Wednesday, June 5th 2024
Noctua Thermosiphon "Liquid" Cooler Prototype Looks Promising
Noctua, known for air cooling solutions, revealed a prototype for a "liquid" cooling product at Computex. However, this "liquid" cooler has no pump, Noctua's design aims to provide effective cooling without it. We got the chance to see it during our visit to the Noctua Computex booth, and we can say that even in its early prototype stage, it looks good.
Instead of a traditional pump, Noctua's design uses a two-phase thermosiphon. This technology works by heating a fluid, causing it to evaporate and circulate through density differences. The evaporated fluid moves through a vapor tube to a condenser, where it cools down and returns to liquid form. The liquid then flows back to the evaporator, and the cycle repeats.
This process is similar to how a heatpipe functions, which Noctua has expertise in. Noctua collaborated with an aviation cooling company called Calyos on this thermosiphon project, the phase change process allows for absorbing a lot of heat before vaporization, making it suitable for cooling power-hungry CPUs.
The goal is to achieve performance comparable to an all-in-one (AIO) liquid cooler without the drawbacks, such as pump noise, vibration, or failure risk. However, the thermosiphon relies on gravity, so the radiator (240 mm or 360 mm) must be top-mounted in the chassis. While fans are still attached to the radiator in the prototype, it eliminates the need for a pump.
For the moment, according to Noctua, this is a long-term project in the early development stage, with no ETA or pricing being made.
Instead of a traditional pump, Noctua's design uses a two-phase thermosiphon. This technology works by heating a fluid, causing it to evaporate and circulate through density differences. The evaporated fluid moves through a vapor tube to a condenser, where it cools down and returns to liquid form. The liquid then flows back to the evaporator, and the cycle repeats.
The goal is to achieve performance comparable to an all-in-one (AIO) liquid cooler without the drawbacks, such as pump noise, vibration, or failure risk. However, the thermosiphon relies on gravity, so the radiator (240 mm or 360 mm) must be top-mounted in the chassis. While fans are still attached to the radiator in the prototype, it eliminates the need for a pump.
For the moment, according to Noctua, this is a long-term project in the early development stage, with no ETA or pricing being made.
19 Comments on Noctua Thermosiphon "Liquid" Cooler Prototype Looks Promising
The Model T used thermosiphon to cool its engine. Modern cars no longer do, and high-power processors are more power dense than the surface of a nuclear reactor, and probably much more than any auto engine.
That being said, there might well be uses where absolute silence would be nice. A massive passive radiator that doubles as the off-side panel of a tower case, something like that.
No one remember the streamcom SG10? that was calyos cooling system.
www.icegiantcooling.com/
www.jjcooling.com/lts-cooling-system-for-2u-servers
www.microcooling.com/our-products/thermosyphons/
Several degrees less cooling than a pump, but nothing to break down (or fan noise).
They thought so far out of the box on this one.......
There are PROS and CONS to every cooler. Noctua had a FANLESS cooler, the NH-P1, but it cools worse than most other coolers with fans.
The NH-P1 is meant for people who want no fans. For whatever reasons. That's not most people but there is a small niche.
The Thermosiphon has a few pros:
- no PUMP vs AIO
- takes less space above CPU vs air cooler
You could, for example, make a very narrow case and turn the radiator sideways.
The cooling might be WORSE than a similar AIO, but if it's GOOD ENOUGH for the task that's all you need.
There's a use case that makes sense for this product.
In a typical watercooling loop the flow rate is so high that water temperature is the same everywhere in the loop, usually around 35-40°C at full load.
With phase change the vaporized water reaching the radiator would be around 100°C, so for the same volume of air going through the radiator the dissipated heat would be much greater.