Air Cooling

Air coolers are the traditional and lowest cost way of keeping a CPU cool. While you’ll find air coolers in all sorts of shapes and sizes, they all comprise two main elements, a large metal heatsink that conducts heat up and away from the CPU and one or more fans that blow air across the heatsink, transferring the heat into the air inside the case. Most air coolers have heat pipes, two phase heat transfer devices, embedded in the heatsink that conduct air even more effectively to the fins above, aiding cooling. Air coolers are comparatively cheap to manufacture and generally very easy to install as they simply clip onto or bolt through pre-cut holes in the motherboard around the CPU socket. The downside is that they only move heat off the CPU, so a PC with an air-cooled CPU still requires case fans to exhaust hot air from around the air-cooler outside the case.

Hydrocoolers

Hydrocoolers are a costlier alternative to a traditional air cooler. A hydrocooler comprises several elements: a waterblock with an integrated pump which conducts heat away from the CPU into a fluid which passes through a tube into a radiator, which is in turn cooled by one or more fans. Finally, the cooled water passes pack through another tube back to the waterblock to start the process again. This is exactly the same principal used in custom watercooling loops, but hydrocoolers are far simpler to install as they are pre-filled at the factory with water, so you don’t have to worry about component compatibility, filling and bleeding or leaks. While hydrocoolers are typically more expensive than air coolers, they are much cheaper than a custom watercooling loop and much easier to install. The main advantage hydrocoolers have over air coolers is they free up the interior of the case, improving airflow and directing heat away from the CPU, so you may be able to get away with fewer case fans. Typically, the combination waterblock/pump clips onto or bolts through pre-cut holes in the motherboard around the CPU socket. After that you need to screw the radiator onto a suitable free fan mount on the case, so make sure your case has suitable space available.

Watercooling Diagram

Custom watercooling is lot more complex than either an air cooler or a hydrocooler. A watercooling loop comprises several distinct components including waterblocks, radiator, pump, reservoir and tubing. The CPU and graphics card waterblocks conduct heat away from the CPU and into a fluid which passes through the tubing into the radiator which is cooled by one or more fans. The cooled water passes through the reservoir and then back to the waterblocks to start the process again. Due to its complexity and cost we explain it more detail in our Watercooling Buyers Guide.

CPU Compatibility

Whether you’ve chosen to go with an air cooler or hydrocooler you need to make sure you select a model that is compatible with your CPU. AMD and Intel produce CPUs in a variety of ranges, each with their own socket on the motherboard, which has its own unique dimensions. You can check which sockets a cooler supports on the cooler product pages in the Specifications tab. Here are the list of the most common AMD and Intel CPUs and their associated sockets. These tables aren’t exhaustive, so check carefully if you’re looking for a cooler for an older CPU.

AMD Processors Intel Processors
Processor Family Socket Processor Family Socket
Ryzen 9000 / 7000 AM5 Core Ultra Series 2 S1851
Ryzen 5000 / 3000 / 1000 AM4 Core / Pentium / Celeron - 14th gen, 13th gen, 12th gen S1700
Threadripper 7000 TR5 Core / Pentium / Celeron - 11th gen, 10th gen S1200
EPYC 9000 SP5 Xeon 6900 S7529
EPYC 8000 SP6 Xeon 6700 S4710-2
EPYC 4000 AM5 Xeon Scalable 5th gen, 4th gen / Xeon W-3500, W-2500 S4677
EPYC 7000 SP3 Xeon Scalable 3rd gen S4189

Whilst checking for socket compatibility, it is worth understanding the TDP of your CPU. TDP or Thermal Design Power is the maximum amount of heat a CPU will generate that needs to be removed by the cooler. The higher the TDP of the CPU the more powerful cooler you will need to purchase, so it’s important to cross reference this value against the TDP removal capabilities of the cooler. You can find this information on our cooler product pages in the Specifications tab. There’s no downside to choosing a cooler with a higher TDP rating than your CPU, in fact the opposite is true, as an overrated cooler will help to cool the CPU even more effectively.

Cooler Size

CPU coolers come in all shapes and sizes so it’s important to check your cooler is compatible with your PC case.

PC Tower

The vast majority of air coolers will fit in most ATX cases. However, it’s still a good idea to check the height of the cooler (A) versus the width of your case (B), particularly if you’re building a small form factor Micro-ATX or Mini-ITX PC. This can be checked by comparing the values listed on our product pages in the Specifications tab.

Some large air coolers may also restrict access to the DIMM slots on the motherboard. This means you might have to temporarily remove the cooler or fan(s) if you want to change or upgrade the system RAM. Particularly large coolers may even limit the height of the DIMMs you can install, so it’s worth bearing this in mind if you planning on using particularly tall DIMMs with large heatsinks or RGB lighting strips.

Hydrocooler Tower

Hydrocoolers come in three main size groups - either 120/140mm hydrocoolers featuring a single fan, 240/280mm hydrocoolers with two fans and 360/420mm hydrocoolers that have three fans. Our PC case product pages clearly state in the Specification tab what size hydrocooler size they will take and what radiators are supported. Many hydrocoolers also feature RGB lighting to enhance your PC.

It is worth mentioning that the pump functions best when it’s at the lowest point of the hydrocooler loop. It is liquid pump, so if air gets trapped in there, it can create noise. Seeing as air is lighter than liquid, it will always rise to the highest point of the loop, so if you keep the pump at the bottom, it will remain free of air.

Cooler Noise

Regardless whether you buy an air cooler or hydrocooler it will be cooled by one or more fans, and there are multiple ways to control the fan speed. The easiest way is via the motherboard, with basic boards providing fan control via the BIOS and higher end boards being bundled with software, such as Corsair iCUE, that provides the same capabilities but with greater convenience and additional features including RGB lighting effects.

Managing CPU Noise

It is also worth pointing out that as most coolers use industry standard 120 or 140mm fans, you can often replace the fans if you want something quieter or more powerful. Just make sure to keep an eye on the CPU temperature to make sure it doesn’t get too hot as you tweak or swap the fans.

Cooler Installation

When a cooler is installed in a PC, you need to ensure that Thermal Interface Material (TIM) is used. This is a thin layer of paste that you spread out between the top of the CPU and the bottom of the heatsink of the air cooler or the waterblock of the hydrocooler

Fittings

TIM helps conduct heat out of the CPU by smoothing out imperfections in the surface on either side and is essential for good cooling. Many coolers come with TIM pre-applied or packaged in a small syringe for you to apply, but it’s worth checking before ordering, as you want to invest in higher quality TIM, which may help lower the CPU temperature.

Ready to buy?

Ready to buy?

Browse our range of CPU coolers:

AMD CPU Air Coolers Intel CPU Air Coolers 120 - 140mm Hydrocoolers 240 - 280mm Hydrocoolers 360 - 420mm Hydrocoolers Thermal Interface Material

If you still have questions on how to select the perfect cooler, don't hesitate to contact one of our friendly advisors on 01204 474747.