Thermaltake cools GPUs with gasRefrigerators meet graphicsBy Charlie Demerjian: Thursday, 23 October 2008, 9:16 AMTHERMALTAKE HAS a bunch of new and impending toys since we last told you about them at Computex. They are also being noticed by more than the enthusiast press.The more than enthusiast press part explains the TV crew that was at the Thermaltake office when we visited, they were filming a piece of the recipients of the National Outstanding SMEs Award. In case you can't guess, Thermaltake is one of these recipients, the highest honor given by the Taiwanese Ministry of Economic Affairs.A few days before our tour, Kenny Lin, Thermaltake's chairman, received an award from no less than Taiwanese President Ma for their achievements. In business-focused Taiwan, this is quite a big deal.Getting back to the products, the Xpressar case plus three phase cooler we told you about at Computex is now a real product. The price isn't set yet, but it will be out in about a month, give or take a little. It comes with a case and cooler, you provide the rest. The cooler will suck about 200W off the CPU, while consuming about 50W itself. Since it is built in, the wiring is all internal, it is a closed system.Thermaltake Xpressar case and coolerThe Xpressar is not meant to supercool the CPU like many others, it keeps things at 2-3 degrees above ambient, so condensation is not a problem. The cold plate is 25mm x 25mm, and the tubes have a little play to compensate for varying CPU locations. If you want more information, Thermaltake set up Xpressar.com to put out all the info you need and then a lot more. Make sure you check out the technology link if you are at all confused about the tech behind this.In the 'all new' and 'coming soon' categories, we have an as-yet unnamed GPU cooler based on the same tech. The new product doesn't have a name, but Xpressar Graphics Edition was tossed around several times. In case you don't get it from the name, the new cooler is meant to cool a GPU the same way the Xpressar cools the CPU. This time however, the whole thing fits in three 5.25" drive bays.Xpressar GPU coolerIt uses more or less the same cooler as the bigger Xpressar, so the 50W/200W rating is the same, as is the barely above ambient temp range. Graphics Edition is also sealed for a lifetime, so no refilling, no mess, and hopefully problem-free operation. Look for this as a product early next year.Talking to the Thermaltake engineers, there are a few more advancements coming in the next year or so. First there is a bigger pump to pull 250W from the CPU/GPU at the price of about 15W more power use. They also strongly hinted at a dual GPU version, but we will have to wait and see how that ends up as a product. The take home message is that the two products you see are just the start of a long line.In happier news, one of the best products of Computex, the Rotation heatsink is going to be out in very short order. The down side is the new name, Spin Q, I strongly prefer Rotation. The other Computex demo they had, the Ram Orb heatpiped RAM cooler, is also coming out really soon, without a name change. µ
