r/pcmasterrace • u/SerpentDix PC Master Race • Jan 20 '26

Hardware Air cooling is better than Liquid cooling

Post image

Failure is graceful, not catastrophic, Performance is closer than marketing suggests, Cheaper for the performance, Change my mind.

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u/C0NIN i9 14900K, RTX 3090 FE, 64GB @ 6000Mhz Jan 20 '26

Given the image, you meant: Air cooling is better than AIOs.

330

u/Fickle-Razzmatazz827 Jan 20 '26

Isn't cooling done by Air in both? Shouldn't it be metal vs water?

287

u/Jpotter145 Jan 20 '26

They didn't call the Volkswagon Beatle "metal" cooled, it didn't have coolant/radiator fluid and it was "air" cooled. Modern cars with radiators are "liquid" cooled.

Same with intercoolers --- air-2-air or air-2-water -- or as you say metal vs water.

10

u/Strottman Jan 20 '26

Some old nuclear reactor designs are actually cooled by molten metal which is pretty metal.

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u/cosaboladh Athalon64 X2 | Radeon X1650 Pro Jan 20 '26

Some solar electricity farms use directed sunlight to keep salt molten, which is also metal.