A giant passive copper cooling solution is making headlines this week in an interesting little corner of Reddit called HardwareGore. According to Redditor ‘That Desktop User’ (TDU), a block of copper weighing about 8 pounds (about 4 kg) decent passive cooler – Even when running an Intel Core i9 CPU.
TDU shared some facts and figures about the solid cylinder of the copper cooling escape, making this makeshift passive option almost viable. During short computing sessions, an Intel Core i9 (model not disclosed) was completely passively cooled by a copper block. The pictures below show that the PC system was completely open air during this testing process.
During the test run, TDU’s processor was idling at 35 degrees Celsius, but after benchmarking and stress testing that ran for less than a minute, the temperature climbed to 80 degrees Celsius. But perhaps the most impressive data nugget is that the CPU temperature returned to idle temperature within 10 seconds after the stress test was aborted. TDU was the first company to admit that reading and recording data was not very methodical.
Details about the source of this copper block are also shared in a Reddit post. Apparently, the block was once a component within some sort of redundant medical device. From the description, it may have acted as a cooler within this medical device, with holes drilled in the side being threaded for fluid flow.
It remains to be seen if TDU will add liquid cooling to work on lowering the peak temperatures seen in preliminary tests. Some important data points are also missing to get a better picture of performance, such as run time, temperature, etc.
Despite concerns over the entire testing and data logging process, TDU’s Reddit postings are still rife with DIY pranks and homemade makeshift (or sometimes crazy) ways to wow PCs in 2023. It shows that there are still opportunities for solutions.
If you’re interested in passive CPU cooling and prefer an off-the-shelf solution to cannibalizing old medical gear, perhaps the most powerful option that doesn’t require a special case is the Noctua NH-P1. However, if you don’t want to add a fan of any kind, you may be limited to using it on systems with a 65W CPU. If you’re looking for a more popular and reliable solution, check out our list of the best CPU coolers.
