Water Cooling looks too complicated to setup compared to air cooling

I am building an gaming rig for my home use and I am using around 4 high end graphic cards in it. The graphic cards that I am using will generate a large amount of heat when used. So I am planning to provide the CPU with highest amount of cooling that is possible. I first planned to use water cooling system to give an extra cooling to the internal parts of my computer, but one of my friend told me that water cooling will act in more disadvantageous way rather than giving me any advantage. I didn’t talk much about it with him, but today I remembered it and thus I wanted to know what he meant by it. Can somebody explain me?

Whatever your friend told you about water cooling is very true. You should avoid water cooling unless and until you have much free time to spend on maintenance of your computer. You should stick to regular cooling fans and heatsinks for cooling of your internal parts inside your computer. They are much better for use and maintenance too. All you have to do is to plug the cooling fans on your motherboard or on the PSU and place them on the peripheral you want to cool or maintain the temperature. You can have heatsinks to attach near the peripherals so that it absorbs all the heat. The cooling fans and the heatsinks are just plug and use kind of hardware, but water cooling is not.

The first thing that is bad about the water cooling system is that it is very expensive as compared to the air cooling hardware. Also water cooling systems are not easily available as the air cooling systems. I don’t know which region you leave in, but water cooling systems are manufactured by limited hardware manufacturers and sold in specific shops only. So getting it is a next big thing. It is mostly available with the retail hardware shops who sell their products to big companies and industries. Another way of getting the water cooling system is by placing an order on the online stores and get it home delivered. But air cooling system is very easily available. You can go to any of your local PC hardware store and ask for cooling fans or heatsinks and you will get it in almost every size and brand available.

If you must have installed the water cooling system in past, then it is fine. But if not, let me tell you that you will spend at least two to three days for proper installation of water cooling system. One thing I will tell you that since you are having four graphic cards in your computer, then maybe other peripherals will be too of the same high end quality. I have observed that high end peripherals tend to have extra body mass, maybe for fancy purpose or it is meant to be that way. I suggest that you get the blueprint of the motherboard that you will be using and the CPU cabinet, and draw the route on which you will be spreading the water cooling system. You need to plan out the water cooling system’s installation before actually doing it.

The water cooling system isn’t just plug and play like air cooling system. You will have to take the cooling pipes and other parts of it including the wires. You will have to see it that the pipes of the water cooling system don’t interfere with the wiring or path of any other peripheral. Many times, it happens that wired of the water cooling system gets tangled with wires of other peripherals and tend to short circuit the internal of a CPU. So you should avoid such problems and thus need to give utmost care to the installation of the water cooling system. You will need to use extra clips or some plugs to keep the pipes and wires of the water cooling system in place that is best for its functionality.

One thing I would like to tell you about the water cooling system is that it adds a huge amount of weight to the computer. All the components of the water cooling system like wires, the pump, the cooling pipes and other parts increase the weight of the system by around two folds. The whole system is usually made of metal, thus the steep rise in the weight. So if you need to move the CPU around regularly, then let me tell you that water cooing system should be strictly avoided. Also if you find some way to move the CPU cabinet around with water cabinet installed in it, then again the fittings of it are very sensitive. While moving, a small nudge or shock can disturb the internal arrangement easily.

In air cooling system you will be having multiple number of cooling fans and heatsinks in your computer. These all fans will be independent of each other. That is, if one of the cooling fans will get stopped due to any problem like breaking of wire or power surge, it won’t affect the working of other cooling fans and heat sinks. The other will keep performing their task of cooling. But in water cooling system, if one of the pipes gets damaged or stops working, it will create problem for other part of the system too. The water will be blocked leading to disturbance in flow of the water. Also if the pipe gets spoiled in beginning part of the structure, then all the peripherals that will be getting water cooling will also be affected. So in short, one minor problem in water cooling system and whole cooling system might go down.

Water cooling system is very quiet and doesn’t make noise as the air cooling system does. It keeps pumping he water through and fro in the flow system and does its work. Also the cooling it provides is of high quality than that of the air cooling. If you are a regular overclocker, then let me tell you that water cooling system is best for you. In air cooling system,, you will have to keep on increasing and decreasing the speed of the fans to adjust the voltage consumption and also provide cooling. But with water cooling, you won’t have to care about changes in the cooling system. You can straight away start working on overclocking your system without worry8ing about the heat. Also in the water cooling system, you will get air pumping system which will throw out the hot air out of the cabinet and let the cool air remain inside. If you leave in a region where the ambient temperature is high, then it is recommended to use water cooling system.

There many problems related to the water cooling system that keeps one away from using it. The whole water cooling system is very fragile. A minor shock to it and part of the system might break down. You need to regularly check the internal connections as many times the pipes seem to get dust collected inside it and block the flow of the water inside it. If instead of metal pipes, some other material like plastic or rubber is used, then it is noticed that the pipes twists and creates a blockage in the system. One needs to solve these twists regularly. Also many times, due to moisture created around pipes that carry water, dust gets stuck on it and creates nuisance. So you need to regularly clean the dirt in the water cooling system. Refilling the water and cooling agent is also a tedious task.