Air Vs Liquid Cooling: Which is Best For YOUR PC? CPU Coolers Explained. @Mr_Matt_Lee
Air Vs Liquid Cooling: Which is Best For YOUR PC? CPU Coolers Explained.  @Mr_Matt_Lee
Uploaded November 2024 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
#gamingpc #pcbuild #howto - PC Cooling isn't the most exciting of topics, but realistically, there's a lot to learn and know. It's time to revisit the age old debate: Liquid Vs Air Cooling.

All of the PC build clips featured here have been taken from other videos on my channel. Please do browse through if something caught your eye to see the full build video and cinematic!

Timecodes, though I don't recommend skipping for visual narrative reasons!

00:00 - Introduction to PC Cooling
01:20 - Air Cooling Roots
02:09 - Common Air Cooler Sizes / Uses
03:15 - How Does a Tower Cooler Work?
04:05 - Heat Pipes, Size & CPU Efficiency
05:15 - What's Inside an Air Cooler?
05:47 - Optimising Airflow & Fan Placement
06:47 - Air Cooling Drawbacks
07:57 - Liquid Cooling Roots
08:55 - Looks & Performance
09:32 - Radiator Sizes Explained
10:55 - What's Inside a Liquid Cooler?
12:06 - Airflow and Radiator Placement
13:02 - TUBES UP? DOWN? Watch This.
14:52 - Liquid AIO Drawbacks
16:47 - Round-up

You could say over the years I've been hands on with a lot of liquid and air coolers. Through that time a lot of knowledge has been obtained with nothing more than hands on experience and a willingness to learn. Time for me to speak on the channel again? Well, it would be rude not too!

There's a lot of reasons to choose either of these two popular cooling solutions for your PC. Both are strong, both have perks and downfalls, the hard reality is that they will both perform admirably assuming that you've purchased parts to compliment the rest of your hardware.

Here's a selection of my personal recommendations for Air and Liquid Cooling in 2024 going into 2025:

(USA Amazon)
My Top Air Coolers (as of November 2024)

Noctua NH-U12A - amzn.to/3O3niUc
Scythe Mugen 6 - amzn.to/4fDELhK
Arctic Freezer 36 - amzn.to/4fCPEjO
Thermalright Phantom Spirit 120 - amzn.to/3CfyLNF
Noctua NH-D15 G2 - amzn.to/4hJbOCJ
ID Cooling IS-67 XT - amzn.to/4fHLJlK
Be Quiet! Dark Rock Elite - amzn.to/3UNq83n

My Top Liquid Coolers

Arctic Liquid Freezer iii - amzn.to/4ex1ifm
NZXT Kraken Elite - amzn.to/4fhZUOT
ROG Ryuo III - amzn.to/3Cjxcyl
Cooler Master PL Flux - amzn.to/3YAG364
EK-Nucleus - amzn.to/4hFi5iV
Lian Li GA II SL-INF - amzn.to/3ClSmMl
ROG Ryujin III - amzn.to/3YYVB59

(UK Amazon)
My Top Air Coolers (as of November 2024)

Noctua NH-U12A - amzn.to/3Z0nJF2
Scythe Mugen 6 - amzn.to/4eqsyft
Arctic Freezer 36 - amzn.to/4er7Rjs
Thermalright Phantom Spirit 120 - amzn.to/3YLrqNq
Noctua NH-D15 G2 - amzn.to/3CxErmf
ID Cooling IS-67 XT - amzn.to/4euTkTD
Be Quiet! Dark Rock Elite - amzn.to/3YZKYyX

My Top Liquid Coolers

Arctic Liquid Freezer iii - amzn.to/4fGXARi
NZXT Kraken Elite - amzn.to/40Aru5k
ROG Ryuo III - amzn.to/40AOFMR
Cooler Master PL Flux - amzn.to/3Clwlgx
EK-Nucleus - amzn.to/4hGdyNe
Lian Li GA II SL-INF - amzn.to/4hG588C
ROG Ryujin III - amzn.to/4fGh3kK

As an Amazon Associate, I may earn from qualifying purchases.

To wrap this up, cooling your CPU doesn't have to be complicated. Take note of what the brand recommends their coolers up to (TDP) and make sure your CPU doesn't exceed it, if it does, it's always best to look for a more efficient option.

What's your thoughts on the points made in this video? Anything you'd do different or explain differently? Let's chat in the comments!

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Air Vs Liquid Cooling: Which is Best For YOUR PC? CPU Coolers Explained.

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