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The World's First CPU Liquid Cooler Using Nanofluids

Posted by samzenpus on from the keeping-cool dept.

An anonymous reader writes "CPU water cooling may be more expensive than air cooling, but it is quieter and moves the bulk away from your CPU. It's also improving, as Zalman has just demonstrated with the announcement of the Reserator 3. Zalman is claiming that the Reserator 3 is the world's first liquid cooler to use nanofluids. What's that then? It involves adding refrigerant nanoparticles to the fluid that gets pumped around inside the cooler transporting the heat produced by a CPU to the radiator and fan where it is expelled. By using the so-called nanofluid, Zalman believes it can offer better cooling, and rates the Reserator 3 as offering up to 400W of cooling while remaining very quiet. The fluid and pump is supplemented by a dual copper radiator design and "quadro cooling path," which consists of two copper pipes sitting behind the fan and surrounded by the radiators. The heatsink sitting on top of the CPU is a micro-fin copper base allowing very quick transfer of heat to the nanofluid above."

9 of 79 comments (clear)

  1. Nanoparticles? Pshaw, son: by Hartree · · Score: 5, Insightful

    We've been using Dihrdrogen Monoxide for cooling for decades. And it has angstrom size particles!

    Is this guy claiming his way is better because he's tossing something the relative size of beach balls into his kiddie ball pit?

    ( ;) for the humor impaired.)

    1. Re:Nanoparticles? Pshaw, son: by girlintraining · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Is this guy claiming his way is better because he's tossing something the relative size of beach balls into his kiddie ball pit?

      The word "believe" should have been a dead giveaway this is a scam. My mom has this special "vormag" water that has a sticker on the side that says "this vortex and magnetized water raises its energy to a higher level we believe is more beneficial." When you have the word 'believe' next to something that can be objectively measured, you should simply mentally add to the end "... according to the department of bullshit."

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    2. Re:Nanoparticles? Pshaw, son: by Immerman · · Score: 3, Interesting

      They mention refrigerants, so probably they're talking about massive molecules like chlorofluorocarbons or something which do have some interesting properties and may actually be better coolants than water. A lot more chemical bonds = a lot more degrees of freedom in which thermal energy can be stored = much higher specific heat capacity. This is actually reasonably well understood, and the reason that the ideal gas law (PV=nRT) becomes increasingly inaccurate for anything beyond the most simple molecules

      But yeah, sounds like "nano-particles" is just a way to sex-up the advertising campaign, and has nothing to do with the nano-engineered materials/mechanisms that "nano-whatsits" typically refer to.

      --
      --- Most topics have many sides worth arguing, allow me to take one opposite you.
    3. Re:Nanoparticles? Pshaw, son: by rahvin112 · · Score: 3, Informative

      CFC's are not miracle cooling agents. They work on vapor-compression cycle that takes advantage of thermodynamics to move heat from one place to another. If you put CFCs in a line like water cooling without the normal refrigeration cycle they will perform worse than water at heat removal.

  2. I love Slashdort! by For+a+Free+Internet · · Score: 5, Funny

    I like reading articles that are actually paid advertisements! Whithout Slashdort, which I like to call the "Facebook of the Internet," how would I know what to buy? Dice Holdings is my GOD!

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    1. Re:I love Slashdort! by fustakrakich · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Heh, you got that right. 'Nanofluids'?? Somebody just graduated from Buzzword Marketing 101..

      --
      “He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
  3. Nanobots by captain_dope_pants · · Score: 4, Funny

    Wait till we get nanobots into our nano-coolant. They'd be there for maintenance if a component starts going wrong.

    However, I do see problems...

    "Sorry teacher, my computer had a coolant leak and the nanobots ate my homework. They also disassembled my dog and turned my roller skates into a tiny death star."

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  4. They *may* be on to something by arielCo · · Score: 5, Informative

    As ridiculously shallow as the TFA is, there is some work on nanoparticle-liquid suspensions:

    http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S135943111200511X

    Nanoparticles in Thermoelectric Power Plant Cooling Fluids

    Nanoparticle Additives Boost Industrial Cooling Systems (That Means Saving Energy)

    I'll try to make sense of it (can someone more competent provide a Cliff's-notes version, please?).

    Meanwhile, sorry to rain on the bash party.

    --
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  5. Nanoparticles probably means phase change. by godel_56 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    There are products that embed a small amount (8%) of a tailored wax material coated with a protective shell, into plaster wall board.

    The wax is designed to melt at around 16C and the combination acts as a thermal mass for storing heat in buildings (actually "cool"). This gives the plaster wall boards about the same thermal mass as a brick wall.

    I suspect this is something similar. Phase change nano-particles dramatically increase the heat carrying capacity of the cooling fluid at a lower flow rate and probably lower noise and power consumption.