Testing Nano Coolant We get handson with one of the world's most advanced liquid coolants

WE KNOW WHAT you’re thinking: “This is odd.” And you’re right—it’s not something we’d usually cover here at Maximum PC. It’s not a gaming rig specced out to some arbitrary number set by the management bods, nor is it a deep-dive into the latest technological architecture from the likes of Nvidia (next issue—don’t worry!). No, this is something we’ve never done before: A case study and the chance to test something that very few people can get their hands on.

So, what are we talking about? Well, we’re heading back into the world of tubing and water blocks to take a look at one of the most radical types of coolant being developed and grown today: Mayhems’ 6nm XTR. Yep, you read that right—this coolant is synthetically grown in a lab. It’s unlike any coolant we’ve ever seen before.

However, there’s a few problems we need to overcome before we get to the testing phase. Firstly, as the Maximum PC office is currently shut, there’s only one machine we still have access to that’s capable of performing the tests we need: Our console-esque pink PC, which was designed for its aesthetics, with usability a secondary consideration. So, it doesn’t have a proper drain port nor a fill port, and we’ve got some serious conversion problems to solve.

But before all that, let’s dive into the history of liquid cooling, how it developed, and where it’s likely to go from here.

Kings of Cooling

The problem with PCs

NO MATTER HOW you look at computing performance, it always boils down to electricity, tolerances, and heat. Those three factors have stymied unlimited power over the years. Diminishing returns are rife within this enthusiast hobby of ours. As transistor count goes up, gate width decreases, more voltage is applied, and heat increases, the need to cool components becomes more important to ensure they remain within their operating temperatures. To draw heat away from the processor and into something that can dissipate it into the open air has been of prime importance since the personal computer became a thing—in fact, even before that, with supercomputers.