Computex 2018: CaseKing and Der8auer Debut Phase Shift Cooler AIO Prototype

Subject: General Tech, Cases and Cooling | June 5, 2018 - 07:42 PM | Tim Verry
Tagged: phase change, overclocking, der8auer, computex 2018, computex, closed loop cooling

Famed overclocker Der8auer and Berlin-based online retailer CaseKing showed off a prototype phase change cooler at Computex 2018. The new cooler is a pressurized and closed system that places a block over the processor and uses a vertical tube to connect to a holding tank and a condenser that is cooled by a copper fin stack and two 90mm fans. While phase change cooling is nothing new, what is interesting about this prototype is that the team plans to bring what they call a Phase Shift Cooler to market as a commercial product like an AIO liquid cooler sometime before the end of the year.

The system uses a 3M Novec-like fluid (it is not Novec, however, according to Gamer's Nexus in speaking with CaseKing at Computex) with a low boiling point. The system is pressurized, and the boiling point can be changed by adjusting the pressure of the cooling “loop”. As the processor heats up, the liquid begins boiling off and gas rises up the tube to the condenser where it cools and changes back into a liquid which then flows back into the CPU block with the help of gravity (which does limit placement of the condenser to vertical case orientations above the CPU. The copper fins of the condenser plate are cooled using two fans that do not need to spin at high RPMs.

According to Gamer’s Nexus, Der8auer and CaseKing plan to reduce the size of the cooler and hydralic tubing to make it more in line with a typical 240mm or 360mm AIO liquid cooler and it would be comparable in performance with them without the need for a pump and its associated noise, size, and risk of failure. The Phase Shift Cooler should also be quieter as well, with the planned cooler moving from 90mm to 120mm fans on the final product and the fans not needing to spin up as fast as those high-pressure fans used with water cooling radiators. I have to say that it is an interesting proposition and I am looking forward to more information on this cooler as it progresses!

Also read: 

• Allied Control Showing Off Immersion Cooling at SC17