MSI has released pictures of an intriguing cooling system for motherboard chipsets that does away with the traditional motorised fan.

The technology in question is based on the Stirling engine, which is an idea that was patented in 1816 as a large device that could pump water from quarries and mines. The MSI application is tiny by comparison.

As a chamber on the Northbridge of the chipset heats up a piston in the chamber, which rises and moves a crank. The crank turns a fan which blows cooling air across the heatsink, which cools the gas in the sealed chamber. As the gas cools the piston is pulled downwards and one cycle of the engine is complete.

A few problems spring to mind: a regular heatsink/fan unit is cheap and reliable and uses very little power. Although the MSI system looks very neat it has a fair number of moving parts that must surely increase mechanical losses.

Worst of all, the MSI Air Power Coooler will be inside your PC where it will be hidden from view.