Deciding which option you should go with to cool your PC depends a lot on what kind of system you have, what you use it for, what your budget is, and the environment you want to operate the computer in. Air cooling is the best choice for someone running an entry-level to mid-range PC setup that doesn’t have any bells and whistles.
CPU air coolers are cheaper and more straightforward. Although bulky, they also take up less space within the chassis compared to their liquid counterparts. Anyone playing a normal amount of games with average-quality graphics or using their PC for casual home or work use will be just fine keeping their machine cool with the power of air.
Liquid cooling is a better option for anyone who does need more out of their system. If you work in a graphics-heavy profession like video editing and 3D rendering, or if you play games that push your computer’s graphics and processing power to the limit, then air cooling may not cut it for you. For example, for a premium processor like the Ryzen 7 7800X3D, AMD recommends a liquid cooler because it could heat up past a point that an air cooling system could handle.
On the other hand, a less premium model like the Ryzen 5 7600 would operate just fine with air cooling. It all comes down to the power consumption of your CPU and the rest of your PC; the higher the wattage, the more heat to deal with. Liquid cooling systems are also smaller, quieter, and more aesthetically pleasing, but they can cost twice as much (or more) as an air-cooled system.
