Air and Water Cooling

Unlock new heights of CPU performance and protection with Micro Center's selection of the best CPU cooler kits. Explore both air cooling and liquid cooling solutions for your PC, including case fans, heatsinks, all-in-one coolers, and so much more.

High-performance CPUs (like those used by gamers, video editors and designers) generate intense heat — especially if you're using overclocking to squeeze more performance from your PC. When the CPU becomes too hot, the system will employ a “thermal throttling” process that slows down performance to protect PC parts, like your graphics card, RAM, and more.

That's why CPU coolers are key for preventing thermal throttling and keeping your PC running at peak performance. These systems draw in excess heat from the CPU's heat spreader and dissipate it through heat pipes, radiators, cooling fans, and other cooling methods. While everyday CPUs come with their own coolers, users who want the best performance from the CPU in a workstation or gaming PC will typically need to choose either an air or liquid cooling solution.

Air cooling systems offer affordable and easy-to-install cooling performance for your CPU. Most air coolers draw the heat away from the CPU via a metal baseplate and a set of heat pipes. The heat radiates into a stack of cooling fins, and a cooling fan blows cool air over the fins to dissipate the heat and send it outside the case.

CPU air coolers tend to create more noise than liquid cooling, and they can require more careful positioning in your PC case to ensure good airflow. However, their simplicity, affordability, and reliability make them a popular choice with PC pros and novices alike.

Liquid cooling is an excellent option for those who want to push their PC performance to the limit. In all-in-one liquid cooling systems (known as AIO coolers), an enclosed water block on top of the CPU absorbs heat from the processor. A pump cycles the cooling liquid to a radiator, with fans that dissipate the heat.

With abundant thermal headroom and low noise level, liquid coolers are a popular CPU cooling method for gamers, overclockers, and anyone else who needs serious cooling power for their high-end PC. Their relatively low profile also makes them easy to mount in a variety of PC cases. Although all-in-one models are the most popular, custom liquid cooling kits offer the power to build a fully customized cooling system.

Whether you're going with liquid or air cooling, it's crucial to look at a cooler's compatibility specs. Look at whether it's designed to work with AMD or Intel CPUs (or both), as well as which specific motherboard socket types the cooler can accommodate.

Cooling systems are also a popular place for PC builders to implement sweet custom RGB lighting. Many coolers come equipped with RGB fans that can provide your PC with a distinctive look, including options that you can sync with other RGB elements in your system if desired.

Not sure which CPU cooler to choose? Need help installing a cooler on your PC? Micro Center's experts will be happy to assist! Stop by any of our stores nationwide, or visit our online Help Center to chat live with a Micro Center associate.