Business | Technology
Liquid cooling for hardcore gamers
I could hear the crash coming, literally. I was using some graphic-intensive applications on an old Dell, one I bought before multi-core CPUs were around.
- By Scott Shuey, Chief Business Reporter
- Published: 00:01 August 9, 2008
I could hear the crash coming, literally. I was using some graphic-intensive applications on an old Dell, one I bought before multi-core CPUs were around.
The computer, which runs at 3.2 gigahertz and has a graphics card, sounded like an A380 getting ready to take off due to the three fans struggling to cool the system.
In an act of kindness usually unheard of in a Dell, the machine waited until after I closed the application before it gave me the Blue Screen of Death. The error message pin-pointed the problem: I had blown the graphics card. The computer still works, but any applications requiring a high frame rate (how fast the computer updates the images on my screen) now lag.
Heat is an old problem for computers, but what used to be more of a concern for cutting-edge systems has now become an issue for everyone. Several colleagues have complained recently about how hot their computers run, and I've learnt to not wear shorts while using a laptop.
But a new option is making its way to the UAE that should help combat the issue, at least with desktop systems: liquid cooling. While pumping water through the interior of a computer may not sound like the sanest of ideas, computer manufactures have now developed the process to the point that liquid-cooled system are now being sold in pre-made systems.
Manufactures have fixed many of the problems, such as condensation. Early attempts involved tubes that carried liquid cooler than the ambient air temperature. The tubes then had to be insulated to prevent little beads of water collecting next to system components that didn't react well to water. The new systems avoid the condensation issue by redirecting the cooling process to areas closer to the heat producing units, such as CPUs, GPUs, and memory chips (RAM).
This has resulted in a number of manufacturers using the technology. Apple introduced a G5 in 2004 that used the technology, and Alienware, a manufacturer of high-end gaming computers, started using liquid-cooling in 2006. Dell, which owns Alienware, released a liquid-cooled XPS system a year later. Liquid cooling is still very much geared to the gaming crowd, where over-clocked CPUs and intense graphic demands are the norm.
Over the past 12 months, HP and Acer have also gotten in the game. Last week Acer released four new systems here in Dubai that use liquid-cooling.
Expensive
Still anyone looking to buy the new system had better be ready to shell out some money.
Alienware's systems start at over Dh17,000. Acer's starting price is a little more affordable at around Dh8,000. But, upgrades to the systems can easily double the starting prices.
However, the payoff on these systems is performance. I've seen both the HP Blackbird and Acer's Predator, and the performance in impressive. The internet is filled with stories of gamers who have tried to push the Blackbird, released late last year, to its limits, and the complaints have been few and far between.
The only drawback to the liquid-cooled systems is noise. However, given the choice between a burnt out graphics card and some noise, I'll take the noise.
The payoff on these systems is performance. I've seen both the HP Blackbird and Acer's Predator, and the performance in impressive.
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