With the release of details concerning their new
"Core Microarchitecture" lineup, one would think Intel has done
enough to get the boys over at AMD pulling all-nighters. Details have just been
posted over at Hexus and bit-tech concerning an interesting new liquid cooling
solution from Intel, which was demonstrated cooling a stock 3.8GHz P4 EE chip
clocked up to 5.0GHz. Although that"s not difficult to do with expensive,
complicated, and at times messy kits from 3rd party vendors, you"ll be
impressed at the way Intel did it.
The Extreme Edition P4 was cooled by a very small, very cheap solution Intel is
calling their "Advanced Liquid Cooler". Using a case fan and
some clever metal tubing, the tiny water cooling system kept the CPU
temperature well within thermal limits. The system has no parts or liquid that
needs to be serviced and looks to have a relatively simple install procedure:
"It consists of a block unit which attaches to the processor. This contains
the copper core which makes contact with the CPU, as well as a centrifugal pump
which uses a DC brushless motor. This pumps the water up through solid metal
tubing to a more traditional radiator, cooled by a 120mm fan. The integration
of the cold plate improves thermal performance. The main body of the unit is
made of injection-molded plastic."
Clearly Intel is trying to capture the attention of computer enthusiasts that
have flocked to AMD in droves over the last few years. With an anticipated release
price of only $50, Intel is bringing simple liquid cooling to the mass market.
It"s still unknown if they will offer the new cooler inside "retail box"
processors or provide any sort of warranty waver when overclocking other chips
with the cooling system.