Is liquid Cooling worth it?

[canyoncoolman]

So I have always wanted a liquid cooled PC but is it safe? I have the room in my case but I don't know if I want to. My friends always say its not safe and if something goes wrong with the Cooler it will mess up my PC. I was just wondering what the chances are of something like that happening. I have a air cooler that works just fine but I want to try overclocking. 

[Wander Away]

Liquid cooling is pretty safe, as long as you follow proper procedures. (aka. leak testing before powering on for at least 12 hours)

If it doesn't leak within the first 24 hours, its extremely unlikely to leak in the following years. As long as you retighten the compression fittings every year or so, you would be fine. 

 

TBH unless you're running the most top-of-the-line hardware (like 980ti and haswell-e lga 2011-3), liquid cooling is not worth it. (BUT it's extremely fun and looks BA )

[failblox]

If you're doing a custom loop, the chance of getting a leak is higher than getting an all-in-one (AIO) liquid cooler. If you want to get into water cooling I'd recommend getting an AIO because it's basically impossible for them to leak and they're very easy to install. I'm not sure what your friend means by 'if something goes wrong with the color' though.

[JebKerman]

you can OC well on air as well.

 

Is this regarding AIOs or Custom loops?

[slightlyjaded]

It depends on the situation. The big plus with water cooling in whatever form you use is that it moves heat away from the component it's attached to before it disperses it. Air cooling does it at the source of heat, and while they might be just as efficient as each other, getting the cooling away from the heat sources has significant advantages.

 

There's disadvantages as well. Any water cooling system has more moving parts, and thus more points of possible failure (I had my computer unusable for 2 weeks recently due to a seized pump, and Australian regional postal delivery)

[canyoncoolman]

If you're doing a custom loop, the chance of getting a leak is higher than getting an all-in-one (AIO) liquid cooler. If you want to get into water cooling I'd recommend getting an AIO because it's basically impossible for them to leak and they're very easy to install. I'm not sure what your friend means by 'if something goes wrong with the color' though.

Woops sorry I meant to say cooler

[canyoncoolman]

you can OC well on air as well.

 

Is this regarding AIOs or Custom loops?

Both but mostly Custom Loops

[PillowSmoke]

So I have always wanted a liquid cooled PC but is it safe? I have the room in my case but I don't know if I want to. My friends always say its not safe and if something goes wrong with the Cooler it will mess up my PC. I was just wondering what the chances are of something like that happening. I have a air cooler that works just fine but I want to try overclocking. 

 

I would say it's 99% safe. If you really want to get into the benefits of having water-cooling, but don't want to deal with the difficulties of maintaining a custom loop, I would say go and buy yourself a good aio. If you know what you're doing, the percentage of problems occuring should be minuscule. 

[RollinLower]

closed loop liquid cooling is definitely safe. maybe even just as safe as air cooling.

custom loop gets a little trickier, tough it's still very safe. just make sure to test it for leaks before using the system!

[DimasRMDO]

Well you can get the AIO instead of custom one, if you're too scared of liquid cooling then air cooling is fine to you.

Air cooling isn't bad, it's cheaper too (of course some are expensive). Air cooler is also capable to cool overclocked CPU, not just liquid cooler.

[Monkey Dust]

A leak doesn't immediately mean dead PC. I can see why some people think it's very risky, but done properly it really isn't. If you really want to go for it, watch a load of you tube guides and leak test properly before turning it on.

 

The thing that has always put me off them is that they are high maintenance compared to air cooled rigs, but I am kinda lazy.

[DieHörnær]

Read the sticky at the top, learn for yourself m8. Then google it and read other sources. Now you know more than your friends and can make an informed decision.