The arrival of mainstream solid-state cooling solutions is here, demonstrated by Phononic through a new tower-type cooler that outperforms a 240mm AIO cooler on an AMD Ryzen 9 9950X CPU by twofold.
Solid-state cooling solutions are gaining traction, with companies like Frore Systems driving innovation in this space. Phononic has introduced its own solution, claiming it offers disruptive and scalable cooling platforms with both passive and active designs.
The cooling demands in today’s tech industry are escalating rapidly. Advanced AI data centers and solutions require more cooling, leading to larger and more power-intensive solutions. Current data centers consume around 40kW per rack, but upcoming generations will demand about 120kW per rack—a threefold increase. Even the best solutions can only manage 66kW per rack due to cooling limitations, with 40% of the power budget going towards thermal management. Hence, it’s vital for companies to invest in innovative cooling solutions to sustain themselves.
Current cooling setups utilize either air or liquid cooling. Air cooling, primarily used in passive solutions, is nearing its practical limits, necessitating the need for liquid cooling solutions seen in NVIDIA Blackwell AI platforms with custom liquid-loop designs. Passive cooling is limited by ambient temperatures, while active cooling can be inefficient, leading to power wastage.
Phononic’s solid-state cooling solution offers both passive and active thermal management. In passive mode, it leverages the benefits of ambient cooling, maintaining a chip’s compute profile within throttling limits. When these limits are exceeded, the solid-state solution switches to active cooling, enhancing compute performance while keeping temperatures below throttle limits. This approach leads to significant power savings and higher cooling efficiency when needed.
The Hex 2.0 CPU cooler illustrates this technology, featuring a 92mm heat sink in a tower-type design. In passive mode, the primary heat exchanger handles the cooling, while the active mode engages the solid-state heat exchanger. Measuring 125x112x95 mm and weighing 810 grams, the cooler includes a central 92mm fan with a 4-pin PWM connector, offering two PWM modes with a maximum range of 2650 RPM (33dBA) and an idle range of 1000 RPM.
Phononic demonstrated the Hex 2.0 solid-state CPU cooler on an AMD Ryzen 9 9950X CPU with a default TDP of 170W. The solution delivers twice the cooling performance per fan area compared to a standard 240mm AIO and 50% better performance than a typical 92/120mm air cooler.
The AMD Ryzen 9 9950X CPU typically peaks at around 80°C, so this solution can pave the way for a new generation of solid-state powered air coolers. Other potential applications include 2U and 1U server CPU heatsinks, featuring both passive and active/passive modules, enabling deployment and scalability for current and future data centers.
Beyond CPUs, Phononic claims this technology can be applied to GPUs, eliminating throttling, extending lifespan, and increasing power density. The potential of solid-state cooling solutions is promising, and while they might initially be utilized in data centers, their application in mainstream consumer products could set new standards, replacing traditional air and liquid cooling hardware.
