Computer Liquid Cooling Systems - Essay Example

? Computer Liquid Cooling systems and CPU FANS Inserts his/her Inserts Abstract The paper discusses the concept of computer cooling and its significance to keep the computers in operating condition. Computer cooling is a commonly used term to describe the process whereby heat that is produced as waste by various components of the computer is removed or ‘cooled down’ in order to maintain the working temperature confines of the computer. To date, the most common types of cooling systems involve controlling air flow and consist of CPU Fans and/or heatsinks. However, for larger equipment and setups the liquid cooling technology is still used owing to the sheer volume of heat that it can handle along with the scientific properties of water as heat conductor. The paper then sheds light on the brief history and usage of this technique. This technique has its roots in 1982, but started gaining popularity in 2000. High performance and high power consuming systems are the ones that are mostly suited for this type of cooling technology as they are the ones that generate voluminous heat. It is a common fallacy to think that only the CPU is cooled by such liquid systems- a wide range of components including the bridges, memory, hard disk drive and others also benefit from these cooling systems. In the final course of this paper, the advantages along with the disadvantages of these systems are considered in the light of the more popular, air cooling systems. This technology offers unique advantages in terms of higher capacity to tolerate heat levels, ability to transmit heat from the source to another point over larger distances which makes high performance possible without overheating. The downside, however, is that these systems are costly, primarily due to the cost of installation and technical expertise of professionals that deal with this system. The paper finally concludes with recommendations pertaining to the use of these systems along with their likely application in future. Computer cooling is a process whereby heat that is produced as waste by various components of the computer is removed or ‘cooled down’ in order to maintain the working temperature confines of the computer (Morley & Parker, 2009). This is extremely essential for certain components to function properly that may otherwise become permanently disabled owing to overheating. Components such as these include, but are not limited to, circuits such as hard disks, graphic cards and the CPU (Morley & Parker, 2009). The CPU is often equipped with a cooling fan on top to ensure the temperature remains regulated and the components do not become out of order due to overheating. Computer cooling systems are often designed in sync with robust design of computer components such that these components produce as little heat as possible. In such cases, the components are manufactured in a way that they consume as little power as possible, because the greater the power they consume, the higher the heat levels generated. “Heatsinks” are often used for this purpose such that they do not contain a fan; however, they have a mechanism whereby cooling is done through control of airflow which reduced the heating impact or temperature boost owing to a certain increase in heating of components (Miller, Vandome, & McBrewster, 2009). By systematically controlling the flow of air the establishment of hotspots is averted. Computer fans, which are often used in sync with these heatsinks, provide the invaluable function of reducing the intensity of heat generated by various computer components (Morley & Parker, 2009). Another, unusual and uncommon technique is the use of liquid cooling mechanisms or water cooling to regulate the temperature of the computer in line with the normal operating standards (Zelkowitz, 2009). Water cooling has been traditionally employed in cooling of power plants and industrial machinery (Zelkowitz, 2009). Since water is a good conductor of heat, the heat from equipment is absorbed by water, resulting in reduction of temperature (Morley & Parker, 2009). In recent years, however, water or liquid cooling technologies have been used for reducing the heat in mainframe and large computer systems. This system relies on the scientific process of “convective transfer of heat” (Miller, Vandome, & McBrewster, 2009). The use of this technique in the cooling of computer dates back to 1982, but started gaining popularity in 2000 (Miller, Vandome, & McBrewster, 2009). High performance and high power consuming systems are the ones that are mostly suited for this type of cooling technology as they are the ones that generate voluminous heat. Liquid cooling is often used to lower the temperature of the CPU. However, various other components can also be cooled using this technology such as the Bridges, hard disk drive, memory and power units (Zelkowitz, 2009). The cooling system consists of various components such as a radiator, fan and pump (Zelkowitz, 2009). The main advantage of water cooling is that it allows for seamless and noiseless operation of the computer (owing to the absence of fan), enhanced speed of the processor, faster performance (Kakac & H. Yuncu, 1994). Water cooling offers the added advantage of greater heat absorbing capacity of water and greater density of water compared to air (Kakac & H. Yuncu, 1994). This facilitates the transmission of heat over longer distances with lower temperature differential and less flow. The fundamental advantage of liquid cooling systems is that it has an enormous capability to transmit heat from the source to another cooling platform which facilitates the use of large and dedicated heat transmitters rather than tiny, ineffective fins that are attached directly to the source (Miller, Vandome, & McBrewster, 2009). Furthermore, as mentioned, the water jacket that is located near the engine allows for noiseless operation by disabling various operating noises (Miller, Vandome, & McBrewster, 2009). However, this technology is not free from drawbacks. Some of the most serious drawbacks associated with its use is that of the technical expertise required during the installation of the liquid cooling kit (Mueller, 2011). These kits or packages require enormous space in the computer container to work effectively. Hence, the kit works efficiently only if there’s ample space to accommodate the various components such as the tubing, fan, radiator, fluid container, power device etc (Mueller, 2011). It works well mostly with desktop systems as they are the ones that can accommodate the large amount of space required for this cooling system. Furthermore, this technology is not as widely used as that of air cooling (Mueller, 2011). Thus, the experts dealing with its installation are relatively few, and those who are the real experts charge highly for the installation and advice (Mueller, 2011). Also, it makes movement of the processor very difficult (CW Communications, 1982). Thus, it is costly to set up this cooling system. Furthermore, the kits available cannot be fixed by every person; they require a high degree of customization whereby the kit’s specifications must match those of the computer’s. Thus, its installation is not only costly but also time consuming. Also, in some cases the cables and tubes need to be cut and adjusted as per the room’s dimensions in order to make the most efficient use of space and avoid wastage (Mueller, 2011). The question now arises whether it is worth investing so much time, money and other resources in liquid cooling systems. The current market dynamics suggest that liquid cooling systems only facilitate those users who require from their computers a level of performance greater than what air cooling systems would permit. It is usually not recommended to use these systems for ordinary, normal use. Furthermore, recent technological developments include the development of heat pipes that allow for seamless, noiseless cooling and do not require liquid input (Morley & Parker, 2009). Such systems are currently in the pipeline and once available they will make liquid cooling systems even less feasible. For larger uses, however, such as home theatre systems of manufacturing units, the use of liquid cooling systems in computers will continue. References: CW Communications. (1982, January 4). More Power at the Pump. Computerworld , pp. 24-24. Kakac, S., & H. Yuncu, K. H. (1994). Cooling of electronic systems . The Netherlands: Kluwer Academic Publishers. Miller, F. P., Vandome, A. F., & McBrewster, J. (2009). Computer Cooling. Mauritius: Aplhascript Publishing. Morley, D., & Parker, C. S. (2009). Understanding Computers: Today and Tomorrow, Comprehensive . Mason: Cengage Learning. Mueller, S. (2011). Upgrading and Repairing PCs. New York: Pearson Education. Zelkowitz, M. V. (2009). Advances in Computers: Computer Performance Issues . London: Elsevier Inc. Read More