At a CPU water cooler , is a powerful radiator based on the proven principle of water cooling and is being used more and more frequently to keep modern processors quiet and cool. The individual components of a modern computer convert some of the electrical energy into heat, called power loss. As the efficiency of modern processors increases, so does the heat generated. Where once the surrounding air sufficed to cool the individual components sufficiently, water cooling systems are increasingly being used today to keep modern PCs cool. In addition to passive cooled PCs, in which only a passive heat sink is used, there is also the active variant, in which the heat sink is additionally supported by fans.

History of CPU water cooling

The cooling of PCs with water in the private sector has its origins in some hardware enthusiasts who wanted to overclock their PCs as high as possible in the early 2000s. The popularization of CPU water coolers was also favored by the fact that around the turn of the millennium, the first dual-core CPUs came on the market, which were previously used only on high-performance servers and needed because of the enormous power loss, a high-performance cooler. At that time, only air-cooled radiators were available, which had an extremely high noise emission and which were perceived by many as disturbing. Initially, the first heatsinks for water cooling systems were still manufactured. These first models were extremely primitive, the water was with aquarium pumps from a bucket, which was placed next to the computer, in the cooling circuit and back again. The next stage of development is radiators and expansion tanks, which were self-built and had different cooling capacities, each adapted to personal requirements. Today, different high-performance CPU water coolers such. For example, the ARCTIC Liquid Freezer 240, Powerful CPU waterblock with 4 120mm whisper-quiet fans, or the Corsair CW-9060024-WW Hydro Series H80i V2 High Performance All-In-One Water Cooling 120mm are sure to give the hardware enthusiast outstanding cooling performance ,

Active and passive CPU water cooler

modern CPU water cooler are classified according to the type of cooling water cooling in active and passive radiator. When cooling is active, a fanused, which generates an air flow through the heat exchanger. Most of these cooling systems are relatively small radiatorwhich is available in a single, dual or triple version (for one, two or three fans). With the double and triple version, a higher cooling capacity can be achieved than with a single fan. In contrast to the active cooling mode, no fans are used with passive CPU water coolers. In the passive version, the cooling effect on the radiator is created solely by the movement of air through the radiator, similar to an ordinary one radiator, A passively cooled radiator is in most cases significantly larger than an actively cooled radiator to achieve comparable cooling performance. In passive cooling systems, the radiator is placed outside of the PC case, so that an optimal air flow can be ensured. The radiator is available in two different versions, either horizontal or vertical.

How modern water coolers work

The water in the cooling circuit is moved by a pump. In the heat sink, which is attached to the processor, the water absorbs the heat and forwards it to the radiator, where the heat is released into the air. If the cooling system serves several components in the housing at the same time, all cooled components are coupled one behind the other, so that a uniform flow of water through all heat sinks can be ensured. Today, however, there are also cooling systems in which pump, radiator fan and reservoir are permanently installed in a housing. In these modern systems, only the heat sink needs to be mounted to the CPU and connected to the cooling system with hoses. These modern systems such as the ARCTIC Liquid Freezer 120, Powerful CPU water cooler with whisper-quiet 120 mm PWM fans are sometimes so compact that they can be installed in two to three ordinary 5.25 „drive bays quickly and easily.