Liquid cooler question
Liquid cooler question
I recently purchased the Corsair H115i liquid cooler and am still puzzled about how it functions. Where is the liquid directed? Does it actually rely on it?
There is liquid within a sealed environment. The "system" includes the plate on your CPU, the radiator, and the tubes connecting them. Essentially, the plate moves heat from your CPU into the liquid. A pump then moves that liquid to a radiator built to release heat into the surrounding air. The liquid returns to the plate, restarting the cycle.
The radiator's fans assist in lowering the temperature of the radiator, which then helps cool the water entering it, ultimately reducing the CPU's temperature.
Although the system contains liquid, it remains contained. This setup is considered more effective than air cooling since water conducts heat significantly better...
There's liquid in a closed system. The "system" being the plate that sits on your CPU, the radiator, and the tubes between the plate and radiator.
So basically, the plate is transferring heat from your CPU into the liquid. A pump then pumps that liquid into a radiator which is specifically designed to radiate heat away from the fluid and into the air surrounding the radiator. The fluid them flows back to the plate and starts the process again.
The fans on the radiator help cool the radiator which in turn, cools the water coming into the radiator, which in turn, cools your CPU.
It's full of liquid but the liquid never leaves the system. This system is theoretically better than air cooling because water transfers heat much better than air does.
Make sense?
All self-contained water coolers already contain the necessary liquid and require no upkeep. Simply install and you're ready to use. Air coolers, on the other hand, don't rely on air as the medium for heat transfer. Instead, they use heatpipes filled with liquid or vapor. The heat is moved from the heatsink fins or radiator into the surrounding air. The main distinction lies in how effectively heat is removed from the CPU and dispersed. Without active pumping, heat accumulates near the CPU, leading to higher temperatures compared to better self-contained models like the h60 versus cheaper air coolers such as the cryorig h7.
Sneezer and k1114, that was quite confusing for someone just starting with liquid cooling, but I'm relieved I didn't have to deal with reservoirs and biocide.
It's working perfectly now!
The watercooling sticky covers up the features and 'explains' how liquid cooling works. Closed loop liquid coolers combine the benefits of water cooling with the ease of boxed air coolers, but their effectiveness is closer to that of air coolers rather than true water cooling systems.