With more of us jumping to water-cooling, it begs the question of whether air cooling is still a viable option in 2024. Are people still utilising air cooling to keep their PCs cool?
In this blog post, we’re taking a deep dive into air cooling, showcasing what it is, if it’s still useful in 2024, and why you should use air cooling in your next gaming PC.
What is Air Cooling?
Air cooling is exactly what it sounds like. This thermal solution consists of several fans and a heatsink to help keep temperatures to a minimum.
How Does Air Cooling Work in a PC?
The heatsink is responsible for drawing heat away from vital components, whilst the fins and fans dissipate this heat, to create a consistent flow of natural air throughout your computer.
Looking for more information on the differences between air and water cooling? Be sure to check out our dedicated guide!
Is Air Cooling Still Useful?
Whilst water cooling is becoming increasingly popular, air cooling is still a viable option in 2024, especially for those looking to build their PC on a budget. With air cooling, you can still successfully draw away any excess heat and keep temperatures to a minimum.
Most air coolers come equipped with powerful PWM fans which allow you to configure the fan speeds via on/off cycles to suit your PC. If your PC reaches a certain temperature, you can adjust PWM fans to automatically ramp up or keep to a minimum under minimal loads. All of which means you don’t need to compromise on your cooling to performance ratio.
To ensure your thermal solution still matches your aesthetic, you can find air coolers equipped with customisable RGB lighting. With these, you can adjust both the colour and lighting effect to perfectly suit your desired aesthetic or match your hardware for a synchronised battle station.
What About Liquid Cooling – Is Liquid Cooling Better Than Air Cooling?
In certain circumstances, liquid cooling might be the better option for you. Air cooling won’t provide the power you need to cool most high-end hardware or complex configurations. Flagship GPUs from the NVIDIA RTX 40 or AMD Radeon 7000 Series and even multi-GPU layouts require lots of cooling to keep temperatures to a minimum. Especially if you are planning on streaming or need your PC for demanding creative work.
This is where liquid cooling shines. You can pair your powerful hardware with an equally impressive water-cooling solution to ensure your PC runs at optimum temperatures and is whisper-quiet, even under heavy-duty loads.
Not sure if water-cooling is better than air cooling for your PC? Be sure to check out our guide to find out all about why you might want water-cooling in your computer.
Why You Want Air Cooling
If you need more convincing about making the jump to air cooling, we’ve highlighted all the key pros and cons below.
Pros
- Cheaper
- Easy to install and maintain compared to complex water-cooling configurations
- Can be just as efficient as water-cooling (hardware depending)
- Practically maintenance free – you don’t need to keep up with regular maintenance or cleaning to ensure it functions correctly
- Not as likely to experience hardware failures – custom water-cooling loops feature multiple different components from radiators and pumps to tubing. All of which are susceptible to failure
Cons
- Not suitable for most high-end hardware or demanding PCs such as streaming set-ups or workstations
- Limited – don’t get the same level of customisation as you do with water-cooling
- Noisy – notably less quiet compared to water-cooling when under full load
Stay Cool
Are you looking to level up your thermal solution with some high-quality air cooling? At Overclockers UK, you can find everything you need from premium CPU coolers to fans to ensure your PC stays cool and performs at optimum temperatures.
We’ve highlighted a few faves below, but you can also shop all of our air cooling products by clicking the button.
be quiet! Dark Rock 4 CPU Cooler
- CPU cooler
- Compatible with the latest Intel and AMD sockets
- Includes a Silent Wings 135mm PWM fan
- Wave-contoured cooling fins for improved circulation
- All black design
Phanteks SK140 White DRG PWM Triple Pack of Fans
- Triple pack of fans
- 140mm PWM fans
- All white design
- Includes customisable DRGB lighting
Aerocool Cylon 4 ARGB CPU Cooler
- CPU cooler
- Includes singular 120mm PWM fan
- Adjustable RGB lighting
- Compatible with both Intel and AMD sockets
What Do You Think – Is Air Cooling Dead?
What do you think? Is air cooling dead? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
- 4 min read
Ruth Rowley
Author
Ruth has been with Overclockers UK for over a year and has gone on to write about everything ranging from in-depth hardware guides to monthly game releases.
Outside of writing blog posts, she can be found wrapped in a blanket with her black cat, engrossed in a book or playing life-simulation games such as The Sims, Stardew Valley, and Animal Crossing.
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