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Should I Liquid Cool my PC in a tropical climate?

amsga
By amsga
in Custom Loop and Exotic Cooling
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Posted

Hi All,

 

I am new to the forum so bear with me for asking stupid questions.

I occasionally watch YouTube videos on component reviews and notice that they talk about ambient temperature of about 20C/68F. 

I live in the tropics where the average temperature is usually greater than 32C/90F all year round.

I was wondering if liquid cooling my PC would give me any benefit compared to air cooled parts.

This is all assuming that I do not do any form of overclocking other than factory overclocks by manufacturers.

 

My plan for my next build would include a Ryzen 7 3700X and a Radeon RX 5700, if that helps.

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yes it will be adventageous for you to water cool, because in warmer climates you are just pushing around warm/hot air over top of something you want to cool down.

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It's not a simple answer as there are many different variables. If you have no intention of overclocking yourself then a good HSF (heat sink fan) or AIO (all in one) liquid cooler would be more than sufficient for your 3700X. 

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The ambient temperature doesn't matter.

An air cooler that performs better than a liquid cooler at 20C will perform the exact same amount better at 30C.

 

Air vs water completely depends on what air cooler or water cooler you're comparing, so go look at reviews.

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Currently I don't have a good air flow setup as my room is quite cramp.

My PC is just beneath my table with about 30cm/1ft clearance all around.

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1 hour ago, amsga said:

Currently I don't have a good air flow setup as my room is quite cramp.

My PC is just beneath my table with about 30cm/1ft clearance all around.

is it enclosed in a box

or is the box open on one side

or is it a tunnel, with 2 open sides at either end

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Ambient temperature doesn't matter for CPU cooling. 

It matters like when LTT is attempting to measure distinct changes in tempatures, but for you or I it doesn't matter at all. 

That said liquid will give you better cooling overall, regardless.

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3 hours ago, amsga said:

Hi All,

 

I am new to the forum so bear with me for asking stupid questions.

I occasionally watch YouTube videos on component reviews and notice that they talk about ambient temperature of about 20C/68F. 

I live in the tropics where the average temperature is usually greater than 32C/90F all year round.

I was wondering if liquid cooling my PC would give me any benefit compared to air cooled parts.

This is all assuming that I do not do any form of overclocking other than factory overclocks by manufacturers.

 

My plan for my next build would include a Ryzen 7 3700X and a Radeon RX 5700, if that helps.

If youre not overclocking you don't need anything but a basic aircooler.  Max CPU temperature is linear to ambient temperature ie.  if the max is 80C at 20C ambient it would be 90C at 30C ambient. 

 

The only benefit to watercooling in your case would be increasing total surface area so you could run larger fans slower ... less noise overall.

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On 11/21/2019 at 1:02 PM, amdorintel said:

is it enclosed in a box

or is the box open on one side

or is it a tunnel, with 2 open sides at either end

Sort of like a tunnel I guess.

Side of the PC case is against the wall.

So the only good air flow is front, back and the other side.

Top is just blowing against the bottom of the table.

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On 11/21/2019 at 1:33 PM, AnonymousGuy said:

If youre not overclocking you don't need anything but a basic aircooler.  Max CPU temperature is linear to ambient temperature ie.  if the max is 80C at 20C ambient it would be 90C at 30C ambient. 

 

The only benefit to watercooling in your case would be increasing total surface area so you could run larger fans slower ... less noise overall.

So I guess the main take away is that stock is adequate in my situation.

And that either air cooling or liquid cooling will not matter as much as the actual performance of the cooler itself.

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5 hours ago, amsga said:

So I guess the main take away is that stock is adequate in my situation.

And that either air cooling or liquid cooling will not matter as much as the actual performance of the cooler itself.

Correct.

Workstation:  14700nonk || Asus Z790 ProArt Creator || MSI Gaming Trio 4090 Shunt || Crucial Pro Overclocking 32GB @ 5600 || Corsair AX1600i@240V || whole-house loop.

LANRig/GuestGamingBox: 9900nonK || Gigabyte Z390 Master || ASUS TUF 3090 650W shunt || Corsair SF600 || CPU+GPU watercooled 280 rad pull only || whole-house loop.

Server Router (Untangle): 13600k @ Stock || ASRock Z690 ITX || All 10Gbe || 2x8GB 3200 || PicoPSU 150W 24pin + AX1200i on CPU|| whole-house loop

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Go liquid. My room is often 32+ as well. Water cooling is much easier.

 

Of note I have a Noctua NH-D15 and while that's ok just for CPU cooling once you add a hot GPU temps start to rise. Sure I could keep them down a bit more with a whole lot of fans blasting full noise all the time but I don't wan't my case to be as loud as my music.

 

Since I've installed water cooling I can run my 8700 & 1080ti all day, in silence, without them thermal throttling. 

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