Noctua’s pumpless liquid cooler prototype is now ’neck and neck’ with a normal AIO: successfully cools Ryzen 9 9950X3D at 230 W
Noctua has unveiled an improved prototype of its pumpless liquid cooler at Computex in Taiwan, demonstrating significant progress in CPU cooling technology. The prototype now achieves thermal performance comparable to conventional all-in-one (AIO) coolers, according to the company.
Building on last year’s demonstration with a Ryzen 9 9800X3D handling approximately 100W of heat output, Noctua’s latest version successfully manages 230W thermal loads from a Ryzen 9 9950X3D while maintaining temperatures neck-and-neck with standard AIO solutions. This represents a substantial improvement in cooling capacity for the experimental system.
The cooler operates using thermosiphon technology, which relies on passive evaporation rather than mechanical pumping. When the CPU generates heat, the liquid evaporates and travels as vapor toward the radiator. There, it condenses back into liquid form and naturally flows downward to return to the evaporator through gravity alone. This passive circulation method requires careful engineering to properly balance the evaporation and condensation cycles.
The achievement demonstrates that pumpless liquid cooling can effectively handle the thermal demands of high-performance systems. If commercialized, such a solution could offer potential advantages over traditional AIO coolers, including reduced power consumption, elimination of pump noise, and improved long-term reliability through the absence of mechanical components.