Someone had the wrong idea of connecting a huge air conditioning unit to a computer, hard to imagine something more absurd.
Innovation in cooling or excess? This PC setup that uses an air conditioner is as intriguing as it is impractical.
A technology content creator has implemented an unusual cooling system by integrating a 12,000 BTU air conditioner into the liquid cooling system of an RTX 4090 graphics card and an Intel Core i9-13900K processor. This approach replaces the typical radiator mounted in the PC with the air conditioning unit, a modified Xiaomi KFR-35GW model, which becomes the primary cooling component. The system is responsible for directing cold liquid through a circuit connected to the computer.
The content creator also plans to pair the Intel Core i9-14900K processor with the scarce Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090, but the lack of a suitable water block for the RTX 5090 has hindered this new phase.
During initial testing, the RTX 4090 maintained a remarkable temperature of just 20°C under high load conditions. When the air conditioning unit was moved outdoors, GPU temperatures remained exceptionally low, reaching 2°C at idle and 20°C under load.
Despite the impressive cooling capacity of this method, there are several practical considerations to keep in mind. Integrating an HVAC system into a PC is a complicated process that requires soldering, handling refrigerants, and custom piping. This is not something the average user can do and carries risks associated with handling refrigerant gases and electrical components. Therefore, attempting this modification at home is discouraged.
Another concern is energy consumption, as the air conditioning unit used consumes approximately 1.2 kW of power, which represents a significantly higher cost compared to conventional cooling solutions for PCs.
Additionally, extreme cooling can lead to condensation, which poses a significant risk to the durability of the workstation components. Without proper insulation and humidity control, the system could suffer unintentional damage due to water accumulation in the chassis.
Finally, the size of the air conditioning unit also presents a challenge. Measuring 765 x 268 x 550 mm, it is considerably larger than a 360 mm cooling radiator and even exceeds the size of the PC case it is cooling. This approach turns out to be extremely impractical and could be considered more of an attractive hobby project than a viable solution for computer cooling.
