Quote:
Originally Posted by Cavi Mike

Copper has the same anti-microbial characteristics as silver, silver is just the best thermally conductive metal. Gold is just for bling, it's nowhere near as good as copper thermally.
|
This is technically mostly true, but with caveats. We're splitting hairs now, but here goes:
Copper does indeed also work as an anti-microbial, but it is a bit of a simplification to say it is interchangeable with silver in that capacity as not enough is understood about how either metal works in that regard. In any case, properly manufactured copper waterblocks are coated with a thin layer of shellac or similar sealant to prevent oxidation, which should keep free copper ions from doing their work on microbes. Any plating covers up the copper entirely, of course.
Also, silver is a
lot more expensive than copper (much more expensive than it is better as a heat conductor) so it is impractical as a block material.
Silver is not used in PC watercooling loops for its thermal properties. Copper is not used in PC watercooling loops for its anti-microbial properties, but I suppose it would probably work to put in a raw copper killcoil instead of a silver one.