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Water Cooling

Waterblocks and AIO kits for a CMP 170HX. Stock cooling is a passive server sink. For a daily unlocked workload, use water or directed airflow (Air Cooling).

Pad photos and screw-by-screw install warnings: Watercooling Installation. Read that before you pull the stock sink.

Block summary (community-validated)

Recommended block from community validation:

Item Spec
Block Bykski N-TESLA-A100-X-V2
Avoid N-TESLA-A100-80G-X-V2 (different PCB), non-V2 acrylic revision
Also fits family A100 40GB PCIe, A30 24GB, Tesla L40 (shared layout story)
Prep Complete teardown to bare PCB first

Empty IC footprints

Unpopulated IC footprints must receive thermal pads before the block goes on. Waterblock contact pillars will short exposed copper if a footprint is left bare. This is the most common permanent-damage mode during install.

Thermal runaway

GA100 leakage climbs with temperature. Dry-run without coolant only for a short bring-up, then power off within about five minutes. Treat temperatures above ~80 °C as an emergency stop.

One community report: about 180 W on a non-FMA FP32 workload, a 360 mm radiator with fans at minimum speed held about 45 °C. Log your own loop under the workload you actually run.

Pads, power-cable path, and backplate spacing with the saved PCIe bracket are in that install guide.

Bykski AIO (FormulaMod)

Bykski B-FRD-TESLA-A100 is a full-cover AIO kit aimed at Tesla A100 40GB, A30 24GB, and CMP 170HX. Nickel-plated copper cold plate, stainless / POM assembly, anodized aluminum backplate that stays out of the coolant, G¼ ports if you later series something into the loop.

Bykski B-FRD-TESLA-A100 AIO with 120mm, 240mm, and 360mm radiator options

Bykski AIO radiator size options 120 / 240 / 360 mm

Radiator options

FormulaMod lists the kit with 120 mm, 240 mm, and 360 mm radiators (same cold plate, different rad / fan count):

Radiator Fans (typical) Notes
360 mm 3× 120 mm Default recommendation for an unlocked 170HX at 250–300 W. The qualitative datapoint above (~45 °C at ~180 W on a 360 mm with fans at minimum) sits in this class.
240 mm 2× 120 mm Possible in a tight case if airflow on the rad is strong and you watch temps under real LLM / CUDA load. Leave headroom.
120 mm 1× 120 mm Most likely not enough for sustained unlocked load on this card. Fine for photos and maybe idle / light probes; treat it as undersized for 24/7 inference.

Some listings also show a thicker 360 mm dual-card row SKU. Confirm the SKU text on FormulaMod before you pay.

For a custom loop (your own pump / rad / fittings), the community-validated cold plate is still Bykski N-TESLA-A100-X-V2 (newer stock may show as N-TESLA-A100-40G-SR). Do not buy the 80G A100 block or the older non-V2 acrylic revision. Block-only listing: FormulaMod N-TESLA-A100-X-V2.

Astralcooler AIO (FormulaMod)

Astralcooler server GPU AIO is another A100-family full-cover kit sold explicitly for CMP 170HX / A100 40GB / A30 24GB. Oxygen-free copper baseplate, nickel plating, all-metal chassis story, pump(s) in the tubing.

Astralcooler AIO for CMP 170HX / A100 40GB / A30

One card vs two cards

Kit What you get Use when
360 mm 1 cold plate + 360 mm radiator Single CMP 170HX
480 mm 2 cold plates + 480 mm radiator Two CMP 170HX (or two cards in that PCB family) on one rad

Pick the SKU that matches how many boards you are cooling. A dual-block 480 mm kit on one card wastes money and fittings; a single 360 mm kit will not cool two unlocked cards.

Shyrrik waterblock (AliExpress / Taobao)

Shyrrik (listing spellings vary) sells a full-cover block + backplate for the same PCB family (A100 40GB / A30 / CMP 170HX) on AliExpress:

Shyrrik A100 / CMP 170HX full-cover waterblock

This is a cold plate, not a complete AIO by itself. You still need pump, radiator, fittings, and coolant (or an AIO rad kit sold with that block).

On Taobao, the same Shyrrik-style block often shows up bundled as an AIO (block + pump + radiator). Search the Chinese listings for A100 / 170HX waterblock AIO kits that use this plate if you want a one-box loop from domestic China sellers. Always match the PCB photo in the listing to your board before ordering.

Corsair CPU AIO adapted (240 mm)

There is a 240 mm kit sold as a Corsair-style CPU AIO adapted onto an A100 / 170HX full-cover plate. It shows up on Xianyu, AliExpress, and Taobao in China-facing channels:

Corsair-adapted 240mm AIO on CMP 170HX / A100 waterblock

Treat this as a 240 mm thermal budget (same caution as the Bykski 240 mm row above). Verify seller photos against your PCB, check pump / fitting quality, and log temps under unlock-level load before you trust it overnight.

Quick pick

Goal Start here
One unlocked card, least fuss Bykski B-FRD-TESLA-A100 AIO, 360 mm
Two cards, one rad Astralcooler 480 mm / 2 blocks
Custom loop parts Bykski N-TESLA-A100-X-V2 / 40G-SR block
China-market block / AIO hunt Shyrrik block on AE; Taobao AIO bundles; Corsair-adapted 240 mm if you accept the smaller rad

Install pointers

  1. Finish teardown to bare PCB before any block goes on.
  2. Pad every empty footprint the pillars can touch.
  3. Seat the 8-pin / EPS power cable path before you fully torque the block (rigid cables fight a fully screwed plate).
  4. Keep the original PCIe bracket when fitting the backplate for correct spacing.
  5. Pressure-test ≥15 minutes before coolant fill.
  6. Recheck pad compression at the block edges after the first heat cycle.

References