While it’s well-understood that the Raspberry Pi 5 runs a little hotter than its predecessors, maker Michael Klements has taken the problem to its extreme conclusion: the development and fitting of a full watercooling system, including custom water block.
“I’ve built a custom water block for the Raspberry Pi 5, and I’ve gone all out,” the maker explains of the project, which is designed to be fitted to Raspberry Pi’s latest and most powerful — and power-hungry — single-board computer. “This block features a milled aluminum cold plate, an integrated clear acrylic distribution plate, a built-in pump, and hardline tubing leading to an 80mm radiator and fan.”
That the Raspberry Pi 5 is a big step up in performance from its predecessor is no secret, and neither is that this extra performance comes at the cost of additional power requirements — and, thus, heat generation. Raspberry Pi itself offers a choice of two active-cooling solutions, a heatsink with a built-in fan and a case with the same, but Klements’ approach is extreme overkill.
The Raspberry Pi is housed under custom full-coverage water block, machined from aluminum using a desktop CNC mill, which sits under a see-through distribution plate filled with colored coolant. This is pumped over hard tubing up to an 80mm radiator with fan, the heat bled off, and then returned to the other side of the water block.
Overkill, yes, but the cooler (tracked in blue) is definitely effective. (📷: Michael Klements)
It’s as unnecessary as it is fun: the Raspberry Pi 5 can operate with no cooling at all and only throttle under sustained heavy load, and with either of the official cooling solutions doesn’t throttle at all. There’s no denying that Klements’ approach is effective, though: the system was tested to peak at 32°C (89.6°F), less than half the temperature of the same unit running under the official Raspberry Pi Active Cooler.
The build is documented in the video above, with more details available on Klements’ blog.