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With all-in-one liquid CPU coolers now so commonplace in gaming PCs, you might think there's nothing left for manufacturers to innovate with. But if the concept device that Cooler Master showcased at Computex is anything to go by, then we'll almost certainly see a raft of copy-cat designs on the market very soon, especially when Intel's Nova Lake chips make an appearance.
The idea behind it all is actually quite simple, but Cooler Master's execution looks really good: Take a 'standard' AIO cooler and slap a big fan on the pump/CPU block. When you look at the pictures, you'll realise that I'm not doing it any justice by describing it that way, but that's essentially what it is.
Here's what Cooler Master's PR manager, Brett Buren, told us about its G11M concept at the Computex stand: "[It's] kind of a hybrid between an air cooler and an AIO. So this is currently using our Atmos 2 radiator with the Master Fan A Gold. These are all aluminum fans, but there's a gold colorway."
Of course, a fan on the pump block isn't a new idea, and Arctic use it to great success with its Freezer III series. However, that system is used exclusively to provide a bit more airflow over the motherboard's VRMs; Cooler Master's design is more about chilling the water in the loop just a little bit more and filling the space inside a case, just as a traditional air cooler does.
"What's special about this part is there's basically an air cooler on top of the water block itself, so the water is being cooled in two places, one directly on top of the pump and one in the radiator," Buren told us. "Yeah, we had some comments like people were pointing out sometimes when you have an AIO, it looks kind of empty in your case."
I really like the look of it, so much so that if this is what the final design for the G11M looks like, I'll definitely be in line to pick one up. But there's another reason why I'm so interested in it: Cooler Master is targeting 400 W of thermal capacity for the device.
With the very biggest and best AIO coolers you can buy right now topping out at around the 350 W mark, depending on the fan speed, that's a fair increase in capacity. But aren't AMD and Intel's latest CPUs much lower than that? Yes, they are, but with Intel apparently planning to release a 52-core Nova Lake processor at some point in the near future, 400 W of cooling is likely to be a must.
Whatever happens on the processor front, I just want the sheer presence of Cooler Master's G11M glowering over everything else in my PC.
1. Best AIO:
Arctic Liquid Freezer III Pro
2. Best budget AIO:
Cooler Master MasterLiquid Core II
3. Best high-end AIO:
Be Quiet! Light Loop
4. Best screen:
NZXT Kraken Elite RGB (2024)
5. Best stealth:
Corsair Nautilus RS
