Noctua and Forced Physics are exploring dense micro-channel air cooling capable of dissipating 2,000 watts without high noise levels.

Noctua is teaming up with Forced Physics DCT to explore whether the company's JouleForce micro-channel array-based cooling can be adapted for desktop PCs and workstations. The long-term partnership will focus on developing a quieter way to use the technology, though Noctua noted that the partnership is not tied to any specific product or release date.

JouleForce represents what Forced Physics claims is a new third path to cooling, distinct from traditional air and liquid cooling methods. While still based on air cooling, its capabilities far exceed today's modern CPU coolers—the technology can handle over 2,000W of thermal energy. JouleForce uses densely packed micro-channels designed to improve heat transfer. According to Forced Physics, the geometry prevents the boundary layer that normally forms along cooling surfaces, allowing heat to be extracted along the entire length of each channel. This enables large amounts of heat to be removed using air alone, without requiring a liquid-cooling loop.

However, bringing the technology to desktop PCs presents a major challenge. The micro-channel arrays currently have a pressure drop that is "an order of magnitude and more" above the range of conventional PC fans. In its current state, JouleForce relies on industrial blowers, high-speed centrifugal fans, or even vacuum pumps to push air through the arrays.

Noctua's expertise could prove valuable here, as the company is renowned for developing some of the best-performing PC fans. The partnership will investigate ways to reduce the pressure required by the micro-channel arrays or generate the necessary static pressure without making desktop systems excessively loud. "The pressure levels this technology requires in today's implementations are currently supplied by equipment nobody would want on or under their desk, so this is a demanding, long-term engineering task—and one that we are eager to tackle," said Roland Mossig, CEO at Noctua.

For now, both companies remain in the early research stage and plan to share updates as the project reaches significant milestones. If Noctua and Forced Physics can solve the airflow and acoustic challenges, JouleForce could eventually reach desktop PCs, potentially giving Noctua a serious competitive advantage compared to other heatsink manufacturers.