Liquid cooling for dummies?

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Bunderband
Bunderband ✭
First Comment
in Air and Liquid Cooling
For starters, assume I know nothing (basically true)

I dont even know if I need or want liquid cooling. Is it a universal good or is it extremely situational? 

Also I have an additional question that may or may not be a stupid question. Assuming my entire system is liquid cooled, is that gonna reduce the amount of dust and overall maintenance? Or should I not count on any advantages in that department? 

Thanks in advance for answering any questions I've posted here, or any questions I did not ask. Info dumps highly welcome. 
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  • Ian
    Ian ✭✭✭✭✭
    Eighth Anniversary 5000 Comments 250 Answers 500 Likes
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    Greetings. What specific parts were you looking to cool?

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  • Bunderband
    Bunderband ✭
    First Comment
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    Looking to cool the entire system, if at all

    I don't have all the parts yet, just the GPU so far (soon™️) but heres a list of what I had in mind:

    CPU - Ryzen 9 5950x
    Motherboard - Asus ROG Crosshair VIII Dark Hero
    GPU - Nvidia RTX 3090 (Founders edition)

    Havent decided on a tower yet but was leaning toward a full tower. 
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  • Ian
    Ian ✭✭✭✭✭
    Eighth Anniversary 5000 Comments 250 Answers 500 Likes
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    I would look over our guide for this, further information would depend on what type of liquid cooling you were looking to do:

    https://community.microcenter.com/kb/articles/389-liquid-cooling-process-and-terms


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  • PowerSpec_MikeW
    PowerSpec_MikeW PowerSpec Engineer
    Seventh Anniversary 2500 Comments 100 Answers 250 Likes
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    @Bunderband


    Assuming you mean a custom water loop. They're mainly for heavy overclocking, for the anesthetics or both. If you're not overclocking, functionally it's not wise. Although with a 5950X, I'd recommend a 360MM AIO. Beyond that, you're going to hit the 142W PPT wall before you run into thermal issues when you are overclocking with a solid AIO. Ryzen overclocking is a bit different, as it's about undervolting the CPU rather than overvolting it, but that's another discussion.


    As for maintenance. You're still going to have case fans, dust will be the same. For maintenance, it's higher with a custom loop. Needs to be drained and refilled probably twice a year. Build in a drain for this to make it less of a hassle. Set your radiator up vertically, that'll help as well with making this painless.

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  • Bunderband
    Bunderband ✭
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    Thanks for all the information guys! 
    Definitely helped me make a more informed decision with what I have. 
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  • Ian
    Ian ✭✭✭✭✭
    Eighth Anniversary 5000 Comments 250 Answers 500 Likes
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    https://community.microcenter.com/discussion/comment/34651#Comment_34651

    You're welcome, please let us know if you have any other questions !

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  • Obiwan_Shinobi
    Obiwan_Shinobi ✭✭
    10 Comments First Answer Name Dropper
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    You want at least a 240mm radiator for the cpu and a 360mm radiator if you overclock it. the GPU will need a 360mm aio and an active cooled backplate to go full loaf 24/7 and not degrade ever over time. them GDDR6 HBM mem chips on the back get real toasty. good luck on the build!

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