Computers normally run without CPU glitches when performing light tasks. If you are merely using your computer to surf the Web, run some basic office applications and do some typing, you are unlikely to ever encounter CPU overheating issues that plague other computer users.
When performing heavy tasks, on the other hand, CPUs generate a massive amount of heat. In the hot weather, CPU overheating issues are compounded. They are also exacerbated if you have plugged a lot of computer components to your motherboard. A computer running with a high-end PCIe video card and fast-spinning hard drive considerably increase temperature levels inside the computer case.
More often than not, the cooling power of the standard heat sink and fan that comes with your computer is not enough to protect CPUs from damage due to overheating. If you do not fry out your CPU first, your motherboard will initiate an emergency shutdown without warning when it detects the dangerously high temperature levels. This can be a real pain especially when you will lose important unsaved files and data.
If you play graphics-intensive computer games a lot, or frequently run Photoshop and other graphically demanding applications, it is a great idea to use liquid or water cooling to help lower the core temperature of your overtasked CPU.
As opposed to the cooling action of heat sinks and fans which use air to cool down computer components, liquid cooling, as its name suggests, uses water to cool down computer hardware. Water is able to conduct heat approximately 30 times faster than air; thus, it is a more effective cooling medium. With a liquid cooling system, you can run your processor at higher speeds longer without running a high risk of melting it onto the motherboard.
In a water cooling system, water is circulated by means of a pump through a water block that is connected to the CPU. This water block is comparable to the heat sink of an air cooling system. Heat from the processor is conducted to the running water which travels on to the back of the computer where a radiator is situated. The hot water is then replaced with cool water which is promptly pumped back to the water block.
With a liquid cooling system, there is always the risk of leakage. But due to its efficiency, some computer owners are using it and reaping its benefits. With the development of newer and faster technology which also inadvertently run hotter, liquid cooling could become the norm in the future.