Cooling system for a computer system

A cooling system for a processing unit positioned on a motherboard of a computer, comprising:

• a reservoir configured to be coupled to the processing unit positioned on the motherboard at a first location, the reservoir being adapted to pass a cooling liquid therethrough, wherein the reservoir includes an upper chamber and a lower chamber, the upper chamber and the lower chamber being separate chambers containing cooling liquid that are separated by at least a horizontal wall and fluidly coupled together by one or more passageways, at least one of the one or more passageways being a substantially circular passageway positioned on the horizontal wall, the reservoir further including a heat exchanging interface configured to be placed in separable thermal contact with the processing unit, the heat exchanging interface being removably attached to the reservoir such that the heat exchanging interface forms a boundary wall of the lower chamber of the reservoir;
• a heat radiator configured to be positioned at a second location horizontally spaced apart from the first location when the reservoir is coupled to the processing unit;
• a fan adapted to direct air to the heat radiator to dissipate heat from the cooling liquid to surrounding atmosphere;
• a pump configured to circulate the cooling liquid between the reservoir and the heat radiator, the pump including a motor having a rotor, a stator, and an impeller having curved blades, the impeller being mechanically coupled to the rotor and at least partially submerged in the cooling liquid in the reservoir, wherein a speed of the impeller is configured to be varied independent of the speed of the fan.

A method of operating a liquid cooling system for an electronic component positioned on a motherboard of a computer system, comprising:

• separably thermally coupling a heat exchanging interface of a reservoir with the electronic component positioned at a first location on the motherboard, the reservoir including an upper chamber and a lower chamber, the upper chamber and the lower chamber being separate chambers that are vertically spaced apart and separated by at least a horizontal wall, the upper chamber and the lower chamber being fluidly coupled by one or more passageways, at least one of the one or more passageways being positioned on the horizontal wall, the heat exchanging interface being removably coupled to the reservoir such that an inside surface of the heat exchanging interface is exposed to the lower chamber of the reservoir;
• positioning a heat radiator at a second location horizontally spaced apart from the first location, the heat radiator and the reservoir being fluidly coupled together by tubing that extends from the first location to the second location;
• activating a pump to a circulate a cooling liquid through the reservoir and the heat radiator, the pump including a motor and an impeller having curved blades, the impeller being positioned in the reservoir;
• and
• activating a fan to direct air through the heat radiator, the fan being operated by a motor separate from the motor of the pump.