• Overview

• The Parts

• How Water Cooling Works

• Overclocking

As modern day processors get increasingly faster, the heat they produce increases with them. Heat being a bad thing to have around your CPU must be dealt with in an effective manor. Conventional cooling or air cooling has always been the way to cool your CPU however more and more people are turning to water cooling to achieve the lowest temperatures for their CPU's. Water Cooling is much more effective at removing heat from the CPU than air cooling because water takes less time to heat up than air. Knowing this passing water over a hot surface instead of air transmits the heat away from the CPU much quicker and efficiently. You may think that Water cooling is a stupid idea in a PC with all the electrical parts however let me assure you that if its all done properly the risk is low.

Although the water cooling option is much more expensive than conventional methods, the price has been coming down and the average user is starting to turn to this method. You can pick up a standard water cooling kit for a around £100. Keep in mind though that setting up a water cooling system inside your PC may require some slight modifications in order for it all to fit or alternatively you can buy a case which has been made for the job.

Apart from the obvious better cooling is there any other reason for getting water cooling? Well yes there are a few. Linked to better cooling there is piece of mind. Having a cooling system that can easily cope with CPU's going over 3Ghz now can put your mind at rest. There are many a debate about how hot a CPU can get before its dangerous. Another great reason for having water cooling is the noise or should I say lack of it. Keeping today's CPU's cool using fans and heatsinks directly on the CPU needs a lot of power and speed in the fan. This generally means the fans make a lot of noise. Not really very useful if your trying to watch a DVD for example. The third reason and this was the main reason for many people who adopted the water cooling approach, is its use in overclocking. Knocking off the Celsius from the CPU gives the user a great scope for overclocking.

The Parts

What you will need to make a water cooling system is as follows. (You can buy all this in a kit and some do vary slightly with extra's.)

• CPU Block

• Water Reservoir

• Radiator

• Fan

• Tubing

• anti-corrosion water additive

• Thermal compound

CPU Block
This is the part that fixes onto the top of the CPU. Where you would normally attach your heatsink/fan the CPU block will be fixed here. Designs vary but the idea is that this block will have copper plates with water passed between them.

The Reservoir
Fairly simple, the reservoir is a tank to hold the water. All water cooling systems obviously need water from somewhere. The idea is to have a small tank in your system heavily sealed.

The Radiator
You will normally associate a radiator to giving out heat, and even in this case you would be right., The idea of the radiator in the water cooling system is to disperse the heat in the water, exactly the same way as your radiator at home works. Once the heat has been dispersed the water is returned to the reservoir to begin the cycle again

The Fan
The fan is mounted on the reservoir to help in the cooling process. These fans are usually larger than CPU fans and quieter because they do not need to rotate at high speeds.

Tubing
The Tubing is used to carry the water around the system. This is the part you have to be careful with. Check the tubing for leaks and check all the seal before using it in a PC system. It might be wise to set-up the system out of the PC and let it run for numerous hours before installing it into your PC

Anti-Corrosion water additive
This is a chemical additive that prevents the water from corroding the parts of your water cooling system. A good idea to add some of this if you want your water cooler to last as long as it should. This additive also prevents chalk build up as well as keeping algae and other bacteria away. You can buy these additive in a range of colours which looks great under a neon light. 

Thermal Compound
The same stuff as you attach the heatsink/fan of an air cooler to your CPU with. This makes for a better contact between the CPU block and the CPU itself. Better contact means the heat can be passed from the CPU to the CPU block more efficiently. It all helps in the cooling process.

All these items and kits are Available from Maplin Electronics
More water cooling equipment and Price comparisons
 

Next - How does Water cooling Work

Disclaimer - Although water cooling is safe when done correctly, PantherProducts can not accept responsibility for any damage that is caused by the process of water cooling. If you are unsure of what you are doing, get a professional to help or more information.