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Liquid cooling maintenance

Post Date: 2014-03-18
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drfm View Drop Down
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Posts: 52 		  Quote drfm Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Topic: Liquid cooling maintenance
    Posted: 18 Mar 2014 at 5:09pm
I'm looking at building a quite PC and it seems liquid cooling helps cut down on the noise generated by the fans. I've never had a liquid cooled system and I keep reading about changing and topping the coolant in the radiators (like cars).

Has the technology reached a point where the liquid coolers are completely sealed and maintenance free?
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ArkansasWoman777 View Drop Down
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Posts: 4314 		  Quote ArkansasWoman777 Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 18 Mar 2014 at 6:15pm
Coolers like the corsair hydro series for example are completely sealed and maintenance free. There are still people who have the liquid cooling where you have to change and top off the coolant.
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Counsel View Drop Down
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Posts: 125 		  Quote Counsel Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 19 Mar 2014 at 11:23am
Originally posted by ArkansasWoman777

Coolers like the corsair hydro series for example are completely sealed and maintenance free. There are still people who have the liquid cooling where you have to change and top off the coolant.

To expand a little on what ArkansasWoman777 said - fully sealed loop CPU coolers are fairly common these days, and maintenance free. They generally consist of a CPU cooler/pump attached to a radiator by sealed tubing. In theory a similar design could work for GPUs, but I haven't seen it employed in practice.

For liquid-cooled GPUs, the usual approach is still to use waterblocks, pumps, reservoirs and radiators. When people go to this level of trouble, they usually add the CPU on the same loop. This kind of setup is not fully sealed, so it does require more maintenance and topping off.
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kernols View Drop Down
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Posts: 248 		  Quote kernols Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 23 Mar 2014 at 1:20pm
Yeah ive seen an h80i attached to a nvidia gpu. theres ways of doing it with either zip ties or brackets, there are pages on the net that explain how to mod them, even people who make custom brackets for gpu's. Just easier to water cool a card and tie it in with your cpu as long as you have enough rad/heat dissipation for the hardware.
I personally have a custom watercool setup and have added fluid in the last 1.5 years ive owned it twice..probably 15% of the reservoir. The fluid is crystal clear still, ive also added a silver coil to kill anything that wants to grow. i use fluid xp extreme and its working great.
 When i top off the fluid, its really simple. While its running, just pop open the cap, i use a funnel i picked up at walmart that has a long extension that bends.


Edited by kernols - 23 Mar 2014 at 1:23pm
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Meller View Drop Down
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Posts: 1627 		  Quote Meller Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 01 Apr 2014 at 2:53pm
Let's call them Closed Loop Coolers as that's what they are. They are great for cooling just your CPU, and yes you can use them for cooling your GPU.

Liquid cooling your CPU is all you care about. Yes the Corsair Hydro series are amazing. There are other options out there too in terms of Closed Loop by other companies that are equally amazing, if not better (which really hurts for me to say, because I'm the biggest Corsair Fan Boy on these forums... hands down).

If you're looking for a custom loop, technology in this department has come a long ways also. The biocides you use, along with the hardware, coolant, pumps, etc... has come so far. You don't have to drain your loop every 2-3 months. You usually just have to add a little coolant MAYBE every 6 months... MAYBE. It's recommended to drain them once a year, give a good flush with distilled water, and refill. It really has come so far.
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