Why do people pay so much extra for liquid-cooled computers when fans seem to do the same thing?
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Aesthetics, mostly.
None of the other posters are really *wrong* about the other reasons. Liquid cooling is better at removing heat quickly. Shifting heat dissipation to radiators does allow you to run more fans at lower speeds (and thus, lower noise) for the same performance. And if you really want to overclock your PC to extreme levels, liquid cooling will allow you to do that.
But for the most part it, in terms of real-world application, it comes down to aesthetics. Liquid cooling your PC, especially if you do your own bending, allows you more freedom to differentiate your PC from others. You can work your pipes into fun designs, fill them with fluorescent coolants, and really dress up your PC in ways that standard air coolers just can’t accommodate.
Many of the hardware-focused sites and streamers have done extensive testing on the effectiveness of liquid cooling, and while liquid cooling *does* give an advantage to performance it’s not a huge edge. For the vast majority of real-world applications – including high-end gaming and design work – fan-cooling your PC is more than sufficient. It’s really only if you’re pushing performance for the sake of pushing performance that liquid cooling is needed.
And I say that as someone who does have a liquid-cooled PC, is gearing up to spend more money on redoing my liquid-cooled PC, and who will liquid-cool my next PC. It’s not necessary, but it’s fun if you enjoy that sort of thing.
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