How to Choose the Right Liquid Cooling Kit for Your PC in 2024

Whether you’re new to building your own PC or a seasoned veteran, you’ve probably debated with yourself about whether you should opt for an air or liquid cooling system. You want the best option available to prevent your processor from overheating, naturally. If you’re here, you’ve opted for the liquid cooling option. It’s an exciting process, but also a little scary. What if you buy the wrong system? What if it doesn’t fit? What if this becomes more work than you are capable of? These are common questions and we are here to help.

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Doing due diligence before making a purchase will not only help you avoid buyer’s remorse, but it will also help you find the right liquid cooler for you and your system. Your PC is an extension of your personality. Even if you’re on a budget, you still want your gear to represent you. So, when you look for a liquid cooler, here are the factors you should consider.

The needs come down to the complexity of the liquid cooling system you want. If you are interested in creating an intricate tube maze, which includes bending the tubes and ensuring the seals are tight, you can opt for a custom water cooler. Otherwise, AIO is the way to go.

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Custom water coolers require separate components including radiator, pipes, fittings, water block, fans, reservoir, and cooling fluid. And before that, you need to choose the type of tube, hard or soft. If this sounds like your type of project, then a custom water loop is what you want. However, if that seems like too much effort, there are all-in-one (AIO) coolers that are much easier to manage.

AIO coolers combine the radiator, pump, and fans into a single unit, with the radiator connected directly to the tower. There isn’t much customization with an AIO other than lighting, fans, and where you mount the radiator. The fans can only be exchanged for those of the same size that come with the AIO. However, when looking for an AIO, you need to consider the size of your tower and the size of the radiator. If you have a small form factor (SFF) or mini-tower, you’ll probably only fit a single-fan AIO, which would measure 120mm or 140mm.

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Not all water-cooled systems are created equally. When playing in the PC world, you need to know all the ins and outs of ATX, ITX, AMD versus Intel, and the compatibility of all your components, including your custom cooling system or AIO. All cooling systems, whether air or liquid, come with specific mounting mechanisms that only work with specific CPU sockets, similar to how only some CPUs work with specific motherboards. Typically, you only need to worry about Intel’s Land Grid Array (LGA) or AMD’s Pin Grid Array (PGA) sockets. The manufacturer of the cooler you choose will likely list on the packaging the type of socket the cooler is compatible with.

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If it’s not on the packaging, the manufacturer’s website or product documentation is the place to look. Some AIOs come with multiple mounting brackets to support different sockets, making the job of finding a compatible cooler significantly easier. When it comes to fans, you want to make sure your motherboard has enough fan headers and a pump header to accommodate the cooler.

There is nothing but a surplus of readily available material on the topic of consumer technology. Most major PC component manufacturers, like Corsair, have blogs that can be helpful on the subject. There’s no shortage of reviews out there about liquid coolers. If you want something a little more fun and prefer your reviews in video format, there are also reputable YouTubers – looking at Linus Tech Tips and JayzTwoCents – with professional-level reviews on all types of components, including liquid coolers. They even go through the steps to install one and demonstrate it in action, giving you a better idea of ​​what to look for.

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The reviews will help you decide which kit to choose and give you a starting point. However, don’t trust just one source. It’s best to cross-reference and see what multiple reviewers are saying about the same product. If the consensus is positive, then this cooler is probably a solid choice. Most importantly, make sure the comments you are reading and watching are recent. There’s nothing worse than reading a review of a PC component that’s been obsolete for a decade or more and finding out that it’s no longer manufactured or doesn’t work with its current version.

There are definitely a variety of different factors to consider when building a liquid cooler rig. If you want it to fit your PC’s aesthetic, you’ll want to make sure everything looks the physical way you want it. If you’re going all-in on LED lighting, you’ll want a cooler that can add to the show. There are coolers on the market with varying degrees of LED incorporation, from a simple ring of lights around the cooler to others with a customizable LCD screen on the face of the cooler.

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Another consideration is noise. There’s nothing like a quiet PC, especially if it runs all day. Most liquid-cooled systems are quiet, but some pumps can be noisier than others. This is where all the research into valuations can really show their value.

Whether purchasing an AIO or building a custom loop, opt for trusted brands that don’t use cheap materials. And that brings us to the budget. You might not be able to afford the fanciest coolers, but there are plenty of brands that don’t charge consumers the price of making their PCs stylish. Once you’ve done your due diligence, you’ll be able to find the cooler that’s right for you.