Average Cost of a PC Cooling System

After purchasing a high performing CPU, it is important to buy a proper cooling system to ensure it maintains its peak performance. If you are like most people when it comes to building a PC, you have to balance a delicate budget.  The cooling system is just one component amongst many such as your graphics card and motherboard. Understanding the price of a cooling system and what you can get at each price point will be important when setting your budget. In this guide, we walk you through the average cost of a cooling system. 

Average Cost of Cooling System: $105 

According to our bot, the average price of a cooling system on amazon on Amazon is $36. There are two main types of CPU cooling systems that work best for gaming; an air cooler using a fan and a liquid cooling system. The heat sink uses a fan to pull heat away from the processor while the liquid cooling system that wraps cooling liquid around the processor. Our price bot found a wider discrepancy in prices between the two systems, with the air cooler costing $50 and the liquid cooling systems costing $115. 

Average Cost of Air Cooling Systems: $50

Air coolers are the cheapest option for cooling systems. They are also the easier version to install into the computer. These cooling systems work by using a fan to pull heat away from the processor and towards a heat lamp, which is usually made out of a material such as copper. There are several brands that are known for air coolers; Cooler Master, Noctua, Corsair, Arctic Freezer, and GamerStorm. Our bot found the cheapest average brand option to be Scythe, while Corsair created the most expensive air cooling system. 

Average Cost of Liquid Cooling System: $115

Liquid cooling systems are the more expensive but better-performing cooling system for computers. While there are several forms of liquid cooling systems, the most popular ones are AIO, or all in one, systems. These coolers perform better but are more expensive on average, costing $120. Liquid cooling systems move the liquid around the CPU through plates and pull and cycle the heat out of the system. They can be more difficult to install than their air cooling system counterparts. In addition, these cooling systems take up less overall space in the computer. Our cost bot found that the cheapest cooling system brand is Alphacool at $75, while the most expensive brand is Aorus at $175.