Cooling Your System for Performance: An Introduction
Whether they are into cars, entertainment systems, or mountain bikes,
true enthusiasts always seek to enhance how their toys perform.
Computer enthusiasts are no different.
One way to improve your PC’s performance is to improve its cooling
capabilities. There are many solutions to choose from, available at
many different price points
Vapor Compression Cycle Cooling
High-End Air-Cooling
Upgrading your system’s air-cooling – the industry standard since
fan-equipped, active heatsinks first appeared – is a great way to
enhance its performance at a reasonable price.
High-end air coolers are typically larger, with thinner fins and
one-piece construction in place of soldered joints. Some use heatpipe
technology – fluid-filled tubes that transfer away heat – to enhance
the cooling efficiency of the heatsink itself. (AMD uses this type of
cooler in its AMD Athlon™ 64 FX Processor in a Box.) Others use larger,
more expensive heatsinks, and larger, slower fans to reduce fan noise
dramatically, while providing a superior-to-stock cooling solution.
Water Cooling and Chilling
Water coolers, which are more expensive and require more upkeep than
air coolers, pump water through a waterblock – a grooved-channel
heatsink – attached to the processor. Water circulates through the
waterblock, flows through a radiator – which dissipates heat – and then
returns to the pump.
Water chillers are increasingly popular high-end products that
route water across an air conditioner, “chilling” it to even lower
temperatures.
The advantage of water-cooling is that water absorbs energy – here,
in the shape of thermal heat – more efficiently than air, and negates
the need for a noisy fan. On the downside, there is always the chance
of a leak, which will likely destroy components.
TEC works on the Peltier effect, the:
production or absorption of heat at the junction of two metals upon
the passage of a current – heat generated by the passage of the current
in one direction will be absorbed if the current is reversed
In other words, when you pass a DC current through a metal plate, its passage creates a hot side and a cold side.
Air-cooled TEC units look like standard heatsink + fan combinations,
with a plate inserted between the heatsink and the chip. They cool
chips efficiently, but there is a risk of damaging condensation. And
the colder the cold side, the hotter the hot side, necessitating a loud
fan to dissipate the extreme heat.
Water-cooled units, which largely are the work of DIYers, cut down on
noise and reduce temperatures significantly. Such hybrid systems offer
the plusses and minuses of both the air- and water-cooled alternatives.
Vapor Compression Cycle Cooling
Vapor Compression Cycle Cooling systems are expensive and most commonly offered for high-end commercial sale.
They work on the same principle as a household refrigerator – R134 gas
is compressed to a vapor, which passes through a condenser, where it
dissipates heat. The cooled vapor then flows to the chill head, which
sits above and cools the CPU, before returning to the compressor, where
the cycle begins again.
This is a closed-loop system that runs quietly, effectively, and safely.
Exotic Cooling
More
expensive and supposedly effective systems include dual phase change,
full mineral oil immersion, and liquid nitrogen coolers.
