Intel Tests the Waters of Liquid Cooling

All-in-one liquid coolers are everywhere lately with the latest one announced yesterday at the Intel Developer Forum (IDF), still ongoing in San Francisco. Intel and water cooling? Yes, you read that correctly. The processor power house in conjunction with Asetek has unveiled its version, the RTS2011LC (installed on a X79 board no less).

The 120mm radiator, single fan cooler will be compatible with LGA 1155/1156, 1366 and 2011 sockets. Intel has even opted to give users a little bit of eye candy as well by using blue back lighting on the Intel logo on the block and pump housing and a blue LED exhaust fan secured to the radiator.

Intel has already stated that the latest Sandy Bridge-E processors due in the first quarter of 2012 will not ship with a stock cooler, so it looks like this is the answer.

There’s no word on pricing at this time but as far as performance goes I think it’s safe to expect results similar to Asetek’s other 120mm offerings, unless Intel has asked things to be scaled back – however a shot of the box sticker shows it can handle a TDP up to 130 watts.