There are not a few manufacturers of AIO cooling systems that show their products with the radiator mounted on the front of the case. However, mounting the radiator in this position could literally end the life of the device quickly (plus it will reduce performance). In this article we are going to explain how an AIO liquid cooling system works in this regard and why it is a mistake to mount the radiator on the front.
AIO liquid cooling heatsinks are now more fashionable than ever, as they manage to cool the processor effectively and are much better in any case than an air heatsink, leaving the area of the motherboard very clear and visually more attractive. For their part, most PC cases give several options to install radiators, being able to install them on the ceiling, floor, front and rear, but generally where there is more space to install large radiators is on the ceiling and on the front .
What happens if you install the radiator in the front of the box?
An AIO liquid cooling system consists of a closed circuit in which the liquid circulates throughout the interior of it. The pump is located in the CPU block, it forces the liquid to circulate towards the radiator (more specifically to its reservoir) passing through its entire surface (specifically, its tubes) and being cooled by the fans, to return to a lower temperature back to the CPU block, cooling it down.
The problem is that in a liquid cooling system, the cooling liquid inside never occupies all of it, that is, there is always some air bubble even with the newly purchased product. This is more pressing with the passage of time, because as we have explained in other tutorials, despite the fact that the system is watertight, there is some permeation in the tubes and, in the end, the system gradually reduces the amount of liquid in its inside.
If you place the radiator on the roof of the box, the radiator is arranged horizontally; there gravity does its function and the air bubbles remain at the top, so they do not give any problem beyond reducing the cooling efficiency, but the liquid moves smoothly and generally without making almost any noise.
If you install the radiator in the front of the box, several things happen: to begin with, if the tank is at the top, the air bubbles will remain at the top due to the effect of gravity, making noise and forcing the The pump has to work much harder to move the fluid, again due to gravity, as it will have to push it down the entire length of the radiator. When there is so much liquid in the interior that the holes in the tubes are below the liquid level, then the liquid will stop moving and in all probability the pump will burn out, damaging the entire device.
If you install the radiator in the front of the box but with the tank underneath, you do not have this last problem, but the pump will also work very forced because it will have to push the liquid upwards against the force of gravity, producing much more noise than what it should and the pump running very hard, which will greatly facilitate failure of the pump.
Install the radiator on the floor of the box
We have already seen why it is not a good idea to install the radiator in the front of the box, or to be more specific, why you should not install a radiator vertically. Now, what happens if you install it on the floor of the box? Thus the radiator would be horizontal and these problems of premature death would be avoided, but again gravity comes into play.
In AIO liquid cooling systems the pump is as a general rule in the CPU block, and what happens here is that the pump will always be forced because it is in the highest part of the circuit, so that most of the liquid, which is in the radiator, you will have to go up the tube to get to the CPU block, making the pump have to exert considerable effort to be able to move all that amount of liquid. This will result in higher noise, lower efficiency in dissipating heat and reduced durability in the device, being more prone to failure.
It must be said that these problems only affect liquid cooling kits that have the pump installed in the CPU block, which is in most of them. If the pump is in the radiator or in the custom liquid cooling systems in which the pump is separate, these problems are not so pressing since we can place the pump in the arrangement we want and, in addition, it is always much more powerful than the small pumps integrated in an AIO kit.
The ceiling, the only recommended position to install the radiator
Installing the AIO liquid cooling radiator on the ceiling is the most recommended because compared to any of the other positions, it is the one that will work best. Forever.
With the radiator on the roof, the lack of liquid will cause the bubbles to remain in the upper part of the radiator, so that there will not be air pockets that could damage the circuit. As liquid is lost in the circuit, the air bag will simply be greater and what we can notice is that it does not circulate on the top of the radiator, but as it is horizontal it will not greatly affect noise or performance. and also we will not be forcing or damaging the pump.
In addition, we will avoid “bubbling” noise and the pump will work with its full potential, without being forced, so we will be maximizing its useful life since the effort of the pump only lasts the length of the pipe, not the pipe plus the radiator. since it is almost effortless to move the liquid horizontally.