Liquid Cooling vs Air Cooling in 2022

Shaun Conroy

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Tom

Dec 7, 2019 at 4:10 am

Thanks for that comment. I did not know that “Air coolers” have a liquid in their heatpipes. Still confused about what cooler to buy for my Ryzen 3700X, but i’ll do some more research about all the coolers.
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Alterius

Oct 18, 2019 at 4:43 pm

Thanks for this article, but I’d like to make an important correction. In the article you state that air cooler heat sinks are made of metal all the way through but this is not the case. You failed to mention that most “air” coolers actually use liquid to transfer the heat. The heat pipes are filled with a refrigerant (often ammonia, alcohol or sometimes water). This refrigerant is sealed at a certain pressure such that when it is heated by the CPU, the liquid will change state and evaporate, which is an endothermic process that cools the CPU down very quickly. Then, once the vapors reach the tops of the heat pipes, they are cooled down by the fins of the heat sink and fan and condense into liquid again, thus completing the thermal cycle. This use of phase change is actually much more effective at transferring heat than just pumping liquid water around, and it doesn’t require a powered pump. If you look at data gathered comparing mid-range AIO coolers to mid-range air coolers, the air cooler generally keep the CPU cooler, and they are generally quieter.

I think that everyone should stop calling them “air coolers” because they use liquid refrigerants for the brunt of the heat transfer. Calling them air coolers is just as erroneous as calling AIO coolers air coolers because the water is cooled by fans in the radiator.

Thanks!
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Liquid Cooling vs Air Cooling in 2022

The Author Who Worked On This Article

Shaun Conroy

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