24 Feb
2012
24 Feb
'12
4:02 p.m.
[...], but most cheaply-available non-conductive
liquids don't have
nearly the thermal capacity of water.
Water actually is not very conductive if you keep it clean - chemically
clean, that is, free of dissolved minerals and salts and such;
mechanical contaminants don't matter unless they (a) are conductive in
their own right or (b) dissolve into the water and render it
conductive.
Of course, even if you start with pure water, keeping it pure is going
to be a bit of a fight if you're using it to cool "normal" computer
hardware, at least until the hardware gets washed clean. And, while
it's not a large effect, metallic corrosion may be enough to be a
problem on a timescale of months or years - I'd have to try it, or dig
up more data, to say anything definite.
Still generally better than air, though.
True, that.
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