Noctua has returned to Computex in Taiwan with a new and improved version of its pumpless liquid cooler. This time, the company says it's able to compete with a standard all-in-one cooler for temps.
"We had that demo last year on a 9800X3D," Noctua's Jakob Dellinger says, calling back to this thermosiphon prototype from 2025.
"That was roughly 100 watt heat load. This year we're running 230 watt on a 9950X3D, and we're neck and neck performance wise with a AIO water cooler."
Noctua's prototype works through evaporation. Rather than pumping hot liquid away from the CPU, the liquid heats up, evaporates, then the vapour travels up towards the radiator. In which, it condenses back to liquid and flows back down to the evaporator.
There's a careful balancing act to get this thermosiphon principle working as intended, but Dellinger reckons they've got it pretty much squared away.
English (US)