• Welcome to TechPowerUp Forums, Guest! Please check out our forum guidelines for info related to our community.

New Sandia CPU Cooler Design Offers Fundamental Breakthrough in Heat Transfer

btarunr

Editor & Senior Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Oct 9, 2007
Messages
47,294 (7.53/day)
Location
Hyderabad, India
System Name RBMK-1000
Processor AMD Ryzen 7 5700G
Motherboard ASUS ROG Strix B450-E Gaming
Cooling DeepCool Gammax L240 V2
Memory 2x 8GB G.Skill Sniper X
Video Card(s) Palit GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER GameRock
Storage Western Digital Black NVMe 512GB
Display(s) BenQ 1440p 60 Hz 27-inch
Case Corsair Carbide 100R
Audio Device(s) ASUS SupremeFX S1220A
Power Supply Cooler Master MWE Gold 650W
Mouse ASUS ROG Strix Impact
Keyboard Gamdias Hermes E2
Software Windows 11 Pro
Sandia National Laboratories has developed a new technology with the potential to dramatically alter the air-cooling landscape in computing and microelectronics, and lab officials are now seeking licensees in the electronics chip cooling field to license and commercialize the device.

The "Sandia Cooler," also known as the "Air Bearing Heat Exchanger," is a novel, proprietary air-cooling invention developed by Sandia researcher Jeff Koplow, who was recently selected by the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) to take part in the NAE's 17th annual U.S. Frontiers of Engineering symposium.



Koplow said the Sandia Cooler technology, which is patent-pending, will significantly reduce the energy needed to cool the processor chips in data centers and large-scale computing environments. The yearly electricity bill paid by the information technology sector in the U.S. is currently on the order of seven billion dollars and continues to grow.

Dramatic improvements in cooling, other benefits
In a conventional CPU cooler, the heat transfer bottleneck is the boundary layer of "dead air" that clings to the cooling fins. With the Sandia Cooler, heat is efficiently transferred across a narrow air gap from a stationary base to a rotating structure. The normally stagnant boundary layer of air enveloping the cooling fins is subjected to a powerful centrifugal pumping effect, causing the boundary layer thickness to be reduced to ten times thinner than normal. This reduction enables a dramatic improvement in cooling performance within a much smaller package.

Additionally, the high speed rotation of the heat exchanger fins minimizes the problem of heat exchanger fouling. The way the redesigned cooling fins slice through the air greatly improves aerodynamic efficiency, which translates to extremely quiet operation. The Sandia Cooler's benefits have been verified by lab researchers on a proof-of-concept prototype approximately sized to cool computer CPUs. The technology, Koplow said, also shows great potential for personal computer applications.

Broader energy sector applications

The Sandia Cooler also offers benefits in other applications where thermal management and energy efficiency are important, particularly heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC). Koplow said that if Air Bearing Heat Exchanger technology proves amenable to size scaling, it has the potential to decrease overall electrical power consumption in the U.S. by more than seven percent.

Companies interested in licensing the Sandia Cooler are invited to review and respond to the solicitation through July 15. The solicitation can be found here. Although it is first focused on licensing opportunities in the field of electronics chip cooling, Sandia will soon establish a separate process for exploring partnering and/or licensing opportunities in other fields.

A technical white paper on the Sandia Cooler technology can be found here.

Sandia's work on the cooler technology was funded initially through internal investments. Follow-on funding is also being provided by the Department of Energy's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE).

View at TechPowerUp Main Site
 
Joined
Mar 26, 2010
Messages
9,910 (1.84/day)
Location
Jakarta, Indonesia
System Name micropage7
Processor Intel Xeon X3470
Motherboard Gigabyte Technology Co. Ltd. P55A-UD3R (Socket 1156)
Cooling Enermax ETS-T40F
Memory Samsung 8.00GB Dual-Channel DDR3
Video Card(s) NVIDIA Quadro FX 1800
Storage V-GEN03AS18EU120GB, Seagate 2 x 1TB and Seagate 4TB
Display(s) Samsung 21 inch LCD Wide Screen
Case Icute Super 18
Audio Device(s) Auzentech X-Fi Forte
Power Supply Silverstone 600 Watt
Mouse Logitech G502
Keyboard Sades Excalibur + Taihao keycaps
Software Win 7 64-bit
Benchmark Scores Classified
its like previous intel stock cooler with improvement
 
Joined
Jan 11, 2005
Messages
1,491 (0.20/day)
Location
66 feet from the ground
System Name 2nd AMD puppy
Processor FX-8350 vishera
Motherboard Gigabyte GA-970A-UD3
Cooling Cooler Master Hyper TX2
Memory 16 Gb DDR3:8GB Kingston HyperX Beast + 8Gb G.Skill Sniper(by courtesy of tabascosauz &TPU)
Video Card(s) Sapphire RX 580 Nitro+;1450/2000 Mhz
Storage SSD :840 pro 128 Gb;Iridium pro 240Gb ; HDD 2xWD-1Tb
Display(s) Benq XL2730Z 144 Hz freesync
Case NZXT 820 PHANTOM
Audio Device(s) Audigy SE with Logitech Z-5500
Power Supply Riotoro Enigma G2 850W
Mouse Razer copperhead / Gamdias zeus (by courtesy of sneekypeet & TPU)
Keyboard MS Sidewinder x4
Software win10 64bit ltsc
Benchmark Scores irrelevant for me
interesting ;found no infos to can compare what TPD is capable to held seems we have to wait till a review is made


micropage- this has nothing to do with conventional cooler where the fins are not moving
 
Joined
Oct 5, 2010
Messages
861 (0.17/day)
System Name FragBox
Processor Intel Core i7 2600K @ 5.0GHz/1.45 volts
Motherboard Asus P8Z77 WS
Cooling Custom CPU loop
Memory Kingston 12GB DDR3 1600
Video Card(s) Galaxy GTX 680/Zotac GTX 680 in SLi/EVGA GTX 650Ti
Storage 2 Vertex 3 120's, raid 0, 2 Seagate Momentus XT 500GB's in raid 0, 1 Hitatchi 2TB for backup
Display(s) 3 Acer S232HLX2 in nvidia surround
Case Corsair C70 White
Audio Device(s) Onboard
Power Supply Corsair AX1200
Software Win 7 x64 Pro
Take the fan off the cooler, and think of the heatsink itself spinning like a fan.

I'd be scared of reaching in while the PC was on, however.
 
Joined
Jul 10, 2010
Messages
1,234 (0.23/day)
Location
USA, Arizona
System Name SolarwindMobile
Processor AMD FX-9800P RADEON R7, 12 COMPUTE CORES 4C+8G
Motherboard Acer Wasp_BR
Cooling It's Copper.
Memory 2 x 8GB SK Hynix/HMA41GS6AFR8N-TF
Video Card(s) ATI/AMD Radeon R7 Series (Bristol Ridge FP4) [ACER]
Storage TOSHIBA MQ01ABD100 1TB + KINGSTON RBU-SNS8152S3128GG2 128 GB
Display(s) ViewSonic XG2401 SERIES
Case Acer Aspire E5-553G
Audio Device(s) Realtek ALC255
Power Supply PANASONIC AS16A5K
Mouse SteelSeries Rival
Keyboard Ducky Channel Shine 3
Software Windows 10 Home 64-bit (Version 1607, Build 14393.969)
Don't poke it!

It will turn your hand into mulch
 

Easy Rhino

Linux Advocate
Staff member
Joined
Nov 13, 2006
Messages
15,599 (2.36/day)
Location
Mid-Atlantic
System Name Desktop
Processor i5 13600KF
Motherboard AsRock B760M Steel Legend Wifi
Cooling Noctua NH-U9S
Memory 4x 16 Gb Gskill S5 DDR5 @6000
Video Card(s) Gigabyte Gaming OC 6750 XT 12GB
Storage WD_BLACK 4TB SN850x
Display(s) Gigabye M32U
Case Corsair Carbide 400C
Audio Device(s) On Board
Power Supply EVGA Supernova 650 P2
Mouse MX Master 3s
Keyboard Logitech G915 Wireless Clicky
Software The Matrix
ooo, it can double as a lawn mower!
 
Joined
Jun 16, 2009
Messages
5,123 (0.90/day)
Location
North of Germany
System Name Nexus PC
Processor Intel Xeon E3-1231 v3, 3600 MHz
Motherboard Gigabyte GA-H97-HD3
Cooling Thermalright Macho V2
Memory 24GB DDR3, 1400MHZ CL8
Video Card(s) Sapphire Radeon R9 290
Storage Samsung EVO 960 250gb, EVO 850 250gb, Vertex 3 128gb. 2 TB of Rotational.
Display(s) 1xAsus MX299, 2x Asus MX239, Oculus Rift CV1
Case Sunflower Tower
Audio Device(s) C-Media CMI8738/C3DX
Power Supply Corsair TX850
Mouse Cyborg R.A.T. 7
Software Win7 64Bit Ultimate
Joined
Oct 5, 2010
Messages
861 (0.17/day)
System Name FragBox
Processor Intel Core i7 2600K @ 5.0GHz/1.45 volts
Motherboard Asus P8Z77 WS
Cooling Custom CPU loop
Memory Kingston 12GB DDR3 1600
Video Card(s) Galaxy GTX 680/Zotac GTX 680 in SLi/EVGA GTX 650Ti
Storage 2 Vertex 3 120's, raid 0, 2 Seagate Momentus XT 500GB's in raid 0, 1 Hitatchi 2TB for backup
Display(s) 3 Acer S232HLX2 in nvidia surround
Case Corsair C70 White
Audio Device(s) Onboard
Power Supply Corsair AX1200
Software Win 7 x64 Pro
I'm already prone to cutting my fingers open on cases and stuff, seems any time I work on a pc, I get a cut somewhere.

I'd love to see a "review" of it from a testor.

Who does the HSF reviews for TPU?
 

AnnCore

Staff
Joined
Apr 23, 2005
Messages
311 (0.04/day)
Location
Neuchâtel, Switzerland
Processor AMD FX-8350 "Vishera"
Motherboard Asus M5A99X EVO
Cooling Noctua NH-D14
Memory G.Skill DDR3 2133MHz 16GB
Video Card(s) CrossfireX Asus 5850
Storage Crucial C300 128GB
Display(s) Samsung SA950
Case Coolermaster Storm Sniper
Power Supply Corsair AX850
Software Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit
Stubby

In the 2nd pic, is he hiding his fingers so we don't see all the band-aids due to cuts or is it that he just doesn't have any finger tips left?

Hopefully, we'll see this on the market sooner than later!
 
Joined
Oct 2, 2004
Messages
13,791 (1.87/day)
I wonder how they made an efficient contact on the spinning part. I mean efficiently transfering heat was always a problem and i'd really like to know how they solved this part considering the actual fins are spinning...
 
Joined
Jan 11, 2005
Messages
1,491 (0.20/day)
Location
66 feet from the ground
System Name 2nd AMD puppy
Processor FX-8350 vishera
Motherboard Gigabyte GA-970A-UD3
Cooling Cooler Master Hyper TX2
Memory 16 Gb DDR3:8GB Kingston HyperX Beast + 8Gb G.Skill Sniper(by courtesy of tabascosauz &TPU)
Video Card(s) Sapphire RX 580 Nitro+;1450/2000 Mhz
Storage SSD :840 pro 128 Gb;Iridium pro 240Gb ; HDD 2xWD-1Tb
Display(s) Benq XL2730Z 144 Hz freesync
Case NZXT 820 PHANTOM
Audio Device(s) Audigy SE with Logitech Z-5500
Power Supply Riotoro Enigma G2 850W
Mouse Razer copperhead / Gamdias zeus (by courtesy of sneekypeet & TPU)
Keyboard MS Sidewinder x4
Software win10 64bit ltsc
Benchmark Scores irrelevant for me
I wonder how they made an efficient contact on the spinning part. I mean efficiently transfering heat was always a problem and i'd really like to know how they solved this part considering the actual fins are spinning...

if you look carefully at the 1st picture you'll see that is no contact between the spinning part and base;is a air gap of 0.001" between them;more info if you open the white paper inside the post
 
Joined
Jun 16, 2009
Messages
5,123 (0.90/day)
Location
North of Germany
System Name Nexus PC
Processor Intel Xeon E3-1231 v3, 3600 MHz
Motherboard Gigabyte GA-H97-HD3
Cooling Thermalright Macho V2
Memory 24GB DDR3, 1400MHZ CL8
Video Card(s) Sapphire Radeon R9 290
Storage Samsung EVO 960 250gb, EVO 850 250gb, Vertex 3 128gb. 2 TB of Rotational.
Display(s) 1xAsus MX299, 2x Asus MX239, Oculus Rift CV1
Case Sunflower Tower
Audio Device(s) C-Media CMI8738/C3DX
Power Supply Corsair TX850
Mouse Cyborg R.A.T. 7
Software Win7 64Bit Ultimate
I wonder how they made an efficient contact on the spinning part. I mean efficiently transfering heat was always a problem and i'd really like to know how they solved this part considering the actual fins are spinning...

there is effectively an air gap between the base and the fins, even tho its just a few microns wide... could be made more efficient tho i guess, by using some kind of water or very liquid TIM between Base and Fins (air is not very good at transferring heat)....
will be Rev.2 of the Sandia Coolers i guess!:laugh:
 
Joined
Oct 10, 2008
Messages
3,471 (0.59/day)
System Name Acer Aspire V3-771G-53218G75Maii
Processor Core i5 3210M (2,5-3,1Ghz)
Memory 8GB DDR3 SODIMM
Video Card(s) Geforce GT650M
Storage Samsung 830 256GB - 750GB Toshiba drive
Software Windows 7 x64 Home Premium (non-acer-bloatware)
I'm eagerly awaiting more news on this project, it looks very, very promising!
 
Joined
Sep 10, 2006
Messages
146 (0.02/day)
Processor Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 C1 @ 3.83GHz
Motherboard Asus P5E64 WS Evolution 0802
Cooling Sunbeamtech CR-CCTF Core Contact Freezer 120MM + 400W TEC
Memory Corsair Dominator DDR3 1800(PC3 14400) 4GB
Video Card(s) BFG NVidia GTX 260 (216 SP)
Storage Seagate Cheetah 15K.5 SAS 300GB (x2) 15K.6 SAS 300GB (x1) + Adaptec 2405 SAS RAID Controller
Display(s) LG 24" W2452T + LG 23" W2353V
Case Thermaltake Armor VA8003BWS Black
Audio Device(s) Creative Labs X-Fi Professional Titanium
Power Supply Thermaltake Toughpower 700W + 2x 400W 12V Meanwell Power Supplys
The key question to ask is "What happens when the motor fails?"
All moving parts have a MTBF so if the motor fails will it still be efficient enough to keep going or will it cause a catastrophic spike in the cooling efficiency?
 
Joined
Oct 10, 2008
Messages
3,471 (0.59/day)
System Name Acer Aspire V3-771G-53218G75Maii
Processor Core i5 3210M (2,5-3,1Ghz)
Memory 8GB DDR3 SODIMM
Video Card(s) Geforce GT650M
Storage Samsung 830 256GB - 750GB Toshiba drive
Software Windows 7 x64 Home Premium (non-acer-bloatware)
The key question to ask is "What happens when the motor fails?"
All moving parts have a MTBF so if the motor fails will it still be efficient enough to keep going or will it cause a catastrophic spike in the cooling efficiency?

Well, if the fan on your Intel Stock cooler fails, you're in trouble too. Luckily, lots of processors throttle down or shut down when the temps get too high.

A better question would be: when will the motor fail? But we won't see the answer until this is beyond prototype stage unfortunately...
 
Joined
Sep 10, 2006
Messages
146 (0.02/day)
Processor Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 C1 @ 3.83GHz
Motherboard Asus P5E64 WS Evolution 0802
Cooling Sunbeamtech CR-CCTF Core Contact Freezer 120MM + 400W TEC
Memory Corsair Dominator DDR3 1800(PC3 14400) 4GB
Video Card(s) BFG NVidia GTX 260 (216 SP)
Storage Seagate Cheetah 15K.5 SAS 300GB (x2) 15K.6 SAS 300GB (x1) + Adaptec 2405 SAS RAID Controller
Display(s) LG 24" W2452T + LG 23" W2353V
Case Thermaltake Armor VA8003BWS Black
Audio Device(s) Creative Labs X-Fi Professional Titanium
Power Supply Thermaltake Toughpower 700W + 2x 400W 12V Meanwell Power Supplys
Well, if the fan on your Intel Stock cooler fails, you're in trouble too. Luckily, lots of processors throttle down or shut down when the temps get too high.

A better question would be: when will the motor fail? But we won't see the answer until this is beyond prototype stage unfortunately...

Well in the description above they mention Centrifugal pumping effect and high speed rotation as key factors of the cooling.

Your typical aftermarket heatsink works quite well without a fan as well. Albeit you wouldn't want to run your CPU at those temps for long.

By the looks of it if that became stationary the fins are too thick to provide enough heat dissipation. The more surface area the better it would perform.
 
Joined
Oct 10, 2008
Messages
3,471 (0.59/day)
System Name Acer Aspire V3-771G-53218G75Maii
Processor Core i5 3210M (2,5-3,1Ghz)
Memory 8GB DDR3 SODIMM
Video Card(s) Geforce GT650M
Storage Samsung 830 256GB - 750GB Toshiba drive
Software Windows 7 x64 Home Premium (non-acer-bloatware)
I'd say it either shuts down in 10 seconds or 2 minutes, but both are failing. I'd love to see how a version with thinner, higher fins performs though, but that will shred your hands off :D
 
Joined
Jul 26, 2007
Messages
582 (0.09/day)
Location
Melbourne, Australia
System Name What the Sigma
Processor i7 7700
Motherboard Gigabyte H170-HD3
Cooling LGA1151 Noctua NH-U12P
Memory 32GB Kingston DDR4 3600 CL15
Video Card(s) Gigabyte Vision OC RTX 3080ti 12GB
Storage 2GB Lexar Gen3 NVME / 1x 120GB Intel 520 / and some spinny bois
Display(s) 3x DELL S2721DGF
Case Antec P182
Power Supply Corsair 750w
VR HMD Oculus Quest 3
Software Windows 10
real question is, how much is this theoretical improvement going to become real world.
look at those stupid flop liquid metal coolers that were all the hype a few years ago.

look at the carbon nano fiber ocz hydro(hydra sp? bleh!) that came before the failed liquid metal ones.

how bout those micro corona fans that were going to revolutionise how chips were cooled? I read that article on here ages ago and yet you hear nothing about stuff like that.

my point is, you see all this new tech, more then half of it doesn't become a mainstream reality, and the half that does usually flops significantly compared to when you read about it when its in a proto/conceptual phase of r&d. :slap:
 
Joined
Oct 28, 2010
Messages
291 (0.06/day)
Location
South Green Jakarta
System Name Old Damned Rigs!
Processor AMD Phenom X4 9850 BE 2.5GHz
Motherboard MSI K9A2-CF
Memory 2 x 2GB DDR2 PC8500
Video Card(s) Nvidia Geforce 9800GT
Storage Hitachi 250GB Sata-II
Display(s) Chimnei 22" LCD Wide
Case Powerlogic Modena GTX2500
Power Supply Amacrox Warrior 400w
Software Windows XP Professional SP3
interresting..

so basically they try keep rotating cool air with impeller / fin to entire plate surface rather than just passed it through like conventional / stock hsf.

but i think it kinda have downward, because hot air that blows through the fin will still spreading inside the case, rather than just exhausted it directly through rear or top fan like tower hsf does..
 
Joined
Jan 2, 2009
Messages
9,899 (1.70/day)
Location
Essex, England
System Name My pc
Processor Ryzen 5 3600
Motherboard Asus Rog b450-f
Cooling Cooler master 120mm aio
Memory 16gb ddr4 3200mhz
Video Card(s) MSI Ventus 3x 3070
Storage 2tb intel nvme and 2tb generic ssd
Display(s) Generic dell 1080p overclocked to 75hz
Case Phanteks enthoo
Power Supply 650w of borderline fire hazard
Mouse Some wierd Chinese vertical mouse
Keyboard Generic mechanical keyboard
Software Windows ten
Looks cool, don't think it will work with enthusiast parts though.
 
Joined
Jan 17, 2010
Messages
12,325 (2.26/day)
Location
Oregon
System Name Juliette // My HTPC
Processor Intel i7 9700K // AMD Ryzen 5 5600G
Motherboard ASUS Prime Z390X-A // ASRock B550 ITX-AC
Cooling Noctua NH-U12 Black // Stock
Memory Corsair DDR4 3600 32gb //G.SKILL Trident Z Royal Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 3600
Video Card(s) ASUS RTX4070 OC// ASUS RTX 4060 OC
Storage Samsung 970 EVO NVMe 1Tb, Intel 665p Series M.2 2280 1TB // Samsung 1Tb SSD
Display(s) ASUS VP348QGL 34" Quad HD 3440 x 1440 // 55" LG 4K SK8000 Series
Case Seasonic SYNCRO Q7// Silverstone Granada GD05
Audio Device(s) Focusrite Scarlett 4i4 // HDMI to Samsung HW-R650 sound bar
Power Supply Seasonic SYNCRO 750 W // CORSAIR Vengeance 650M
Mouse G903 and a Master Mouse MM710/No mouse, MS game copntroller
Keyboard EVGA / Logitech K400
Software Windows 11 Pro // Windows 10 Pro
I think you would get more heat transfered threw the shaft on the motor and bearing then the 1 thousand of an inch gap. BTW I don't think a .001 " gap is realistic. Not to prevent rubbing with expansion and contraction due to heat. That that would be more precise than a German performance car
 
Joined
Dec 2, 2009
Messages
3,352 (0.61/day)
System Name Dark Stealth
Processor Ryzen 5 5600x
Motherboard Gigabyte B450M Gaming rev 1.0
Cooling Snowman, arctic p12 x2 fans
Memory 16x2 DDR4 Corsair Dominator Pro
Video Card(s) 3080 10gb
Storage 2TB NVME PCIE 4.0 Crucial P3 Plus, 1TB Crucial MX500 SSD, 4TB WD RED HDD
Display(s) HP Omen 34c (34" monitor 3440x1440 165Hz VA panel)
Case Zalman S2
Power Supply Corsair 750TX
Mouse Logitech pro superlight, mx mouse s3, Razer Basiliskx with battery
Keyboard Custom mechanical keyboard tm680
Software Windows 11
Benchmark Scores 70-80 fps 3440x1440 on cyberpunk 2077 max settings
What i got from the photo it cools 15C
 
Joined
Mar 26, 2010
Messages
9,910 (1.84/day)
Location
Jakarta, Indonesia
System Name micropage7
Processor Intel Xeon X3470
Motherboard Gigabyte Technology Co. Ltd. P55A-UD3R (Socket 1156)
Cooling Enermax ETS-T40F
Memory Samsung 8.00GB Dual-Channel DDR3
Video Card(s) NVIDIA Quadro FX 1800
Storage V-GEN03AS18EU120GB, Seagate 2 x 1TB and Seagate 4TB
Display(s) Samsung 21 inch LCD Wide Screen
Case Icute Super 18
Audio Device(s) Auzentech X-Fi Forte
Power Supply Silverstone 600 Watt
Mouse Logitech G502
Keyboard Sades Excalibur + Taihao keycaps
Software Win 7 64-bit
Benchmark Scores Classified
its very different in comparance to ordinary coolers, take the time to look further into it, then you will see, that its not even a bit like the HSFs were used to;)

yep different, but the fin design is pretty familiar for most of us
 
Joined
Jun 16, 2009
Messages
5,123 (0.90/day)
Location
North of Germany
System Name Nexus PC
Processor Intel Xeon E3-1231 v3, 3600 MHz
Motherboard Gigabyte GA-H97-HD3
Cooling Thermalright Macho V2
Memory 24GB DDR3, 1400MHZ CL8
Video Card(s) Sapphire Radeon R9 290
Storage Samsung EVO 960 250gb, EVO 850 250gb, Vertex 3 128gb. 2 TB of Rotational.
Display(s) 1xAsus MX299, 2x Asus MX239, Oculus Rift CV1
Case Sunflower Tower
Audio Device(s) C-Media CMI8738/C3DX
Power Supply Corsair TX850
Mouse Cyborg R.A.T. 7
Software Win7 64Bit Ultimate
yep different, but the fin design is pretty familiar for most of us

yeah, the fins beeing winged may be the only comparative element....besides of that, sandia coolers have no resemblance to intel stock coolers...not by design, nor by functionality ;)
 
Top