If you’ve ever mulled over the prospect of installing an AIO (all-in-one) liquid cooler for a processor, but never got around to it, a new invention might tempt you to test the waters (so to speak).
A traditional AIO liquid cooling system has a block with a pump seated on a CPU, connected by two hoses connected to a radiator unit which has several fans (often two or three) that cool the liquid as it’s pumped around in a loop. This provides more effective cooling than a typical air-based solution which is typically a single fan and a heatsink. The cooler your CPU runs, the higher you can push its processing speed.
The new invention in question is essentially a neat AIO system that doesn’t require a traditional pump and instead uses a ‘thermosyphon principle’ for cooling. This means it’s quieter (without that pump), with other benefits besides that we’ll come back to – and one notable drawback.
It’s a Wieland cooler, currently a prototype, which was given a test run on YouTube by well-known overclocker Der8auer (hat tip to VideoCardz).
Der8auer compared the Wieland concept to a traditional 240mm AIO liquid cooler from Corsair (the Wieland cooler also uses a pair of 120mm fans, just like the Corsair product).
The results were that the Wieland ran nicely, and certainly more quietly, and cooled the CPU well enough during gaming tests. It wasn't quite as effective as the Corsair AIO, however, the Ryzen 9 7950X in the test PC ran around 8 degrees warmer with the Wieland cooler.
In Cinebench R23 stress testing, the Wieland wasn’t too far off the mark either, though the AMD processor ran about 150MHz to 200MHz slower than with the Corsair cooler.
With some work, this could be a sterling option
As Der8auer pointed out, with the Wieland lagging about 8 degrees behind the Corsair AIO, it’s around the same level of effectiveness as a solid air cooler – which isn’t great for liquid cooling. But remember – this is just an early working prototype, and for such a model, it’s looking reasonably promising.
There are potential improvements to be made as the overclocking expert explains in the video, such as refining the build (closing gaps in the construction) and considering different materials, or beefing up the size of the radiator. An improvement of 4-5 degrees seems feasible, we’re told, and that would leave the Wieland looking pretty competitive with a traditional AIO. As far as the slightly higher temperatures go, you’d gain a noticeably quieter cooler, and it'd also likely come out both cheaper and more durable as it wouldn't have the some moving parts that a pump mechanism has.
Not that the Wieland can’t fail, of course — but should it leak, which is obviously the worst nightmare for any PC owner with liquid cooling bubbling around the innards of their case — it might not be as disastrous as with a traditional AIO if the Wieland cooler uses vapor instead of liquid. In that case, you'd get a leak of vapor rather than liquid, which wouldn’t be as catastrophic for your PC's internal components.
It’s worth remembering that this kind of pump-less AIO system has been tried before, by Der8auer along with others, and hasn’t yet come to market. Maybe Wieland will advance its prototype and manage what other firms haven’t yet realized – an actual product of this nature that could be vying for the title of the best CPU cooler at some point down the line. Or, it could come to nothing, of course: vapor-ware, if you will.
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