Cold plate
Also called: cold plates, liquid cold plate, water block
A metal plate with coolant flowing through it, placed against the chips to draw out their heat. A key part of hydro miners.
A cold plate is a block of metal, usually copper or aluminium, with internal channels through which a coolant flows. It is fixed directly against the components that heat up, such as the ASIC chips on a hashboard or the graphics processor of a data center GPU.
The heat produced by the chips passes into the metal by conduction, then the liquid flowing through the plate carries it to an external heat exchanger. For this transfer to work well, contact has to be perfect: a thermal paste or pad is placed between the chips and the plate, with even clamping pressure. The internal channels are designed so the liquid passes as close as possible to the hottest areas. This principle is what allows Hydro miners and some AI servers to run at high power without noisy fans.
On a product page, a cold plate shows up as a mention of direct liquid cooling, along with figures for flow rate, liquid inlet temperature and fitting type. Liquid quality needs attention: impurities or deposits can clog the channels and reduce efficiency. Clean, filtered, suitable coolant protects the plate over the long term.
Our Antminer Hydro page presents these cold plate machines and what you need to know before equipping yourself.