Titanium Vapor Chamber Enables Most Powerful GPU for Mobile Computing Devices | Boyd

Pleasanton, California – October 15, 2019 – Boyd Corporation, leading global provider of thermal management, environmental sealing and protection solutions, announced that its proprietary titanium vapor chamber technology is providing the thermal solution in NVIDIA’s ACE reference design.

On September 4, 2019 at the IFA Conference, industry innovators in mobile design launched new models currently hailed as the most powerful notebooks in the world featuring NVIDIA Quadro RTX 6000 graphics. The notebooks are based on NVIDIA’s ACE reference design, which features many advanced technologies, including the use of unique thin titanium vapor chambers designed and manufactured by Boyd’s thermal division, Aavid.

The NVIDIA Quadro RTX 6000 is the most powerful GPU for a notebook form factor. Large processing power requires streamlined, high-performance cooling that fits the tight size and weight requirements of thin notebook designs. The ACE reference design, featuring an Aavid titanium vapor chamber, evenly spreads and dissipates the heat generated by these GPUs.

Boyd’s advanced thermal design teams evaluated the performance and volume requirements of the ACE reference design, working closely with NVIDIA to identify a cooling solution that would be lightweight, highly reliable, and quiet while still being able to manage high thermal load demands.

"Thermal design generally dictates that a larger footprint is required to economically move more heat," said Boyd’s SVP of Engineering and Technology Jerry Toth.

"The push for cooling technology innovation comes when industry leaders, such as NVIDIA, create a design that needs very high-performing thermal solutions in tightly constrained dimensions. There is no more space to expand thermal solutions to manage an increased heat load so we have to optimize the space we have to work with. We consider the entire design ecosystem, unique materials and configurations to rise to the challenge. Because the end device is portable, we also have to consider weight implications. All with feasibility for mass production manufacturing."

Boyd’s recommendation for the ACE reference design thermal solution was an advanced thin vapor chamber configuration made of titanium for lighter weight and optimal thermal performance. It is a completely sealed device with no moving mechanical parts and features a unique wick structure able to evenly and efficiently spread heat across its entire profile. 

The vapor chamber is approximately three millimeters (3mm) thick with attached heat transfer fins and fits to the entire surface of the notebook screen for uniform spreading and faster heat dissipation in any orientation. It transports over 300 watts of power in a 3mm profile to enable GPU performance and reliability, using no power of its own.

“With NVIDIA’s ACE reference design, professionals get the powerful, reliable notebook they need when they’re on the go,” said Kelly Kwak, Senior Go-To-Market Program Manager at NVIDIA. “Boyd Corporation’s high-performance titanium vapor chamber helps make it possible for the ACE design to provide advanced computing capabilities in a thin, portable form factor — so users get GPU-accelerated performance wherever they are.”