Paranoid of water in a computer?

[tictaktoe333]

I'm paranoid about getting a leak with water cooling, even with an AIO. But what are the chance of actually getting a leak with an AIO? Or custom water cooling?

I currently have one of Noctua's biggest coolers but wonder whether it is worth going for a 360 AIO? Finally are there any AIO brands more reliable than the rest?

Cheers!

 

[hornetstinger]

If you're worried stay with air. Also air is low maintainance, for example I can't pull out my PC as the left side is behind a desk so need to move the desk and racking to get to it. So only time is during major hardware change. For WC you may need more frequent checking...which for me isn't gonna happen.

Plus the extra cost of WC... I'm a cheapskate, and air cooling is good enough, and quiet enough (plus sound system drowns it out anyway)

 

[britain4]

I have had an AIO for 7 years now with no leaks. Apparently the biggest risk of leaks with them is the radiator rusting through from the inside.

Disclaimer: I've never had a custom loop and this is just my standpoint as someone about to go into it - with a full loop as long as it is thoroughly leak tested at the time of fitting (including a range of temps) I would have thought the chances of it springing a leak later on would be fairly slim. Just make sure everything is rock solid when first fitted and keep checking on it now and again.

 

[spolsh]

If it's something that worries you, just stick with air. A good air cooler like your noctua is probably quieter and cools just as well as an AIO.

 

[tyler_jrb]

I wouldn't worry i've used many AIO's and custom loops. Never had a leak from an AIO. Plus if its in warranty and say a seal/pipe fails on the pump its all covered by corsair and you will get reimbursed for any damaged parts caused by the faulty unit.

 

[Glanza]

If your worried don't switch to water.

 

[Doogles]

If your worried don't switch to water.

I agree with this if you are worried about a leak then you shouldn't do it, air cooling is good enough for decent overclocking, if you are a nutty overclocker then water leaking is the least of your problems.

 

[NoNameNoNumber]

If your worried don't switch to water.

Even more so with an AIO... seen far more of those failing than custom water.

In fact, I had two fail... Custom loops now for several years with 0 leaks.

 

[Glanza]

Only time I've had a leak on a custom loop is when I've forgot to plump something in on fill stage, not had a leak from daily running for over 4 years.

 

[Steveocee]

There was a range of AIO's that OC sold and they developed a leak IIRC?

At the time I had an Antec AIO (cheap one) and a friend had one of the leaking ones and that was enough to scare me into buying a mid range air cooler. Been very happy (and worry free) since.

 

[Glanza]

Rajintek ones had a high failure rate with the pictures and thread on here.

 

[doyll]

I'm paranoid about getting a leak with water cooling, even with an AIO. But what are the chance of actually getting a leak with an AIO? Or custom water cooling?

I currently have one of Noctua's biggest coolers but wonder whether it is worth going for a 360 AIO? Finally are there any AIO brands more reliable than the rest?

Cheers!

The chance of leaks is minimal, but AIOs/CLCs are not as dependable as a good air cooler is, generally make more noise, need more maintenance, and if the do have problem it's almost always the pump so computer can't be used until cooler is replaced. With air coolers the only thing to wear out is fan, and if a fan fails system still works at low load and any fan will work until suitable replacement is in hand.

But lumping all pre-assembled and filled liquid coolers into single AIO group is not really accurate. AIO is parent group and has a few AIOs that are not CLC.

CLCs are a sub-group of AIOs and are all of the pre-build and filled systems that have no provision for maintenance. Can't replace a bad pump, can't top up coolant, etc. Most CLC's are made by Asetek because they have the USA patent on pump and waterblock as one unit. This means any pump on waterblock CLC manufacturer has to pay Asetek to get permission to make a pump on waterblock CLC and sell in USA, so most don't bother. Other CLC manufacturers that I know of are Apaltek, CoolIT, Dynatron and Cooler Master.

Companies that I know of making AIOs that are not CLC are Alphacool who makes AIO's (not CLC's) like their Alpacool Eisbaer, Fractal Design Kelvin and be quiet! Silent Loop; and Swiftech who makes their own H series.

AIO's have threaded fittings, better pumps, fill port for changing/topping up coolant, usually copper radiator instead of aluminum, and can be disassembled to replace defective components, cut tubing to length, or expand with additonal radiator and/or waterblocks. These are much better built than CLCs but also cost a little more .. and both CLC's and AIO's cost more than good air coolers by 50-100% with only marginally better cooling with much higher to similar noise levels. So why spend more money for

 

[EsaT]

With air coolers the only thing to wear out is fan, and if a fan fails system still works at low load and any fan will work until suitable replacement is in hand.

Heatsinks with more loosely spaced fins (like Thermalright Machos and some Scythes) would actually do quite decently with fan stopped.
Heatsinks with densely spaced fins again do worser without forced airflow. (+ suffer fan at very low speeds)

 

[doyll]

Heatsinks with more loosely spaced fins (like Thermalright Machos and some Scythes) would actually do quite decently with fan stopped.
Heatsinks with densely spaced fins again do worser without forced airflow. (+ suffer fan at very low speeds)

Honestly, I haven't found dense finned air coolers vs widely spaced fins to make much difference. Most fins are spaced far enough apart they don't restrict airflow much. Nothing like radiators do, or even worse the high fin-count aluminum radiators used in CLCs.

All but back grills on most all cases are way more restrictive then cooler fins. Add a filter and they are twice as bad or worse.

Key is using decent fans, fans with pressure ratings of 1.5mm H2O or higher at speeds that don't make more than about 35dB when used behind grills and/or filters or on coolers.

I've found any of the bigger heatsinks do quite well without fan running, especially if fins are oriented vertically so convection heating/expansion of air as it warms between fins tends to move air up.

 

[Evian]

For me I like an air cooler on the CPU and an AIO on the GPU, X62 on my 1080Ti which is much quieter than the standard air cooler it came with I can also overclock it a little more without it downclocking. (Much better temps)

 

[britain4]

For me I like an air cooler on the CPU and an AIO on the GPU, X62 on my 1080Ti which is much quieter than the standard air cooler it came with I can also overclock it a little more without it downclocking. (Much better temps)

Perfect username for a thread about water lol. I know my AIO isn’t necessarily better at cooling than a high end air cooler but I picked it for aesthetics - no big lump of metal staring at you blocking off all the motherboard. Does mean a bit of juggling if you want an AIO on the GPU too though.

 

[ryhoper1]

I had a cooler master seidon AIO in my fx6300 system for years that worked flawlessly. In fact its still going strong.

Then I built my ryzen 1600 system last summer. I decided to stick with cooler master as their products had served me well in the past. I did really want a Kracken as they look so pretty but I just couldn't justify the extra cost.


So I went with the master liquid pro 240.

It worked fine for 6 months then over the Christmas holidays my PC switched off randomly & wouldn't switch back on, I thought the problem was my PSU so replaced that and the system worked fine for a day then the same thing, so thought they issue was my motherboard. It was only when I got a new motherboard and took the cooler off to install it I discovered this.

People talk about how if your AIO leaks the manufacturer will cover it but when I spoke to them on the phone they gave me the run around. Talking about household insurance, palming me off with the retailer. Then eventually said I could send my system to them in Holland at my own expense and if they discovered it was a manufacturing defect I could take it further.

They wouldn't even deal with a RMA of the cooler and palmed me off back to the retailer.

I couldn't be bothered with the hastle and expense of sending my system to another country for them to weasel their way out, and then have to pay again for my faulty parts to be sent back to me. So I put it down to bad experience and replaced the CPU, motherboard & ram.

I was pretty lucky my GPU wasn't fried. Only one stick of ram was damaged but you cant buy single 8gb sticks of corsair LED. Cost me £60 more than when I originally bought it 6 months earlier.

I bought a wraith to get me up & running again and today I ordered a Cryorig H7. The lesson for me was stay away from water & cooler master products.

So in my opinion you are right to be paranoid, but then again you could be one of the many that goes liquid and has no issues. But there is always the potential for catastrophe.

 

[pastymuncher]

That is a shocking tale and there is no way I would have let them fob me off that easily. It's their crap cooler that has leaked and caused your system to fail so they should do the right thing and replace all failed parts, especially with the cost of components these days. This is yet another reason that I will never buy a AIO. At least on custom water any leak is 99% caused by something that I have done incorrectly. In 12 years of custom watercooling I have only had two leaks. The first was when I originally started and overtightened a fitting in a acrylic res which I caught as soon as I started filling so no damage done. The second was when both my EK cpu and GPU blocks both had the seals fail but it was just a drip so was caught in good time so no damage again. Replaced all O-rings and all was good again. I now avoid EK products altogether after their abysmal customer support.

 

[FlyingScotsman]

That is a shocking tale and there is no way I would have let them fob me off that easily. It's their crap cooler that has leaked and caused your system to fail so they should do the right thing and replace all failed parts, especially with the cost of components these days. This is yet another reason that I will never buy a AIO. At least on custom water any leak is 99% caused by something that I have done incorrectly. In 12 years of custom watercooling I have only had two leaks. The first was when I originally started and overtightened a fitting in a acrylic res which I caught as soon as I started filling so no damage done. The second was when both my EK cpu and GPU blocks both had the seals fail but it was just a drip so was caught in good time so no damage again. Replaced all O-rings and all was good again. I now avoid EK products altogether after their abysmal customer support.

Got to agree with you completely Patsy, custom all the way mate, never have I had any issues with custom, only like you said issues on my own part which were discovered early on it the leak testing phase.

 

[ryhoper1]

I could probably have pushed it further & may have got some where, but I just couldn't be bothered with the hastle & time it would take. I just wanted to get my system up & running again.

The way they were evasive on the phone and over emphasis on manufacturing defect I just felt I wouldn't get anywhere. Instead of having to pay for just the replacement parts I would have also had to pull out for shipping & insurance and been further out of pocket had they decided it was some kind of act of god due to a full moon & strong tidal currents instead of it being faulty.