Design

A water cooling system has four basic parts: Reservoir, Pump, Blocks, and Radiator. In a typical setup, water or another coolant is added to the reservoir and pumped out through tubes towards cooling blocks. These cooling blocks are attached to the components of your computer in the same fashion that a normal heatsink is attached. Essentially, a block is just a flat plumbing fixture that allows water to flow through it and pick up heat from the device. The design of these blocks can be augmented by adding some standard convection fins, special materials, and even altering size. The heated water then leaves the block and goes off to either another component, or back to the radiator to cool off, depending on how the particular system is plumbed.

The radiator is arguably the most instrumental part of the entire water cooling setup because it manages the temperature of the coolant. This is important because should the coolant start getting hot or overheated, it will lose a good amount of its ability to absorb more heat. This could result in the computer overheating in a hurry. The radiator, in essence, is a big convection heatsink. It is a series of fins or panels through which the water flows through and around in pipes to transfer heat into the air. The radiator usually has fans affixed to it to help force convection.

From there the water goes back into the reservoir where the process starts all over again. The need for a reservoir in a water cooling system is due to the possibility of water loss. Even though a typical water cooling setup is a closed system, liquid can still be lost through evaporation through the surface of the tubing used to transport the water. If a system is properly sealed and uses evaporation-resistant plumbing, there is no need for a reservoir.

Aesthetically, water cooling comes with a lot of options. From specially sleeved tubes to glowing coolant, a water cooling setup can be one of the coolest looking things in any computer. The radiator and pump can also be disguised to look good, too. These characteristics make water cooling setups particularly attractive to case-modders who are looking for a new effect.

Bottom Line

Water cooling setups can be a viable option for users that are operating extreme-performance systems. For anyone other than that, the possibility for high levels of maintenance and sometimes exorbitant price tag make it a less-than-desirable solution. Still, steps have been made in the direction of making water cooling setups simpler and safer. For example, a number of companies now offer non-conductive coolant that will not damage your components should the plumbing spring a leak. Even Intel has gotten its feet wet: at the Spring Intel Developer Forum this year, they unveiled what they call “Intel Advanced Liquid Cooling Technology", which is basically a specialized water cooling setup, intended to be maintenance-free for up to three years. This is all quite interesting, but the fact remains: if you’re not either OC’ing or running a machine that produces an absurd amount of heat at stock settings, water cooling is waste of resources.