To cool next-generation chips up to 2000W, Intel researchers are developing creative solutions. A few years ago, the venerable manufacturer of x86 processors backed immersion cooling. However, Intel is currently working to adapt and enhance its best cooling technology with “new materials and structures” due to Moore’s Law and rising chip densities.
In the data centre, cooling is a very serious matter. The financial performance of a data centre operator can be significantly impacted by increases in cooling efficiency. The majority of watts will be consumed by powerful processors, but research indicates that up to 40% of a facility’s power consumption may be consumed by cooling. Enhanced cooling may also enable faster chip operation.
According to reports, one of the new cooling methods uses technology “like 3D vapor chambers embedded in coral-shaped heat sinks.” This sounds like a partnership with Belgian heatsink and cold plate manufacturer Diabatix, which uses generative design software to produce its products. The structures produce extremely low thermal resistance, and the results have a highly organic appearance resembling coral growth.
A partner’s technology has “tiny jets, adjusted by artificial intelligence, that shoot cool water over hot spots in the chip to remove heat.” according to Intel. Intel once more avoids mentioning any specific companies, but the technology is strikingly similar to that promoted by MIT spinoff JetCool. The Massachusetts-based company that offers integrated die-cooling technology for “exceptional” performance also fits the bill.
Intel mentions it is carefully examining cooling technologies utilising 3D vapour chambers, advanced materials, and boiling enhancement coatings in another blog post about potential new cooling technologies.
Tejas Shah, lead thermal architect for Intel’s Super Compute Platforms group, declared that this work is “existentially important for our future.” But cooling isn’t just about effectiveness and energy conservation. According to Intel, new cooling techniques may allow processors to operate at lower temperatures, which would result in “a 5% to 7% increase in performance for the same power.”
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