Intel invests $700 million to develop a new generation of immersion liquid cooling solutions

by ·

If you want to cool the PC hardware, it is nothing more than an air-cooled or water-cooled radiator, but for a data center server that generates a lot of heat, such a cooling method is still too inefficient. It was reported last year that, in addition to placing servers on the seafloor to improve performance and energy efficiency, Microsoft also used a more avant-garde cooling method called immersion liquid cooling, which directly soaks the server’s hardware in a special liquid.

Image: Intel

According to TomsHardware, Intel will invest $700 million in the design of next-generation immersion liquid cooling solutions and other technologies for data centers. Intel plans to launch the industry’s first open intellectual property immersion liquid cooling solution and public version design, allowing more data centers to use immersion liquid cooling without spending a lot of money to design custom solutions. This will significantly reduce costs and carbon emissions.Although Intel’s immersion liquid cooling solution is aimed at data center servers, it cannot be ruled out that it may be accepted by the consumer market in the future. In the past, PC manufacturers have demonstrated similar designs at exhibitions, but they are still too expensive and complicated for gamers, and Intel’s implementation of a standardized design will be the first step towards popularization.

Intel’s goal is to create a total immersion liquid cooling solution that is easy to deploy and easy to scale. The reference design is a proof-of-concept and is currently working with manufacturers in the ecosystem to solve related technical problems.

In addition, Intel plans to build a new laboratory at Oregon Research and Design Mega Lab on its Jones Farm campus to conduct research on technologies such as immersion liquid cooling, water efficiency, and heat recovery and utilization and is expected to begin operations in late 2023.

Tags: