TEC Makes a User-friendly Comeback as the Cooler Master ML360 Sub-Zero Evo AIO CLC

Cooler Master is working with Intel to bring TEC cooling back to the PC mainstream under an Intel-designed standard. Back in the 2010s, the professional overclocking scene was pervaded with various sub-zero cooling methods including liquid-nitrogen or dry-ice evaporators, refrigerated cooling solutions, and an exotic technology called TEC (thermoelectric couple). A TEC based cooler relies on the Peltier Effect, where high-voltage is passed through a TEC plate that has a cool side, and a hot side. The cool side makes contact with the processor/GPU through a base-plate, whereas the hot side is cooled by a liquid-cooling loop. The net result would be that the cool side ends up considerably bringing down temperatures, sometimes even below 0°C. The only drawback for TEC solutions were the need for liquid cooling (for the hot side), and that the TEC mechanism itself is very power-hungry.

The new MasterLiquid ML360 Sub-Zero Evo AIO implements the Intel Cryo Cooling Technology specification that blends TEC technology with a user-friendly all-in-one, closed loop liquid cooling solution. The TEC contributes to the cooling by bringing down CPU temperatures to low-double digits, while the AIO CLC handles the hot-side of the TEC. This part of the cooler uses Cooler Master’s most advanced pump-block, and a 360 mm x 120 mm radiator with a trio of the company’s high static-pressure Mobius series fans. The cooler is designed for Intel Socket LGA1700. In the pictures below, you see the ML360 Sub-Zero Evo, with its four key components as per the Intel specification: the radiator, the condensation controller, the block (with the TEC), and the pump.