A WATER COOLED POWER SUPPLY? ARE THEY NUTS??

The video investigates a water cooled power supply unit (PSU) from FSP and questions whether liquid cooling makes sense for a PSU. The host notes the striking design including standard G1/4 inch fittings and a visible, full-length water block on the PSU, while acknowledging that the NDA prevents a full teardown to reveal internals. They compare air cooling versus liquid cooling by testing the unit in two modes and contrast results against a high-end air cooled reference, the Corsair AXi 1200i. In the initial phase, the team observes the internal heat sink arrangement and speculates about how heat might transfer to the water block, while recognizing that the cooling path remains somewhat uncertain without disassembly. They perform a controlled, multi-stage test setup using an overclocked 16-core CPU, four Titan X Pascal GPUs, and a wall power draw approaching 1200 watts, then isolate the PSU in a separate room to measure acoustic leakage. As tests progress, the air-cooled PSU remains quiet at idle, but at two-thirds load the FSP unit begins to spin up its fan and exhibit hot spots around 77 degrees Celsius with noise around 44 decibels, while the Corsair remains quieter. With a 1200 watt load, the water cooled setup shows reduced noise but still noticeable heat signatures and occasional cracking noises, suggesting that while there is some cooling benefit, the implementation may not be ideal. The host concludes that liquid cooling can offer improvements but is not convincingly superior to a high wattage air cooled PSU, and suggests that future iterations with tighter integration and direct contact between the heat producing parts and the water block could improve the concept. They also reflect on the value proposition, indicating that unless someone must have a fully liquid cooled system, a conventional high wattage PSU remains a more practical choice. The video closes with sponsor messages and a nod toward the potential for a refined, more tightly integrated design in a subsequent release.

Topics · Science & Technology · Hardware · PC Building · Product Testing · Technology Innovation