Well-known overclocker Roman “Der8auer” Hartung has shown off a new concept custom CPU waterblock in a new video that features a “stealth tubing” design. The custom concept CPU waterblock was created by ModdingCafe and Der8auer heavily emphasizes in his video that it is still in the very early stages of development and not currently being aimed for commercial release, yet. The design moves the plumbing for the waterblock to the backside of the motherboard via another block that is mounted there. Roman adds that they are seeking input from the PC community for ideas on improving the design but he also shares a few tips that were easily spotted while its testing and installation.
A GIGABYTE AORUS B650E motherboard with an AMD Ryzen 9 7950X 16-core / 32-thread processor was used for the demonstration. During testing, he again emphasizes this is more a proof of concept and is still being developed, as temps reach up to 93c. The processor was pulling around 226W at the time so the cooler did have some work to do. From using a better cold plate to possible flow optimizations he already has ideas on how to improve it but it impressed by the sleek and clean-looking design.
Motherboard Compatibility Issues
An obvious caveat of this type of cooler is its incompatibility with most PC cases. He immediately addresses a need to reduce the size of the block on the backside of the motherboard. Aside from either an open frame or dual-chamber PC chassis, there are not many options for using this type of cooler outside of a custom-made case. However, the new concept does present possibilities for those looking to hide cabling and tubing and further show off their builds. Another compatibility issue encountered was that the block didn’t quite fit along with the motherboard’s M.2 heatsink but as VideoCardz notes, this is a concept block that was shown off at Computex and is of little concern since a revision could easily address this.