Intel has revealed that it's experimenting with direct CPU water cooling, where an Intel CPU package has a waterblock built onto it to remove as much heat as possible from the chip. The company has apparently been working on the tech for years, and says that the system can dissipate a massive 1,000W of thermal energy using standard liquid coolant.
Removing heat from the CPU as efficiently as possible has become a huge market in recent years, with many of the best CPU coolers featuring closed-loop liquid cooling systems, where a waterblock and pump unit are attached to the CPU. However, there would be no need for a waterblock if these Intel prototype designs become standard, as it would already be a part of the CPU.
The direct cooling systems were shown off at Intel's Foundry Direct Connect event, from where Tom's Hardware snapped some photos of the chips. According to the site, the integrated waterblock doesn't make a direct connection with the silicon die underneath, but is instead mounted on top of the CPU package. The blocks then contain tiny copper microchannels, designed to guide the coolant over the hotspots of that specific CPU, making it more precise than the all-purpose blocks you find in the best AIO cooler designs.
Tom's Hardware says that Intel is either using solder or liquid metal thermal interface material (TIM) to conduct heat between the CPU package and the cooling blocks, rather than traditional thermal paste. Intel reportedly claims that the system offers an improvement in thermal performance of 15-20% compared to a standard water-cooling system attached to the bare die of a delidded CPU, which is a remarkable claim.
A number of types of CPU have been shown off with the direct cooling tech, including Intel Core Ultra CPUs used in gaming PCs, as well as Xeon chips for servers. Intel is also reportedly already looking at ways of deploying this tech in the outside world, although it's likely that it would primarily be used in high-performance workstations and servers, where the thermal demands of several hot-running CPUs in a tight space are so demanding.
As a water-cooling and PC hardware enthusiast, though, I'd love it if this tech came to the best gaming CPU designs as well. Intel could develop a standard fitting for a pump and tubing IO block on any AIO cooler to connect directly (and securely) to the CPU package, saving the need for a waterblock, and getting the liquid to travel where it's most needed.
In the meantime, though, check out my guide on how to install a CPU if you're looking to upgrade your chip now, and read my Core Ultra 7 265K review if you want to see how Intel's latest chips perform in games.
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