Diamonds are for chip cooling, not just forever—at least according to this tech startup promising 20°C temperature reductions

pcgamer.com:

Diamonds are cool. Well, ethically sourced ones are, anyway. This I have learned from a lifetime of watching heist movies, rap videos, and loud, obnoxious people shoving them in my face at parties to show me exactly how much their partner values them, or somesuch.

But according to Akash Systems, they might actually be the future of chip cooling, too (via Tom's Hardware). The company has recently signed a «non-binding preliminary memorandum of terms» for $18.2 million of CHIPS act funding (alongside $50 million in federal and state tax credits) to scale up production of diamond-cooled semiconductors, and that's pretty hip and happening if you ask me.

While the exact methodology for how this diamond cooling technology works remains under wraps, the company has released a soaring-soundtrack-filled promotional video to explain the tech, and the claims are pretty impressive.

Akash Systems claims that it's fused synthetic diamond with conductive materials like Gallium Nitride to make semiconductors. Diamond is said to be five times more thermally conductive than copper, making it perfect for dissipating heat from electronic devices.

Diamond doesn't conduct electricity, however, so this fusing technique is supposed to be a «best of both worlds» scenario, where devices using the material are both capable of functioning in a conventional way while being much more thermally efficient—allowing chips to draw more power while running cooler than conventional chip materials currently allow.

How much more efficient? Well, Akash Systems is claiming a 20°C hot spot temperature reduction, along with potentially 50% reduced fan speeds, 25% more overclocking, a doubled potential server lifetime, and less thermal throttling overall. I'll believe it when I see it, but on the face of it, yes please.

Akash Systems says that its diamond-cooling tech is also revolutionising satellite communications thanks to the materials heat-busting properties, leading to five to ten times faster data