<\/p>\nWhen is air cooling a better option?<\/strong><\/h2>\nAdvanced air cool solutions have come a long way to closing the gap with water cooling, at least for most mainstream users. We generally recommend the PH-TC12LS from Phanteks for many customers because it cools almost as well as closed loop water coolers and is nearly as quiet under normal load, without the additional expense or possible maintenance of a water cooler. For most consumers working under normal operating conditions (i.e. not overly stressing the CPU, not overclocking, normal environment, etc.), air cooling is the best option.<\/p>\n
So who does need water cooling then?<\/strong><\/h2>\nThis doesn\u2019t mean that water cooling is never needed though. For overclockers<\/a> and high demand users who tend to push their systems to the max or those working in overly warm environments, we absolutely insist on a good water cool solution for maximum stability. For users that require the quietest system possible, water cooling\u2019s often virtually silent operation is also probably the best choice.<\/p>\n![\"Another](\"\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/RaptorSignatureMain-277x300.png\")
Another picture of our Intel Extreme Rig, because, why not?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nPros and Cons of water cooling vs air cooling<\/strong><\/h2>\nLet\u2019s sum up with a list of the Pros and Cons of water cooling:<\/p>\n
Pros:<\/strong><\/p>\n
Is water cooling necessary?<\/strong><\/h2>\nTen years ago, I would have said yes, water cooling is a necessity on all high performance desktops. Components were much less efficient than they are now, and therefor generated significantly more heat, often resulting in instability or even shortening the life of the components. But with the latest hardware innovations of the past few years like Intel Broadwell-E<\/a> and Skylake<\/a> or NVIDIA\u2019s GTX 10 graphics<\/a>, improved efficiency has resulted in less power consumption and heat generation. This fact alongside the improvement of many air cooled solutions makes the expense of water cooling not needed for most users.<\/p>\nWhen is air cooling a better option?<\/strong><\/h2>\nAdvanced air cool solutions have come a long way to closing the gap with water cooling, at least for most mainstream users. We generally recommend the PH-TC12LS from Phanteks for many customers because it cools almost as well as closed loop water coolers and is nearly as quiet under normal load, without the additional expense or possible maintenance of a water cooler. For most consumers working under normal operating conditions (i.e. not overly stressing the CPU, not overclocking, normal environment, etc.), air cooling is the best option.<\/p>\n
So who does need water cooling then?<\/strong><\/h2>\nThis doesn\u2019t mean that water cooling is never needed though. For overclockers<\/a> and high demand users who tend to push their systems to the max or those working in overly warm environments, we absolutely insist on a good water cool solution for maximum stability. For users that require the quietest system possible, water cooling\u2019s often virtually silent operation is also probably the best choice.<\/p>\nAnother picture of our Intel Extreme Rig, because, why not?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nPros and Cons of water cooling vs air cooling<\/strong><\/h2>\nLet\u2019s sum up with a list of the Pros and Cons of water cooling:<\/p>\n
Pros:<\/strong><\/p>\n
When is air cooling a better option?<\/strong><\/h2>\nAdvanced air cool solutions have come a long way to closing the gap with water cooling, at least for most mainstream users. We generally recommend the PH-TC12LS from Phanteks for many customers because it cools almost as well as closed loop water coolers and is nearly as quiet under normal load, without the additional expense or possible maintenance of a water cooler. For most consumers working under normal operating conditions (i.e. not overly stressing the CPU, not overclocking, normal environment, etc.), air cooling is the best option.<\/p>\n
So who does need water cooling then?<\/strong><\/h2>\nThis doesn\u2019t mean that water cooling is never needed though. For overclockers<\/a> and high demand users who tend to push their systems to the max or those working in overly warm environments, we absolutely insist on a good water cool solution for maximum stability. For users that require the quietest system possible, water cooling\u2019s often virtually silent operation is also probably the best choice.<\/p>\nAnother picture of our Intel Extreme Rig, because, why not?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nPros and Cons of water cooling vs air cooling<\/strong><\/h2>\nLet\u2019s sum up with a list of the Pros and Cons of water cooling:<\/p>\n
Pros:<\/strong><\/p>\n
This doesn\u2019t mean that water cooling is never needed though. For overclockers<\/a> and high demand users who tend to push their systems to the max or those working in overly warm environments, we absolutely insist on a good water cool solution for maximum stability. For users that require the quietest system possible, water cooling\u2019s often virtually silent operation is also probably the best choice.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s sum up with a list of the Pros and Cons of water cooling:<\/p>\n Pros:<\/strong><\/p>\nPros and Cons of water cooling vs air cooling<\/strong><\/h2>\n