Best liquid cooled pc: Best liquid cooled gaming PC in 2022

The Skytech Prism II is one of the best 3090 prebuilt computers out there and that is mostly down to its premium innards and fabulous case.

The combined power of the AMD Ryzen 9 5900X CPU and RTX 3090 graphics card gives gamers the best gaming performance for their money. The CPU features 12 cores and 24 threads running at a base clock speed of 3. 7GHz, with a boost potential of 4.8GHz. The 5900X is great for gaming and heavy workloads, giving you an excellent all-round experience. Backing up arguably the best desktop CPU on the market is the flagship RTX 3090, a graphics card that is in a league of its own. This GPU enables you to play in the highest of resolutions with high frame rates and will serve your gaming needs for years to come.

We would have liked to see at least 32GB of RAM for the price, however, 16GB of decent speed RAM is more than enough. This PC also comes with a 1TB NVMe SSD and wifi. The CPU is powerful and in need of an effective cooling solution, so we see a 360mm AIO taking care of that while also helping the overall aesthetics of the prebuilt.

Final word

If you are in the market for a gaming PC, it is important to consider all of your options. In particular, you should think about whether liquid cooling is right for you. Our team has researched the best liquid-cooled gaming PCs for 2022 and we are happy to share our findings with you.

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The Best Prebuilt Watercooled PCs

by Cody BrownOctober 4, 2022

Modern gaming requires powerful hardware, especially when you’re talking about demanding, triple-A titles. And as technology advances, we’ll continue to see bigger and better games that require even more powerful hardware.

One of the biggest problems with high-power hardware, however, is that it produces a lot of heat. That’s where water cooling comes into play.

Liquid generally conducts heat faster than air, meaning it’s better for cooling hot PC parts than air is.

Also Read: Liquid Cooling vs. Air Cooling: Which Style CPU Cooler is Best?

So if you’re looking to get a good high-powered PC for gaming and heavy workloads, you’ll want a PC with water cooling.

We’ll go through some of the best pre-built water cooled PCs around, from budget-friendly casual gaming machines, to more enthusiast-grade gaming computers.

Best Prebuilt Watercooled PCs

1. Corsair Vengeance i7300 (Top Pick)

2. Alienware Aurora R13 (Mini)

3. Skytech Prism II (Extreme)

4. AVGPC Quiet (Budget)

5. CUK Mantis (Honorable Mention)

6. ZOTAC MEK Hero G1 (Honorable Mention)

Quick Look: The Best Prebuilt Watercooled PCs

		NAME	SPECS	RATING
TOP PICK		Corsair Vengeance i7300	i7-12700K RTX 3070 16GB RAM 1TB SSD	9.0/10	See Price » Custom PC »
		Alienware Aurora R13	i7 12700F RTX 3060 Ti 16GB RAM 512GB SSD	8. 9/10	See Price » Custom PC »
EXTREME		Skytech Prism II	R9 5900X RTX 3090 16GB RAM 1TB SSD	9.4/10	See Price » Custom PC »
BUDGET		AVGPC Quiet	i5-12400F GTX 1660 16GB RAM 1TB SSD	8.7/10	See Price » Custom PC »

*For more information on the watercooled prebuilt gaming PCs above, click the “Read Review »” link and you will skip to our overview of that PC. To see our Honorable Mention picks, keep scrolling down.

1. Corsair Vengeance i7300

Best prebuilt liquid-cooled gaming PC

Our Rating: 9.0/10

Check Price on Amazon

Or, Get A Custom-Built PC »

If you want a nice water cooled PC that balances price and performance well, then the Corsair Vengeance i7300 is a great machine.

Corsair’s offering takes an Intel Core i7 12700K processor and pairs it with NVIDIA’s middling 30-series card, the RTX 3070. This combination is complemented with 16GB of memory and a 1TB NVMe SSD, making it a powerhouse that’s capable of achieving high frame rates on any game you throw at it. And at its price, it offers a decent price-to-performance ratio for a pre-built water cooled PC by a reliable PC vendor.

Corsair is a major player in the PC hardware market, and with the Corsair Vengeance i7300, it’s easy to see why. This high-tier RTX 3070 gaming PC checks all the right boxes, built by a trustworthy brand in the industry, balancing price and performance well, and looking great while doing it.

2. Alienware Aurora R13

The best watercooled prebuilt mini PC

Our Rating: 8.9/10

Check Price on Amazon

Or, Get A Custom-Built PC »

When you think of mini PCs, you probably don’t think of water cooling. Yet here we are, with the Alienware Aurora R13. This PC is a powerful little computer, packing an Intel Core i7 12700F and an NVIDIA RTX 3060 Ti into a tiny chassis. With that alone, it’s no wonder this thing needs water cooling, coming with an AIO cooler mounted to the CPU.

Also Read: Best Prebuilt Mini-ITX Gaming PCs

It also comes with 16GB of DDR5 memory, which is rather a treat when so many pre-built PCs are still shipping with DDR4 memory. With next-gen RAM frequencies being generally higher than current-gen RAM, that means you’ll see performance increases in some games, and a general performance uplift with the 12th-gen i7 the computer comes with over the same processor paired with DDR4 memory.

Ultimately, if you can fit this PC into your budget, and you’re looking for a small computer with water cooling, then this is the best choice out of all the machines on this list.

*If you’re considering building your own PC, check out our guide on the Best Small Form-Factor PC Builds.

3.

Skytech Prism II

An extreme prebuilt liquid-cooled PC

Our Rating: 9.4/10

Check Price on Amazon

Or, Get A Custom-Built PC »

If you want a PC that’s really packing some heat, then you’ll definitely want to consider the Skytech Prism II. This water cooled beast of a PC is for enthusiasts and serious streamers that want the best of all worlds, and aren’t afraid of spending a bit more to have it.

The Skytech Prism II comes with an AMD Ryzen 9 5900X and an RTX 3090, powered by an impressively capable 1000-watt power supply, making this a top-tier performer for gaming, streaming, and more. It also comes with the standard 16GB of memory and a 1TB NVMe SSD. And there to cool all of that raw horsepower is a large 360mm AIO water cooler and six RGB fans.

All of this makes it a capable machine, able to play games in 4K at ultra settings without issue. If you’ve got deep pockets and want an awesome PC for years to come, then it’s hard to go wrong with this prebuilt RTX 3090 desktop.

4. AVGPC Quiet Series

Best budget prebuilt watercooled PC

Our Rating: 8.7/10

Check Price on Amazon

Or, Get A Custom-Built PC »

Finding a decent gaming PC that’s water cooled and budget-friendly is a tall order to fill. But AVGPC has one such build that can fill that order with its Quiet Series Gaming PC.

This PC comes with a solid budget-friendly CPU/GPU combo, with the Intel Core i5 12400F and NVIDIA GTX 1660. This will give you decent performance in most games, being able to play in 1080p at high settings for most games at an acceptable frame rate—especially with the inclusion of an AIO water cooler.

The PC also comes with a 1TB NVMe SSD and 16GB of RAM. And while the memory is slightly slower than average, at 3000MHz, you shouldn’t notice any performance degradation (especially since Intel CPUs don’t depend so heavily on fast RAM like AMD CPUs do).

If you’re on a bare-bones budget, and you just want a nice, new water cooled PC without breaking the bank, then this affordable prebuilt gaming PC is undoubtedly the right computer for you.

5. CUK Mantis Gamer PC

Honorable Mention #1

Our Rating: 9.0/10

Check Price on Amazon

Or, Get A Custom-Built PC »

If you’re looking for an upper-middle range build for a middle-range price, then you might consider the CUK Mantis Gamer PC.

This build comes with an Intel Core i9 12900F and an NVIDIA RTX 3060 Ti, a powerful combination to tackle any gaming or streaming needs you may have. It also comes with 32GB of memory, as well as a combined 2.5TB of storage (512GB NVMe SSD + 2TB HDD), making it a good option for any type of workload.

For a bit more, you can get our number one pick, the Corsair Vengeance i7300, which offers better graphics and an overclockable i7 processor. But if you simply can’t fit that one into your budget, this is a great alternative. For the overall value, this PC is a close second, blending budget and performance well enough for most games and workloads.

6. ZOTAC Gaming MEK Hero G1

Honorable mention #2

Our Rating: 8. 9/10

Check Price on Amazon

Or, Get A Custom-Built PC »

If you’re on a budget, but want something that has a little more “oomph” than the AVGPC Quiet Series PC, then you can’t go wrong with the ZOTAC Gaming MEK Hero G1 l1736KFT PC.

In this computer, you’ll get an Intel Core i7 11700KF—which actually offers a little more performance than the 12400F—and is unlocked for overclocking. It also comes with an RTX 3060 Ti, which means it comes with DLSS support, 16GB of memory and a 1TB SSD.

All of this makes for an incredibly capable machine for its price. Much like our budget choice, this computer is aimed at the lower end of the gaming PC market, for gamers who don’t need a ton of horsepower and just want to game without breaking the bank.

Also Read: The Best Budget Gaming PC Builds

If you’re on a tight budget, but can manage to squeeze this in there, this computer is a great deal and definitely worth getting.

Stay Chill with a Watercooled PC

Watercooled PCs generally perform better than their air-cooled counterparts because liquid is more thermally conductive than air. But while you can get more performance for your dollar by building your own PC, buying a pre-built PC can save you the time and hassle of piecing everything together yourself, especially if you’re looking for a water cooled system.

Also Read: How to Build A Gaming PC (Step-by-Step)

Plus, you can find some pretty good deals on a pre-built water cooled PC in every price range.

Custom Water Cooled Gaming Computer

GAMING COMPUTERS
EVOLUTION SERIES

Powerful gaming computers with custom water cooling. Low noise, unique design and high efficiency

CHOOSE YOUR CONFIGURATION

2 CHOOSE YOUR GAME:

The FPS figures obtained are averaged and serve to demonstrate the relative performance of systems at maximum graphics settings.

3 CHOOSE YOUR CONFIGURATION:

Our work

Multi-core processors.

Performance X Gaming PCs Use Intel® Core™ X-series and AMD Processors
Ryzen™ Threadripper with up to 32 cores.

With up to 18 cores and 36 threads, the Intel® Core™ X-series are the most powerful processors in the lineup.
Intel® X29 Chipset Combination9 with Intel® Core™ X-series processors creates a platform
world class for gaming, content creation and overclocking.

AMD Ryzen™ Threadripper™ is the world’s first 32-core desktop processor. Manage
every step of the creative process and plunge headlong into complex 3D projects
modeling and use the entire arsenal of creative software. Processors
The Ryzen™ Threadripper™ is so powerful that you won’t have to stop work tasks while you
play.

Latest NVIDIA RTX cards

The Performance X series gaming PCs use the latest NVIDIA RTX cards on
Turing architecture. Radeon™ RX VEGA Models Available for AMD Fans

NVIDIA GeForce RTX™ graphics deliver the best PC gaming experience. Possessing everyone
capabilities of the new NVIDIA Turing™ GPU architecture and the revolutionary RTX platform, graphics cards
The RTX 20 series integrate real-time ray tracing, artificial
intelligence and programmable shaders. This is a completely new gaming experience.

AMD Radeon™ RX — Radeon RX graphics cards deliver incredible gaming experiences and
performance in the latest esports, virtual reality or class games
AAA.

RAM:

The Performance series gaming computers use DDR4 memory. depending
depending on your needs, we recommend using from 32 to 64 gigabytes of RAM in
computers in this series.

DDR4 memory provides enhanced performance, increased DIMM capacity,
improved data integrity and reduced power consumption. DDR4 reaches speeds up to 2Gbps
per pin and consumes less power than DDR3L (DDR3 undervoltage), providing
up to 50% increase in performance and speed, as well as reducing the power consumption of the entire computing
environment.

Solid state drives and hard drives:

There are 3 types of drives available in the Performance series computers to design an efficient
storage subsystems.

M.2 is an innovative SSD based on V-NAND technology that connects with
PCI Express® x4 Gen 3 slots that provide higher
throughput and lower latency compared to SATA SSDs.

SSD — drives have a high speed of reading / writing information, no noise when
operation, low power consumption and high reliability.

HDD — a standard hard drive up to 12 TB will be a reliable and practical storage for large
volumes of information.

CREATE YOUR UNIQUE STYLE

DigitalRazor Liquid Cooling Kit is a perfectly balanced kit for building efficient
liquid cooling systems. With a 240mm radiator, you get a great
headroom to overclock your components without increasing noise levels.

STYLISH PAINT

What do an expensive sports car and a gaming computer have in common? Not much, but for a series of gaming systems
The DigitalRazor Performance X has an automotive paint option available. Do you have the opportunity
give a unique look by choosing from a wide palette of colors.

INDIVIDUAL CABLE BRIDGE

Custom colored nylon braided wires for a neat and aesthetic look
cable system of your gaming PC. A wide choice of colors allows you to effectively
emphasize the color scheme of the gaming system or place the right accents in the design of your
computer.

Combinations of one, two, three or more colors are available. Everything is limited only by fantasy
author.

DigitalRazor EVOLUTION Gaming Computer Warranty

The warranty for EVOLUTION series computers is 36 months. This warranty includes
highly qualified technical and service support. Our managers are always ready to provide
consulting support with installation and configuration of equipment.

If you have a technical problem, we carry out initial diagnostics and solve
problem as quickly as possible. If the problem is due to hardware failure and
requires replacement of components the computer must be brought to one of our service centers.
Service centers of our company are located in St. Petersburg and Moscow.

In this warranty package, delivery to service centers is FREE for all cities
Russia. Additionally, there is an opportunity to increase the term and level of service.

Testing

We conduct comprehensive testing of a gaming computer using a specialized
software designed to evaluate stability, performance and
temperature regime.

Special sets of utilities create the maximum possible load for a long time,
going through several cycles with subsequent logging and graphical display of the received
data. Most of the problems with iron can be «caught» precisely at the stage of preliminary
testing.

For Performance Series computers, a standard 8-hour test is performed from
extension up to 48 hours.

Assembly and adjustment

We pay special attention to the assembly and configuration of computers. Specialists and masters of the company
undergo a rigorous selection for professional suitability. This allows you to create systems based on
the high demands of the company, paying attention to the smallest details.

Our task is to provide our customers with uninterrupted and high-quality equipment with impeccable
appearance, which will allow you to fully enjoy the games in the form it is
intended by the developers.

Assembly includes: work with cable management, high-quality thermal interface, configuration
cooling systems, flashing the BIOS of the motherboard, installing all the latest drivers and
configuring the storage subsystem.

Reliable and free delivery:

Our company provides free shipping throughout Russia. We only work with
verified logistics companies, the shipped cargo will be insured for
full cost.

Each gaming PC comes with secure foam packaging to prevent any
damage to the goods during transportation.

When sending computers of the EVOLUTION series between cities, a branded shipping box
provided in the kit. It will ensure the iron safety of the cargo.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Shipping Questions

Payment Questions

Warranty Questions

Assembly Questions

Shipping Questions

What cities do you deliver to?

How much is delivery to St. Petersburg

How much is delivery to Moscow

How much is delivery to my city?

My city is not in the shipping list

I’m worried about the safety of the cargo during delivery

Is delivery to other countries possible?

Warranty Questions

What to do if the computer does not work?

What to do if the QR code does not work or does not exist?

How do I deliver my computer to a service center?

How long does a warranty repair take?

Assembly Questions

How long does it take to build a gaming PC?

Do you have ready computers?

Can I add my own components to the computer assembly?

Can I buy accessories separately?

I want to install components that are not in the configurator?

Will my computer arrive assembled?

What kind of cooling should I choose for my PC? / Platform PC / iXBT Live

Do you often think about what kind of cooling to choose for your gaming PC? Enthusiasts are divided into two camps. One camp prefers air cooling systems, the other prefers liquid cooling systems. Dropsy seems to be the more popular solution these days, but the final choice of one or the other is best done based on your needs. However, it is necessary to understand the differences and the principle of operation of various cooling systems, especially if you expect to assemble a PC yourself. We hope that the information in this article will be useful to you.

About air coolers

It’s simple: the air cooler’s heatpipes carry heat to the heatsink, where it is eventually dissipated. For this reason, the efficiency of this cooler largely depends on the heat-absorbing base. The priority here is given to the base of copper, since it is this material that has optimal thermal conductivity. As a rule, most non-budget coolers have a nickel-plated copper base.

Further: heat energy is transferred to the radiator fins from the base through a copper tube. Thermal conductivity can be affected by many factors, among which soldering quality plays a huge role.

The number and thickness of the tubes also have a profound effect on heat transfer. The number of tubes depends on the cooler class. So, mid-priced coolers can have six heat pipes, and more expensive models — seven or eight. It follows that a larger number of tubes has a better effect on heat transfer. The level of bend and the location of the tubes also play an important role.

Final stage — heat dissipation with a fan (located in the heatsink). The structure of the fan, as well as the speed of its rotation, directly affect its performance. Its task is to remove heat from the radiator fins and reduce the temperature of the processor.

Another nuance lies in the fact that coolers are effective only with a large heat dissipation area. Actually, that’s why coolers of the middle and higher ranks have a design of one «tower», specially designed for installing a 14cm fan. Some coolers have two «towers». There is an opinion that the peak of air cooler development has already been passed, since the size of coolers is limited by the size of the case, cooling elements of the motherboard, video card, etc. There is only one way out for cooler manufacturers; find the answer to the question of how to increase performance without making the cooler even more massive.

About LCS

Liquid Cooling Systems (LCS) use a liquid refrigerant. The essence of the «dropsy» operation is practically no different from a conventional processor cooler. The formula for the work of the LSS is as follows; heat is removed from the processor and then dissipated by being driven through the pump into the heatsink.

The coolant transfers heat from the water block to the radiator through the connecting pipes: the radiator itself is blown by the fan(s). It is worth noting that the refrigerant has a high heat capacity (four times higher than that of a conventional cooler!), and the coolants themselves have a large heat dissipation area. Therefore, LSS are considered more advanced than conventional coolers.

What distinguishes dropsy coolers from ordinary coolers is that they are not limited by frames and space. As a result, LSSs can be easily equipped with radiators from 240mm to 360mm, making the heat dissipation process more efficient.

Both coolers and coolers have their advantages and disadvantages. So, air coolers can boast of their durability. The downside of an air cooler is that it takes up more space, potentially blocking other PC components. The heat dissipation efficiency of the cooler is rather average compared to the LSS.

Heat pipes and cooler performance

The opinion that LSS will completely replace air coolers has existed for many years. However, the modernization of heat pipe technology has significantly improved their performance. The point here is that the liquid refrigerant turns into vapor at one end of the tube and then condenses at the other. The refrigerant then takes the form of a liquid again and flows back to the hot end, and the cycle is repeated anew. The efficiency of a heat pipe is so huge that most of the more or less good heatsinks on the market use this technology, and the efficiency of heat dissipation is also related to the number of heat pipes.

What does this give us? Heatpipe air coolers handle quad-core processors, which are currently the most popular on the market, without any problems. Actually, that’s why the mass market has not yet fully appreciated all the charm of LSS. However, every year the demand for «dropsy» will grow.

Custom Coolant

Custom Coolant differs from the usual AIO solution in that the former consists of separate parts, so you need to collect such «cool» yourself. Among the necessary components, we note a water block, a reservoir, a pump (pump), fans, a radiator, fittings, connecting pipes, and also a refrigerant. Please note that the reservoir and pump can be combined. In order to facilitate the selection of components, some manufacturers offer them together. Of course, you can also buy all the parts yourself. However, you should remember that in addition you will have to buy valves, connection blocks, water flow sensors, a thermometer, etc.

After connecting and connecting all components, make sure that everything is held firmly, does not leak or come off. With this, a pump stand and some other accessories can help you. After you are convinced that there are no leaks, fill in the refrigerant. Next, conduct a series of tests to once again verify that the assembly is in good working order and that there are no leaks. After all, if suddenly your assembly starts to leak, then the components of your PC (motherboard, M.2 drives, video card) can be at serious risk.

Tubing types: soft and rigid

Open circuit CBOs can be equipped with two types of tubing: flexible (soft) and rigid. The first is usually made of PVC, due to which such tubes bend better. Rigid tubes are usually made of plastic or other similar materials. The layout of rigid tubes must be planned in advance, and it is also necessary to buy tools for bending them. Hard tubes are more aesthetically pleasing than soft tubes and can be completed with accessories such as water sensors and reservoirs. Installing hard tubes is quite difficult, so it is better to entrust their installation to a professional. Soft tubes can be installed by yourself as they are easy to maintain.

AIO SOLUTIONS

Today’s all-in-one liquid cooling systems have evolved significantly over the past few years. Now the LSS market is dominated by models with a built-in water pump. What is the essence of this decision? Users only need to install the fan on the heatsink and then install the whole system into the case. The installation process itself does not take much time and does not require extra effort, which is a huge plus of this type of cooling.

The design of the water pump in AIO «dropsy» can be of two types. The first type, such as MAG CORELIQUID C360/P360; the pump of this model of LSS is built into the radiator. This design of the pump may affect the compactness and performance, but it allows you to reduce the level of vibrations, minimize the risk of leaks, and also make the water block thinner.

In the second type of construction, the pump is built into the water block. Asetek has dropsies with this design. The productivity and efficiency of such dropsies are usually higher.

In addition, the new LSS models can boast of having an addressable backlight and an LCD screen on which you can display system information, which, you see, is quite useful. Well, the backlight «dropsy» can be easily synchronized with other components using software.

MSI’s MEG CORELIQUID S360 as an example. The water block of this model is equipped with a 2.4-inch IPS-display, with which you can monitor the status of the system or simply display a “GIF” on it. There is also a 6 cm fan inside the water block, which is responsible for cooling the power elements of the motherboard.

Conclusions

Let’s summarize. Custom liquid cooling systems are longer and therefore have more refrigerant, which ultimately results in more efficient cooling. Due to the presence of a powerful pump (pump), heat can be quickly removed from the processor, and the water block itself can be customized. So, on the MPG Z690 CARBON EK X motherboard — designed specifically for custom cooling — you can install a large water block, which, however, will take up a lot of space.