As computer chips get smaller and are pushed to work harder they are also getting too hot for digital gear to handle. That's why IBM researchers believe that liquid cooling microprocessors, instead of air (or fan) cooling them, will be more effective.

Researchers from IBM's Zurich Research Lab and Berlin's Fraunhofer Institute have figured out a method to send "tiny rivers of water" through layers of chip stacks. So-called 3D chip stacks are better for computer speed than the standard side-by-side CPU configurations because stacks reduce the distance between circuits and in turn speed up processing time. That translates into software applications running faster and more reliably.

Why Water?

Computer engineers have shied away from this "stacked" chip architecture because, while it is more efficient, the unfortunate byproduct is microprocessors quickly overheat to nearly ten times temperatures found with conventional chip architecture.

Researchers have found that water is better at absorbing heat vs computers that use techniques such as heatsinks and fans placed directly above microprocessors. In IBM's design, the liquid travels inside a CPU through hermetically sealed, double-layered tubes of silicon and silicon oxide that are roughly .002 inches (about the width of a hair) in diameter keeping the H2O well insulated from delicate components.

Water-Cooled CPUs are Nothing New

The concept of using water to cool computer components is nothing new. Water-cooled processors, currently the domain of supercomputers, high-end servers, and garage hobbyists, have been around for years. Even IBM introduced a "hydro-cluster water-cooling" technology for some of its most powerful Unix server in April. NEC and Hitachi have also introduced water-cooled consumer desktop PCs.

The chief difference between the technology being developed by IBM researchers in Zurich and Berlin is that the water cooling is taking place inside the microprocessor. Fan-less water-cooling techniques offered by the likes of Apple, IBM, Hitachi, and others cool microprocessors by having water flow past (but not inside) both the processor and CPU to keep them cool.

According to IBM, water-cooled chips could hit store shelves within the next 5 years.