Devices, systems, and methods for a hybrid cooling system

A method for cooling a computing device, comprising:

• transferring heat from a heat-generating component to a thermal transfer element;
• dissipating heat from the thermal transfer element using an air-based cooling process, the air-based cooling process including transferring heat from the thermal transfer element to an air-cooling medium;
• dissipating heat from the thermal transfer element using a fluid-based cooling process, the fluid-based cooling process including circulating a cooling fluid through a fluid pathway thermally connected to the thermal transfer element;
• and
• operating the air-based cooling process and the fluid-based cooling process concurrently or separately to maintain the heat-generating component at an operational temperature.

A method for cooling a computing device, comprising:

• transferring heat from a heat-generating component to a thermal transfer element;
• dissipating heat from the thermal transfer element using an air-based cooling process, the air-based cooling process including transferring heat from the thermal transfer element to an air-cooling medium;
• dissipating heat from the thermal transfer element using a fluid-based cooling process, the fluid-based cooling process including circulating a cooling fluid through a fluid pathway thermally connected to the thermal transfer element;
• operating the air-based cooling process and the fluid-based cooling process concurrently or separately to maintain the heat-generating component at an operational temperature;
• and
• initiating the fluid-based cooling process only when the air-based cooling process is insufficient to maintain the heat-generating component within an operational temperature range, wherein sufficiency is determined by a predefined temperature threshold, a thermal load estimate, or a predictive thermal model.

A method for cooling a computing device with a plurality of heat generating components, comprising:

• transferring heat from a first heat-generating component to a first thermal transfer element and from a second heat-generating component to a second thermal transfer element;
• dissipating heat from one or more of (i) the first thermal transfer element using a first air-based cooling process or (ii) the second thermal transfer element using an second air-based cooling process, the first air-based cooling process including transferring heat from the first thermal transfer element to a first air-cooling medium, and the second air-based cooling process including transferring heat from the second thermal transfer element to an second air-cooling medium;
• dissipating heat from one or more of (i) the first thermal transfer element using a first fluid-based cooling process or (ii) the second thermal transfer element using a second fluid-based cooling process, the first fluid-based cooling process including circulating a first cooling fluid through a first fluid pathway thermally connected to the first thermal transfer element, and the second fluid-based cooling process including circulating a second cooling fluid through a second fluid pathway thermally connected to the second thermal transfer element;
• and
• operating two or more of (i) the first air-based cooling process, (ii) the second air-based cooling process, (iii) the first fluid-based cooling process, or (iv) the second fluid-based cooling process one or more of concurrently or separately to maintain the first heat-generating component at a first operational temperature and the second heat-generating component at a second operational temperature.