We have seen a release similar to this recently from CORSAIR in the form of the Nautilus N500 unit.
The Intel unit is slightly different since it sits inside the chassis and has a copper block which is fed by a centrifugal pump, the cooling is dealt with using a traditional radiator and a 120mm fan, and unlike a normal water cooler this system uses metal piping rather than the plastic hose which we have seen. Intel stated to us that the unit will never have to be filled with liquid by a consumer, and has no user serviceable parts.
What does this mean for the market? Will we see this end up on a Dell based system? Or will it be just another solution which shows it can be done but may never come to market? Or will we see Intel bundling it with future Extreme Edition CPUs?
Intel had this showing in the Techshowcase at IDF with an Extreme Edition Pentium 4 CPU running at 5.00 GHz. Ironically on an Intel mainboard - didn't they use to say overclocking was bad? The bill of materials for this unit is $50, the only requirements? you have a 120mm fan mount in your chassis. Of course if you just want the cooling block you can get this for sub $15.
The system mounts on the CPU using the same push pins which current retail heatsinks from Intel use with no back plate to bolt on. The unit which we looked at kept the CPU perfectly stable but the operating noise was very noticeable.
