Conclusion

So there it is in a nutshell! When it really comes down to it, cooling is an absolutely vital part of any computer. Without it, your components would overheat and suffer damage. When you consider that the average gaming computer today costs about 1,000 USD, and that the price of proper cooling usually doesn’t exceed a tenth of that, it’s clearly evident that taking the necessary steps to cool your system is a much wiser plan than having to periodically replace struggling components.

Now then, let’s briefly review the types of cooling discussed –

Convection Heatsink
Found in most existing computers (in one form or another), convection heatsinks offer reliable, affordable, usually effective cooling. Air that flows around the fins of the heatsink dissipates warmth and cools components. For novice computer users and even some of the seasoned veterans with monster setups, convection heatsinks are more often than not the best cooling method, due to their simplicity of installation and low risk factor.

Water Cooling
The second most common type of cooling, water cooling is a very effective means of removing the heat from your components. Due to the risks involved in using water as a cooling agent for an electric device like a computer, it is not usually the best idea to install a water cooling system yourself if you don’t know exactly what you’re doing. Professional installation and ready-made kits can often drive the price of a water cooling system up as well. While it may be tremendously more effective than air at cooling your computer due to liquid’s specific heat capacity, it is not always the most feasible thing in the world to do.

Phase Change
Phase Change units employ a bunch of yummy physical and chemical properties to get subzero temperatures in your system. They are expensive, occasionally difficult to set up, and are sometimes more risky than water cooling, thanks to condensation. If you want pure cooling power to set overclocking records with the best possible results, then Phase Change is for you…no doubt about that. However, if you only want to overclock your processor marginally, or just want to have low temperatures, then there are more sound ways to accomplish this.

Peltier Cooling
Peltier cooling is one of the more crazy forms of temperature reduction. It can be used to cool off a number of different parts of your system. Systems utilizing Peltier cooling use exorbitant levels of electric power to provide their distinctive heat differences. Due to the fact that there aren’t any moving parts in these systems, they’re usually extremely reliable. However, the amount of heat produced by a thermoelectric plate often becomes a problem it its own right. For inexperienced users, the hassle of setting up a Peltier system is not worth the benefits.

So, when choosing which type of cooling to use in the next system you build, don’t be influenced primarily by low numbers, whether they refer to temperatures or costs. There are many more things to consider.

Sources

ATI
Chernobyl Disaster
Peltier cooler information