Liquid Cooled Computer

Other Unique Engineering Ideas

A liquid-cooling system for a PC works a lot like the cooling system of a car. Both take advantage of a basic principle of thermodynamics - that heat moves from warmer objects to cooler objects.

1. Description

2. Why

3. How

4. Future Trends

5. Related Links

Description

Computers get hot, and they must be cooled. Your average store-bought PC uses a system of fans to pull heat off major components such as the CPU (central processing unit), graphics processor and hard drives. Then the hot air is blown out the back of the machine. That works just fine for most computers doing most jobs. But it's not always ideal, and it does nothing to impress your friends. The other option for dissipating heat is water cooling, or, really, liquid cooling, in which a combination of distilled water and propylene glycol is piped through the guts of the machine. Installing a liquid-cooling system isn't all that difficult, though it can be intimidating.

Why

In most computers, fans do a pretty good job of keeping electronic components cool. But for people who want to use high-end hardware or coax their PCs into running faster, a fan might not have enough power for the job. If a computer generates too much heat, liquid cooling, also known as water cooling, can be a better solution.There are two reasons why a computer might need the increased thermal conductivity and heat capacity of water:

  • Its electronic components produce more heat than the air around them can absorb

  • The fans required to move enough air to cool all the components make too much noise or use too much electricity

How 

A liquid-cooling system for a PC is a lot like a cooling system for a car. Coolant flows through channels in a car's engine block, and the rest of the cooling system incorporates:

  • A pump that moves coolant through the system

  • A radiator that dispels heat into the air

  • A fan that moves air over the radiator

  • A coolant reservoir that holds extra fluid and allows easy addition of coolant

  • Hoses that connect the different parts of the system

One of the most important parts of a liquid cooling system is the radiator. Responsible for dissipating the heat away from the computer components, the better the radiator, the cooler your system will run.The reservoir is responsible for holding extra coolant, which ensures that you provide consistent flow to your pump and water-blocks. It also serves to "trap" the bubbles to keep them from recirculating through your system. The pump is responsible for actually pushing the coolant through your system.In this system, the reservoir and pump are integrated into a single unit. The unit also has a built in fan controller, and temperature LCD, which we have found to be very helpful and highly desired by our customers.

Future Trends

Technically, our attractive high-end PC can keep up with the best of the crop as far as performance goes - minus the noise, of course, associated with an extremely loud standard 08/15 case. Indeed, the large volume of liquid guarantees absolutely silent operation - no fans are running. And even under maximum load the three major building blocks remain sufficiently cool: processor, graphics card and chipset.

Keywords

Radiator, Computer Cooling,  Hybird cooling system, Liquid-cooled PCs

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