Cooler Master Also Builds Thermo-Electric Cooler for Intel's High-TDP Chips
Sub-zero Cryo Cooling
Just yesterday news broke that Intel was working on new thermo-electric cooling (TEC) solutions to increase performance of its high-TDP chips, with the first contender to bring a product to market being EKWB with its EK-QuantumX Delta TEC. Now, Cooler Master is also joining the fray with a slightly more modest TEC-solution, calling it the MasterLiquid ML360 Sub-Zero.
The MasterLiquid ML360 Sub-Zero comes in the form of an all-in-one liquid cooler, and the CPU block uses the same thermo-electric technology to generate a temperature difference on two sides of its TEC unit, essentially pumping heat into the fluid using Intel Cryo Technology.
The benefit of this is that the cold plate can reach sub-ambient temperatures, and thus you can run the CPU at higher clocks and get more performance out of it. If you don't want to go the rather impractical LN2 route, this kind of product offers a more real-world application.
But, when you go sub-zero, condensation forms, which is why Cooler Master's unit also uses Intel's combination of software and hardware to manage the condensation problem: the cooler itself has a condensation barrier to ensure the little condensation that does form doesn't leave the CPU socket area, and software ensures that the TEC-unit only cools the chip down to a certain temperature. This means that when your system is idling, it will consume less power, cool less, and ensure the chip doesn't get so cold that condensation becomes a problem. Humidity sensors are also present to manage this issue further.
Of course, the TEC unit does consume quite a bit of power. Whereas EKWB's thermo-electric waterblock is rated to consume up to 200W, Cooler Master's MasterLiquid ML360 Sub-Zero has the same rated power for the entire device, which takes into account the fan and pump power consumption too. Of course, all that heat has to be dissipated too, so you can expect the three fans on the 360mm radiator to have to work hard to get the job done -- this isn't a cooling solution for those seeking peaceful silence.
The Coolermaster MasterLiquid ML360 Sub-Zero AIO is only set to be compatible with Intel 10th-Gen and 11th-Gen Rocket Lake CPUs (Alas, Alder lake following later will have a different socket shape). AMD's chips aren't supported, but then again, AMD chips don't run hot enough to warrant this kind of cooling solution.
Expect pricing around the $350 mark with availability from November -- but if you intend on buying this, also factor in the effect on your power bill: the peak 200W consumption of the cooler, paired with Intel's chips that already happily churn through 250W before overclocking is bound to put a dent in your power bill.
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Niels Broekhuijsen is a Contributing Writer for Tom's Hardware US. He reviews cases, water cooling and pc builds.
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rubix_1011 We'll provide a review once product samples are made available to the hardware community testers.Reply -
Soaptrail Reply
I would love to see a estimated power bill increase due to the extra power. I know that is relative to each community since power prices fluctuate but it would still be beneficial.rubix_1011 said:We'll provide a review once product samples are made available to the hardware community testers. -
spongiemaster Reply
https://www.omnicalculator.com/everyday-life/electricity-costSoaptrail said:I would love to see a estimated power bill increase due to the extra power. I know that is relative to each community since power prices fluctuate but it would still be beneficial.
If you're were folding and running full tilt 24-7, would be about $200 a year where I live. -
gggplaya At $350, this thing must really perform for overclockers.Reply
You'll probably also need an extremely large room for all that heat dissipation, or a mini split system where that room has it's own cooler. -
cryoburner Imagine paying $350 plus electricity costs for a power-hungry cooler just to overclock an inefficient mid-range processor up near the stock performance of a competing processor lineup. : 3Reply
Enthusiast products like these are kind of in an awkward position now that AMD's latest processors tend to be all-around faster than Intel's while generating substantially less heat. Maybe Rocket Lake will bring Intel back into the lead and benefit from something like this though. But if this cooler isn't compatible with the socket Intel will be moving to a year or so from now, that doesn't seem like a particularly good investment.
And while these peltier liquid coolers might be able to move heat away from the processor die more effectively, that heat is still going into the loop's water, combined with significantly more heat being produced by the cooler itself. So, the radiator is effectively going to be tasked with dissipating around twice as much heat. I would expect the liquid temperatures to get quite high before stabilizing, and the fans to get relatively audible trying to get rid of all that heat. And of course, that additional heat is in turn getting pumped out of the radiator and into one's room.
A simple rule of thumb is that at the average cost of electricity in the US (currently around 13 cents per kwh), each watt will cost a little over a dollar a year (around $1.10 or so) if left running 24/7. So, something drawing 200 watts constantly could draw around $220 a year at that rate, and potentially significantly more in some regions with high electricity costs.spongiemaster said:https://www.omnicalculator.com/everyday-life/electricity-cost
If you're were folding and running full tilt 24-7, would be about $200 a year where I live.
I don't suspect the cooler will be drawing 200 watts all the time in the vast majority of usage scenarios though, and I wouldn't be surprised if the peltier device gets shut off entirely at idle to avoid reaching below-ambient temperatures that could potentially cause condensation. But if the CPU were under load for several hours a day, I could see the cooler drawing around $50 worth of electricity over the course of a year, again at the the average cost of electricity in the US. Combined with the price of the unit, and its questionable compatibility with future hardware, that still seems rather expensive though. And of course, the additional heat getting generated by the cooler could result in increased air conditioning costs and/or uncomfortable room temperatures in the summer. -
rubix_1011 The benefit for AIOs is that they typically have interchangeable brackets for different socket mounts, so I could easily see where the support of other sockets might be adopted in coming iterations.Reply
Ex: originally, it was quite difficult to find AIOs which had Threadripper support, now most of them have adapters for TR4/TRX4 -
TerryLaze Reply
Imagine someone hacks the bios of an AMD board and allows this thing to run on a ryzen 3 to allow it to run all cores at full speed... or at least fuller speed, whatever it can handle.cryoburner said:Enthusiast products like these are kind of in an awkward position now that AMD's latest processors tend to be all-around faster than Intel's while generating substantially less heat.
This thing is to test CPUs under liquid nitrogen cooling conditions without having the hassle of actually having to use liquid nitrogen.
It's going to be great for testers but have near zero influence on normal people. -
TerryLaze Reply
Der8auer is way ahead as always.TerryLaze said:Imagine someone hacks the bios of an AMD board and allows this thing to run on a ryzen 3 to allow it to run all cores at full speed... or at least fuller speed, whatever it can handle.
R2MtHJctd-0View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2MtHJctd-0