The only solution to keeping Intel’s space heaters under check has been discontinued.
Intel has disclosed the ceased development of its thermoelectric Cryo Cooling Technology, this enthusiast cooling technology was intended to offer sub-ambient cooling for their high-end processors which are notorious for being immensely hot and hungry.
Consequently, there will be no Cryo Cooling software support for their latest 14th Generation ‘Raptor Lake Refresh’ processors. This move effectively renders products manufactured by EKWB and Cooler Master obsolete for their latest processors, despite being effectively the same as their previous generation CPUs.
This isn’t the first time that Intel have given their consumers the cold shoulder whilst reselling the same architecture, nor will it probably be the last.
Sources close to Techopse proclaim that Intel made the decision to scrap continued development of its sub-zero “cryo cooling technology” following internal testing that revealed that the Peltier cooling solution was incapable of maintaining stable temperatures of below 125°C for their upcoming Arrow Lake based Core Ultra 9 190K.
In 2020, Intel unveiled its Cryo Cooling Technology alongside their 10th Generation ‘Comet Lake’ processors, aiming to bolster performance as it faced challenges delivering competitive CPUs on its aging 14nm++++++ fabrication technology and age old Skylake architecture.
Intel’s Cyro Coolers were vendor locked exclusively to their own processors with the hard requirement of proprietary software, combined with their immensely expensive nature they were the cooling solutions of choice for the most deranged of loyalists, hardly many people bought one.
The units themselves harnessed a mix of hardware, software, and firmware advancements to finely regulate cooling and optimizing CPU performance. Undoubtedly, Intel’s Peltier cooling lowered temperatures substantially, allowing end users to boost their performance exponentially as they can reach and maintain higher clockspeeds.
However, priced at around $350 per unit, these cooling solutions were notably expensive for most users. Additionally, their power consumption and operational noise were considerable concerns, Intel processors themselves will gladly chew through over 200 watts, and yet the Cooler Master ML360 Sub-Zero can also draw around that same figure, so all in all your fancy sub-zero cooler combined with your processors could easily be exceeding over 400 watts combined under operation.
Thermoelectric cooling relies on the Peltier effect to move heat from one side of a device to the other, generating a cooling effect on a surface.
This method is known for its compact size, precise temperature control on the cooling surface, and the ability to achieve sub-ambient temperatures on the cold side, which contributes to overall cooler processors, however the opposite can be said for the other side of the Peltier unit itself.
This approach tends to be less energy-efficient as it consumes power to transfer heat. Moreover, the sub-ambient temperatures can lead to condensation on the cold side, which poses a risk to sensitive electronics due to its potential to damage expensive hardware, sub-ambient cooling is almost often exclusive to setting world records with liquid nitrogen / liquid helium.
It’s regrettable that Intel’s Cryo Cooling Technology was never truly adopted by vendors, limited to just a couple of retail units. With Intel’s processors drawing more and more power with each generation, a lot greater cooling is needed to effectively dissipate that heat. Intel’s Cryo Cooling Technology could have been a viable solution in managing this heat overload so long as it was continually developed, functional with competing products and dropped in retail pricing.
Nonetheless, it appears that Intel has abandoned the notion and opted to cancel the technology.
