Intel discontinued Cryo Cooling Technology on July 1, 2023, and the 13th generation Raptor Lake components were the last chips supported. This means that some of the best CPUs lose one of the few ambient cooling options available, but in practice many people choose not to go this route. In summary, this cooling technology reduces the CPU temperature to 0 degrees Celsius to improve overall performance.

Intel introduced Cryo Cooling technology with the 10th generation Comet Lake processors, so it has existed in Intel chips for four generations. The duration is roughly the expected lifespan of an Intel connector, so this may not be news to some. Intel is phasing out the Cryo Cooling technology in Raptor Lake, so this technology will not support the latest 14th generation Raptor Lake update.

As spotted by hardware detective momomo_us, Intel stopped working on Cryo Cooling technology on July 1. With all this, the chipmaker will continue to deliver feature updates, security updates and various other updates until December 31, 2023. Going forward, those with Cryo Cooling Technology products will potentially be left without support for the new Intel processors.

The thing is, Intel’s Cryo Cooling technology isn’t just about hardware. Intel envisioned this as a small ecosystem of software, firmware, and hardware all working in harmony. The chipmaker’s surprise move to end production of Cryo Cooling Technology puts its partners in a difficult situation. Fortunately, few retailers have noticed the Cryo Cooling excitement. Cooler Master released the MasterLiquid ML360 Sub-Zero and EKWB released the EK-QuantumX Delta TEC and subsequent QuantumX Delta TEC EVO E2 water blocks.

Intel Cryo Cooling only works with Intel processors, at least in theory. However, renowned overclocker Der8auer proved that it is possible to use Cryo coolers with AMD chips. In his experiment, he demonstrated a workaround to get Cryo Cooling working on the Ryzen 9 5950X, and the results were as impressive as those on Intel chips. There might still be hope for Cryo Cooling owners if someone modifies Intel software to work well with AMD CPUs, and perhaps releases support for a more AMD-friendly adapter.

It’s a shame that Cryo Cooling technology never made it beyond three retail products. Instead of becoming more energy efficient, new processors move in the opposite direction. More power means more heat dissipation, and that’s where Cryo Cooling technology can come in handy. However, it seems that Intel woke up from this dream and finally decided to hide its Cryo Cooling technology.