There’s nothing worse than a computer that overheats and becomes slow and less efficient. A heated computer is also louder and it is bad for the lifespan. The best water cooling for your PC is the solution.
It’s not surprising if this raises some questions. After all, water and electricity is not the best combination. There is also a lot to consider when purchasing water cooling. Here you will find our top 5 and a handy buying guide to answer your questions and help you find the best water cooling for your computer.
Water Cooling Buying Guide: How to choose the best water cooling for computer
Traditional air cooling is slowly but surely making way for water cooling. There are several reasons for that. You can read exactly what those reasons are and what all is involved in water cooling in this buying guide. 👇
Why do you need water cooling?
Are you a gamer, or do you regularly run demanding programs on your PC? Then you have undoubtedly had to deal with CPU cooling before. There are two types of CPU coolers: air cooling and water cooling.
Air cooling vs. water cooling
In air cooling, a fan creates a stream of air that directs heat away from the processor (CPU). This cools down the processor, but less efficiently than water cooling does.
Water cooling is a closed circuit . Air cooling is an open circuit. Due to the open circuit of air cooling, not all heat leaves the computer case. As a result, the average temperature in the computer case remains relatively high.
Also, water, or coolant in this case, has a higher thermal conductivity than air, which means that water absorbs heat better. This also contributes to the cooling efficiency. The more heat is absorbed, the less heat remains in the computer part and the better the part cools down.
Efficient cooling contributes to the life of your computer, because heat has a negative effect on the life of the components. And especially if you’ve invested in a good processor and a video card that you say you’re against, that’s a real shame!
On the other hand, air cooling is cheaper and easier to install and maintain. Water cooling is also not always necessary. Air cooling is sufficient if your computer performs light tasks. In that case, the advantage of water cooling is only that it is a bit quieter and it may look nicer.
Not asking a lot from your computer and overclocking for a performance advantage? Then air cooling probably also meets your needs.
🔥 Overclocking
By overclocking your processor (CPU overclocking) you exceed the recommended maximum clock speed. As a result, your processor achieves higher speed and you can perform tasks faster. Overclocking is accompanied by high temperatures and this shortens the life of your processor. Good cooling and ventilation is therefore essential!
How does water cooling work?
Water cooling works quite simply: basically, coolant absorbs the heat given off by the computer’s components and releases this heat to the environment, after which the liquid cools down again. This keeps repeating.
In practice, there is a bit more to it. In simple water cooling systems there is coolant in the water block. The water block surrounds the processor and absorbs the heat from the processor. The heated liquid flows through a pump to the radiator.
The radiator absorbs the heat from the fluid and fans blow the warm air away. The cooled coolant then returns to the water block and the cycle begins again.
More extensive systems also exist. These often work slightly better and may have more water blocks to effectively cool down multiple parts.
Coolant is contained in a reservoir. The pump directs the liquid through tubes (hoses) to the water block (or water blocks). The water block surrounds a part of the computer that gets hot. In most cases, such a block is at least around the processor.
The coolant in the water block absorbs the heat given off by the part. The part cools down and the fluid heats up. The pump now transfers the heated liquid to the radiator.
The radiator absorbs the heat and thus cools the fluid. Fans blow the heat absorbed by the radiator out of the cabinet. This cools the radiator and no heat from the cooling circuit remains in the computer case. The fluid then flows back to the reservoir and the cycle begins again.
Parts of water cooling
Above you already read something about the operation of water cooling and you were briefly introduced to its components. But what is important about these parts? Below is a more detailed introduction to the components of a PC water cooling system. 🤝
- Reservoir : The reservoir is the starting point of the circuit. This contains the coolant.
- Pump : The pump is responsible for circulating the coolant through the system. Pay attention to the pump power (the force) and the pump speed. The power is important if you are cooling more parts. The speed is important to cool your parts quickly.
- Water block : The water block maintains the temperature of the computer component by absorbing the heat it gives off. There are two types: universal and full cover. Universal blocks are easy to install, but full covers are more efficient.
- Radiator : The radiator absorbs the heat from the liquid and thus ensures that the liquid cools down again. The bigger the better usually applies to this ; the more surface area to absorb heat, the more effectively the liquid cools.
- Fan : The fan(s) blows the heat absorbed by the radiator outside the computer case. Here too, the more fans, the better the heat is blown out of the cabinet. Another possibility is a relatively powerful or fast fan, but this produces more noise.
- Tubes : These are the hoses in which the coolant flows. In theory, the flow is better in thicker tubes, but in practice it makes little difference. It is especially important for the flow that there are as few (sharp) bends in the tubes as possible.
- Fittings : Fittings connect the tubes to the other parts. This makes the connections possible. For example, between that from the reservoir to the pump and from there to the water block.
- Coolant : This is distilled water or water with some additives. Tap water is sensitive to deposits, which is detrimental to the cooling system.
- Power supply of your PC : This is not part of the water cooling, but it is nevertheless an important part. The power supply must be powerful enough to drive the cooling system. The best water cooling therefore goes hand in hand with the best power supply for your PC.
Build your own vs. ready
An all-in-one water cooling (AIO) comes ready-made with a water pump, water block, radiator and tubes. You don’t have to screw anything together anymore. It will take you about fifteen minutes to 30 minutes to install the water cooling in your PC.
It also requires little know-how . After all, the parts have already been put together for you. In addition, the chance of leaks is the smallest compared to a system that you put together yourself. Water and electricity is not exactly a good combination!
Although an AIO water cooling is cost-effective and compact, the performance is less strong compared to a DIY water cooling. AIOs usually do not contain the best quality parts. This is not to say that you buy a pig in a poke. Most AIOs still deliver decent quality!
You put together a self-build water cooling system (custom built) yourself. You choose the parts yourself and it is possible to pimp it up quite a bit with colors, RGB lighting and even colored coolant. 🌈
Because you assemble every part – from the water block to the pump – yourself, you achieve fantastic performance. A DIY water cooler doesn’t just have to cool your processor, you even have the choice to extend it to your video card (GPU), working memory (RAM) and your power supply.
The cons? A self-build water cooling system requires relatively much maintenance, a lot of know-how of the operation and the parts, there is a chance that you assemble parts incorrectly and incur damage, and last but not least : the price. A personalized and high-quality water cooler comes with a price tag.
Socket
The socket is the part of your motherboard (with the processor) where you connect the cooling. Compare it to plugging a device into an electrical outlet. It is crucial that both parties connect well with each other, otherwise you may help things to the gallemies.
The socket of the motherboard consists of a series of pins on which you click the water cooling. Simple basic water coolers connect to these pins and that’s it . There are also (better) cooling systems that you mount on the motherboard with an extra backplate on the back of the motherboard.
You can find the socket type of your motherboard in the accompanying manual. In addition, there are cooling systems that you not only connect to the motherboard, but also to other components such as the video card. These are usually custom-made systems.
Verify that the target water cooling is compatible with your PC’s motherboard and you can safely get started . 👌
Format
The size of a PC’s water cooling is important to consider. First of all, for both the radiator and the fan: the bigger, the better the cooling capacity.
A large radiator absorbs more heat. A large fan makes fewer revolutions than a small fan to move the same amount of air. A large fan is not only more effective, but usually also produces less noise because it rotates less hard.
You can read the radiator size from the sizes of the fans. One fan is 120mm , two are 240mm , three are 360mm and four fans are 480mm . The total dimensions of the fans are equal to the radiator size.
Before you think that a large water cooler is always better, keep in mind that it must fit in your computer case. It is also true that more fans produce more noise. Weigh all factors to make the right choice.
Noise level
As described earlier, water coolers are a lot quieter than air coolers. You can read how much noise water cooling makes from the number of decibels (dB). For a water cooler this is an average of 30 to 40 dB.
For comparison: 10 dB is the sound of a falling leaf, 20 dB is a reading room in a library, 30 dB is a clock ticking and 40 dB is a quiet room.
Fans and cooling fins
Even though a computer’s water cooling system uses liquid to cool, fans are still an important component. Pay attention to the format and the RPM (rotations per minute).
A larger fan moves more air in one rotation than a small fan. The higher the number of RPM, the faster the fan rotates and the more power it has to cool the equipment.
Radiator
The radiators are a crucial part of water cooling. The radiator absorbs the heat that travels with the coolant.
Earlier I indicated that the larger the radiator, the more heat it absorbs and the better the cooling capacity. This has to do with the cooling fins. There are so-called fins in the radiator. The role of these fins is to increase the surface area that absorbs the heat.
The dimensions of a radiator are important, because larger radiators usually contain more fins. But the total surface is the most important and the cooling fins play a major role in this.
Design
Where computers used to be simple cabinets and appearance played a subordinate role, nowadays you see more and more flamboyant designs popping up. Water cooling with RGB lighting really pimps up your computer. This allows you to choose from hundreds of colors.
A display to show the temperature or other system information is also an option. Prefer to unpack completely? Displays on which you play gifs also exist these days!
Recommend the 5 best water coolers for computer in 2023
1. WAK CoolerMaster MasterLiquid ML240L V2 RGB2011/115x/AM3/AM4
Number of fans included: 2
Suitable for socket: Socket 1150 , Socket 2066 , Socket 2011v3 , Socket 1156 , Socket AM4 , Socket AM3+
Maximum sound production: 27 dB
Maximum airflow: 72 m³/h
Equipped with LED lighting: Yes
2. Cooler Master MasterLiquid ML360 Illusion
Number of fans included: 3
Suitable for socket: Socket 1150 , Socket 1151 , Socket 1155 , Socket 1156 , Socket 2011 , Socket 2011v3 , Socket 2066 , Socket AM2 , Socket AM3 , Socket AM3+ , Socket AM4
Equipped with LED lighting: Yes
3. NZXT Kraken X63
The refreshed Kraken X Series is a must-have for any build, providing better cooling, stunning visual effects, and intuitive installation. You can fine-tune settings with CAM’s software interface, ensuring optimal performance in even the most intense gaming sessions. The new Kraken X series maintains the customizable lighting effects and quiet performance of previous generations and adds a HUE 2 connector for even more RGB options. With a re-designed cap and larger infinity mirror ring LED, the new Kraken X delivers an amazing experience in RGB liquid cooling, backed by a 6-year warranty.
A 10% bigger LED ring allows for more vivid RGB. A rotatable top accommodates re-orienting the logo no matter the direction the cooler is installed.
CAM provides sophisticated controls with an intuitive, user-friendly interface. Now with better sync for lighting across all NZXT RGB devices, full CAM integration allows you to manage your Kraken’s performance with precision, making adjustments with the click of a button.
The Aer P radiator fans are designed for liquid-cooling perfection. It features a chamfered intake and fluid dynamic bearing that provides silent operations, durability, and powerful cooling performance.
Fine nylon mesh sleeves strengthen the rubber tubing, providing durability and protection against mishandling. Adjust the orientation of the pump head to fit the needs of your motherboard.
4. Corsair iCUE H100i RGB Pro XT
Number of fans included: 2
Suitable for socket: Socket AM4 , Socket 2066 , Socket 1156 , Socket 1155 , Socket 2011 , Socket 1150 , Socket 1151
Maximum speed: 2400 r/min
Maximum sound production: 36 dB
Maximum airflow: 75 m³/h
Equipped with LED lighting: Yes
5. Cooler Master Master Liquid ML120L V2 RGB Processor
Number of fans included: 1
Suitable for socket: Socket 1150 , Socket 1151 , Socket 1155 , Socket 1156 , Socket 2011 , Socket 2011v3 , Socket 2066 , Socket AM3 , Socket AM3+ , Socket AM4
Maximum speed: 2000 r/min
Maximum noise production: 30 dB
Maximum airflow: 66.7 m³/h
Equipped with LED lighting: Yes
Frequently asked questions about water cooling for computer
Do you have any questions? Hopefully I answer your question below. Isn’t this so? Please let us know by filling in the feedback form at the bottom of the page. 😁
🆚 Is water cooling better than air cooling?
Water cooling is better, but not in every situation. If air cooling is sufficient for your situation, air cooling is better, because it is cheaper and easier to install and maintain. But water cooling is more efficient and cools better, making it a better CPU cooler.
💧 Why do you use coolant and not water?
‘Ordinary’ water is not recommended for the use of water cooling. Coolant has a different composition for which (in contrast to water) it counteracts limescale, algae formation and corrosion. All this is bad for the cooling system, which makes coolant better than water.
How do you connect water cooling?
The exact way differs per computer and cooling system. AIO water coolers are usually easy to connect by mounting the water block on the motherboard and installing the radiator (with the fans) in the PC case. Connecting self-build water coolers is more difficult and requires more knowledge.
With self-build water coolers, it is important that you first select the right parts and then draw the ‘track’ of the water cooling. Keep in mind that the first component in the cooling circuit receives the best cooling because the liquid has not yet absorbed any heat.
How long does a water cooling last?
An AIO water cooling lasts on average between 3 and 5 years. Factors such as regular cleaning and proper maintenance also influence the lifespan. The lifespan of a DIY water cooling system is more difficult to determine. This depends on the quality of the installed parts and own maintenance.
By regularly checking the condition of the parts and replacing them if necessary, it is possible to considerably extend the life of the water cooling system.
Which water cooling should I buy?
That’s entirely up to you and your budget; everyone is unique. What I do have for you is a handy table with – in my opinion – the most important specifications of the best water cooling. This is how you make the best choice!
| Number of fans included | Maximum sound production | Maximum airflow | Equipped with LED lighting | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | WAK CoolerMaster MasterLiquid ML240L V2 RGB2011/115x/AM3/AM4 | 2 | 27 dB | 72 m³/h | Yes | |
| 2 | Cooler Master MasterLiquid ML360 Illusion | 3 | 27 dB | 72 m³/h | Yes | |
| 3 | NZXT Kraken X63 | 3 | 27 dB | 72 m³/h | Yes | |
| 4 | Corsair iCUE H100i RGB Pro XT | 2 | 36 dB | 75 m³/h | Yes | 2400 r/min |
| 5 | Cooler Master MasterLiquid ML120L V2 RGB Processor | 1 | 30 dB | 66.7 m³/h | Yes | 2000 r/min |
Conclusion
The best water cooling keeps your PC cool, even in the hottest situations. There’s a lot to consider, from parts like the radiator and cooling pads to factors like decibels and RPM.
Hopefully, you now know exactly what to look for when purchasing a water cooling system for your computer. Thank you for reading. 😊