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PC Cooling with the Kitchen Sink?

Linus Tech Tips@LinusTechTips1.9M viewsApr 7, 201912:53
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YT
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This video takes a bold, chaotic approach to PC cooling by attempting to run a high end processor’s cooling loop using only a kitchen sink. The hosts start with baseline measurements on a stock system to establish a reference for temperatures, then attempt to hook a water block up to the sink to see how far an inexpensive, open loop could push performance. They encounter multiple practical hurdles, including leak risks and fitting woes, while improvising with tape and fittings to seal joints. The team records temperatures at idle and under load, noting dramatic drops from stock cooling, but also highlight that the setup is far from a polished engineering solution. Early results show sub-ambient readings around idle and substantial reductions under load, though not consistently stable or scalable for long term use. The video then experiments with a bucket of ice and a submersible pump to push colder water through the loop, achieving further temperature reductions but at the cost of practicality and reliability. In the conclusion the hosts compare this kitchen sink setup to conventional radiators, acknowledging the novelty and entertainment value, while emphasizing that this method is neither efficient nor recommended for real-world overclocking. They close with a humorous nod to Linus’s original warning and suggest that the exercise is best viewed as a high entertainment bench test rather than a serious build path. Overall, the video blends experimental curiosity with candid challenges and playful banter, leaving viewers with a memorable finding that unconventional cooling can beat certain presets in bench scenarios but is not a substitute for proper hardware cooling solutions.

Topics · science & technology · experiment · hardware performance

Questions answered

What temperatures did the kitchen sink cooling achieve at idle and under load on the initial setup?
Idle temperatures dropped to around 14 degrees Celsius, with the hottest core around 40 degrees Celsius under load on the stock baseline before any overclocking.
Was using the sink to cool a PC practical or recommended for real overclocking?
No, it is not practical or recommended for real overclocking. The setup is a novelty bench test with leak risks and unreliable long-term operation, though it demonstrated some temperature advantages in a controlled, experimental context.
What alternative cooling method did they test after the initial setup and what was the outcome?
They tested a bucket of ice with a submersible pump to recirculate colder water through the loop, which achieved further sub-ambient temperatures but remained impractical and still did not replace proper cooling solutions.