WHY IS WATER COOLING BETTER?

[otispunkmeyer]

just been thinkin...while in the shower.....why water cooling is better than air?

i mean if u think bout physics.....now im only an A-Level guy so there'll be plenty of people to punch me in the face and correct me......water has a high specific heat capacity, it absorbs energy (heat) slowly compared to metal, it has low boiling point in comparison and in turn releases it more slowly than metal.......so your not gettin the heat off the CPU very fast and ur not getting rid of it very fast either? so why is it better than a cooper heat sink and a big fan?

 

[Cerb]

Heat pipes and water cooling have a distinct advantage: they move the heat. The water absorbs the heat and carries it around. The radiator then does most of the dissipating. It may not absorb as much as copper or aluminum, but as long as you have a good, constant flow, it absorbs enough..

 

[otispunkmeyer]

oh sh@t yeah, i forgot bout the whole flow thing!.....thanks man, but i still dont see the advantages being worth the extra......unless u got a really good flow of really cold water..........the zalman reserator sounds abit weak with its pump

 

[Cerb]

Well, really good air cooling is starting to cost quite bit. I'll eventually be moving to water, but it just isn't there yet for normal use.

The reserator is actually exceptional, given it is near noiseless. Integrating the reservoir and radiator is great, too, and something near impossible for typical user, even one with access to metal-wroking tools. I'd love to see how things would do with multiple reserators in series and using some more powerful pumps (but maybe magnetic impeller ones for noise).

 

[hifisoftware]

I guess you are asking why water is better then air?
Water absorbs heat much better then air. Since you can take more heat off CPU you can keep it cooler at higher speeds.
You are not comparing copper heatsink vs water cooling. Heatsinks are just a passway to pass heat from CPU to the air or water (or any other collant).

 

[jhurst]

Yea Otis you should have thought about this a little more. Both water and air cooling solutions use copper heatsinks for heat transfer, so that is not what you are comparing. And since water is denser than air, the heat transfers much easier and efficiently through the water.

 

[BullsOnParade]

and that efficiency translates into small water blocks to sit atop the processors vs. the huge ones in air cooled systems.

 

[oldman420]

heres a good example take off all of your clothes and go outside in 32 degree air you will freeze yes but imagine getting into a tub of 32 degree water your body would freeze much more quickly

 

[Tiamat]

Just in case you wanted a more indepth explaination, air and water are the fluids used as a convection medium (most often).

Q = k*A*dT where Q is the heat flow, k is the convective heat coefficient, A is area, and dT is delta Temperature.

the k for air ranges from 10-100 W/m²-K while that of water is 500-10000 W-m²-K. (the range is for different average temperatures between hot and cold).

So, as you can see, water is better at transporting heat by 50 to 100 times!!

If your area of heat transfer is incredible, you can match the efficiency of water cooling - take a thermalright SLK 9xx series heatsink and compare it to a medium to low quality water cooler and you will see similar results!!

This is the same as if your delta T was incredible. However, switching from air to water brings you the most result without stressing out the surrounding components (no huge delta T as in liquid nitrogen), or doesnt snap your motherboard (slk 9xx series weigh quite a bit and stress your mobo a bit if you are not careful)


What if you throw your water coolers radiator into a modified refrigerator....

Sorry for the book, but my heat transport final was today and im still in the groove

 

[HardWarrior]

When you consider air versus water you should also consider the respective workloads. If you slap a good HSF on your CPU you'll have a more than passable solution that is, in essence, set and forget. Water-cooling is better as a heat transport\dissipation system, but it introduces more complexity. If you're prepared for the hassle of setting up and maintaining a water-cooler system you'll be rewarded. But keep in mind, water requires more of the user.

I'm setting up my first WC (2262 BTU per hour) system Thursday. So I'll probably have more to say in about a week. :beer: