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Liquid Metal CPU Cooling

IceFoot writes "Bored with water cooling? Try a liquid metal cooler. It's a proven technology, used in nuclear reactors for decades because it carries heat away much better than a heat sink, heat pipe, or water cooling."

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  1. The Article (site is already slow...) by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    Liquid-Metal Cooling Loop Technology for CPU and processor cooling,
    for laptops, desktops, servers, and graphics cards

    The ever increasing demands put on cooling solutions for semiconductor devices have never been greater than today and there are no indications that these requirements will diminish in the future. With higher power dissipation due to higher speed processors, ever increasing leakage losses and extremely high heat flux densities due to hot spots on the chip, the demand for advanced cooling solutions continues to increase.

    Until recently the demand for advanced cooling solutions was reserved for a small fraction of the ICs produced. Today these needs are becoming pervasive. New CPUs in almost every application are starting to require more than just a heat sink and a fan, and the need is not just with the CPU. In a modern portable computer or server there are several different heat sources that require advanced cooling. One can easily imagine a CPU, GPU, power supply, and other heat sources that need to be cooled.

    nanoCoolers has developed a unique approach to cooling these high power heat sources. Cooling with liquid metals has been used for decades in the nuclear reactor industry, but never before have the systems been miniaturized and developed specifically for computer cooling. nanoCoolers has developed solutions to address the high heat source issues for portable computers, desktop computers, servers and other electronic applications. Within each of these categories are specialized situations that have additional needs, such as the elevated temperature requirements for ruggedized computers, or the overclocking requirements from gamers. nanoCoolers' advanced liquid metal cooling solutions address each of these concerns.

    Processor Cooling and CPU Cooling for Portable Computing

    Each application has issues with high heat flux densities and high power dissipation, but each also has their own unique issues that need to be addressed. nanoCoolers' solution for portable computers not only solves the power dissipation and high heat flux densities with the use of a highly thermally conductive liquid metal but also allows the system to be completely orientation independent. Since our solution is a completely filled and sealed unit, there are no gravitational effects on the thermal solution and therefore on the computer itself. Our electromagnetic pump, consisting of magnets and electrodes allows for extremely small pumps with a variety of profiles. Since the pump has no moving parts, it is inherently reliable. In the future, advanced cooling solutions will be required in portable computers for cooling CPUs, GPUs, other ICs, power supplies and even fuel cells. Our technology lets the system designer determine how many heat sources they would like to cool and at what remote location they would like to dissipate the heat. Another trend for portable computers is to make the computer thinner. nanoCoolers' heat exchangers can be made extremely thin to allow for these design challenges. The heat can be efficiently removed from the heat source and then transported to a remote location where it can be rejected to ambient air. Finally, one of the most important issues with a portable computer is the battery life of the unit. nanoCoolers' thermal solution is not only very power efficient, it could also be designed to vary based on the amount of cooling needed. If the system is idling, the current to the pump could be reduced or even shut off. However, if the CPU is running at 100%, the pump current could be increased for maximum cooling. These attributes allow for system designers to be able to design the very best portable solution available.

    CPU Cooling and Graphics Card Cooling for Desktop Computing

    Desktop computers have many of the same issues as all CPU driven devices; high power dissipation and high heat densities. Our desktop solution solves the most demanding thermal requirements. Desktop solutions might not be as concerned about power efficiencies,

  2. Re:That's a little... extreme by leathered · · Score: 5, Informative

    Not quite as extreme as you think. According to Pat Gelsinger (Intel VP), the surface area power dissipation of a modern CPU *is* rapidly approaching that of a nuclear reactor (around 150-300W/cm2)

    Of course even when that becomes the case it doesn't justify the use of sodium or lead to cool them. Si starts to break down at 120 degrees C and the primary concern for CPU makers is to maintain temperatures well below this. Sealed water cooling systems will become widespread within the next couple of years but for now liquid metal is just a gimmick for the overclocking crowd.

    --
    For all intensive porpoises your a bunch of rediculous loosers