Cutting an NVIDIA RTX 4090 in Half with a Water Jet: The Science of Cooling

We met with NVIDIA's thermal engineering team to cut an RTX 4090 Founders Edition cooler (not GPU or PCB) in half with a water jet. This was for science, as it allows us to see inside the vapor chamber, the heatpipes, and the cooling structure to understand how coolers are internally formed. We'll have a review of the RTX 4090 Founders Edition soon, but for now, we're starting with a cross-section and engineering-heavy video to learn about cooler design.



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TIMESTAMPS

00:00 - Cutting an RTX 4090 Cooler in Half
04:50 - Explaining the Cut-in-Half RTX 4090
06:13 - Microscope Shots of the Vapor Chamber
08:10 - The Design Process & The PCB Revealed
09:30 - Heatpipe vs. Vapor Chamber Use
13:23 - Avoiding Dryout, Memory Thermals
15:25 - "The TIM Isn't Good!"
18:01 - Failed Vapor Chambers
19:46 - Fan Design, Bearings, & Airflow
25:20 - Concluding & CFD

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Host, Video Editing: Steve Burke
Video Editing, Camera Work: Andrew Coleman
Guest: Malcolm Gutenburg (NVIDIA Thermal Engineer)

[austinshaner]

As an engineer, I felt right at home in this video. Big companies don't typically send their engineers out for PR purposes. Because let's be honest, most engineers will bore you with the details. But from a company that keeps things pretty close to the chest, this was extremely refreshing. You can tell he's had a lot of hands on experience developing these coolers. He did a great job. Please have him back!

[jokerproduction]

NVIDIA: unboxing embargo
Steve: Teardown?
NVIDIA: Cut it in half with a water jet?
Steve: Yes.

[Scooged]

I love how happy he is to talk about this stuff. That's real passion. That dude doesn't work for a living, he's just having fun for a living.

[Aeqstaw]

Not sure how you got an NVIDIA engineer out there, but this was an excellent guest and piece of content.

[Real]

NVIDIA executives may be questionable at best but NVIDIA engineers are among the best in the entire business.

[DaniIhzaFarrosi]

In spite of all hate towards NVIDIA, this video reminds us that there are passionate and real genuine people in it. It’s unfortunate that all the bad decisions the company made overshadow the talent behind it.

[stronkde]

As an engineer that can relate to product design decisions, hats off to Malcolm for his demonstration and explanations. It's super hard to convey what you did (and why) in a way that people can understand.. Malcolm did a bang up job doing just that!

[chrys]

This video is emblematic of the wide gulf between Nvidia's engineering team and the company's executives. It can't be easy for the engineers to witness so much negativity and lack of enthusiasm surrounding the products they worked so hard to create due to the decisions made by the executives.

[twoplustwoequalsfivethatgu]

This is a perfect example that if you can get someone that loves and is excited about their profession the enthusiasm almost becomes contagious. The excitement from the engineers is almost palatable and the crew did a great job of framing it to make it more digestible for the general public as well. Absolutely brilliant video wish it was longer.

[Cinetyk]

The pricing is still absurd, and me as a costumer can't ignore that. But yeah, it's easy to forget the insane levels of quality engineering work being done by some of the best people in their field and it's cool to watch this kind of stuff. Takes me back to my uni days and physics classes.

[rdarm]

As a structural engineer in aerospace, appreciated the bit about adding extra columns for stability in the vapor chamber. Great video and very informative. The PR guy shouldn't have to worry, fundamental equations and laws! Probably had that Winona Ryder gif on loop in his head 😂

[creed]

Despite him being so technical - he was still able to explain it in fairly simple terms that I could understand . The really made out well by hiring him at Nvidia .

[chrisd]

I don't know what kinds of shenanigans you guys had to pull to get this to happen. But this is an absolutely amazing video. Good job

[lxndrlbr]

This content is a huge plus and differentiator of your channel. I am very interested in seeing all engineering topics in the future. They could be scheduled between announcements seasons. I hope you get all the energy and resources to produce more content like you do!

[apohorecki]

I really appreciate GN doing these unique types of videos. I have to admit that some of it went over my head, but I enjoyed listening to the engineer. He seems really proud and enthusiastic about his work.

[ambush]

You guys are the gold standard for computer hardware investigation. Incredible work here guys.

[Grendizer]

Being a pro in their own domain is one thing, being able to talk about it in simple terms to the unknowledgable is another. That ability shows his competence. Very impressive.

[BrilliantDesignOnline]

As an (non-thermal) engineer, this is fascinating stuff, and amazing the thought and testing they put into these designs.

[TillRiedell]

What an amazing video. I'm a senior studying chemical engineering, and there was a ton of cross over. Really interesting! Props to Nvidia for working with you guys to make the video. This is the content that makes GN such a special YouTube channel.

[isaacw]

What REALLY needs to be cut in half is the price