MERGED QUESTION
Question from Jake764link : "Where do I get a coolant?"
Jake764link :
I know nothing about liquid cooling and I want to know, where do I get the coolant? Do I just put water in or does it come with the cooler already in? I can't find anything about it online. I'm looking at this exact cooler
http://www.microcenter.com/product/426128/Hydro_Series_H75_High_Performance_Liquid_CPU_Cooler
Does it come with a coolant in it already?
And I just created an account so I'm not sure if this question was posted in the right place.
izoli :
That type of closed loop liquid cooler already has the coolant in it.
The coolant is already in it. There is nothing you need to do.
However...
If you're 'new' to liquid cooling, you need to read more.
The smaller ones, like the one you have selected, are generally no better than any of the good air coolers. And you're paying more money for it. And often more noise (pump), and more chance of fail.
A CPU cooler depends mostly on the actual radiator size. Square inches of surface area of the fins.
That H75 has pretty much the same 'surface area' as any of the better air coolers. Cryorig H7, for instance.
The limitation for the air coolers is...you can only put so much fin area directly on the CPU/motherboard. Any larger, and they would be too big to actually fit there.
So, to get more surface area, you make a larger radiator. But you can't mount a larger fin area directly on the CPU. So you put it elsewhere. But then you have the problem of how to get the heat from the CPU into that radiator.
Enter..drum roll...liquid.
You can mount a much larger radiator (larger = more fin surface area = better cooling) away from the CPU. Mounted directly to the case somewhere. And then using the liquid (and a pump) to transfer that heat from the CPU to the rad.
Bottom line: That H75 will perform no better than any of the better air coolers. The Noctua NH-D14 and Phanteks PH-TC14PE, for instance.
Review here:
http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/cooling/2014/02/17/corsair-hydro-h75-review/1
Get it if you want the looks, or are somewhat limited on space in the case.
But don't look to the words "liquid cooling" as some sort of magical operation.