Thermal Grizzly's experimental direct-die CPU block is '3-4 times better' than most—but it uses diamond sheets that cost €500 each

Thermal Grizzly has some products in the works that will make any custom loop aficionado salivate. Though there's one that stood out to me while visiting its Computex 2026 booth: an experimental direct-die block with diamonds under the cover.

"So this block includes a diamond, industrial diamond, which is like exactly like what you see here," Sasha Robey, Senior Marketing Manager at Thermal Grizzly, says as she gestures to the two incredibly thin diamond sheets on display "To put it on the block, we have to put a special metal coating on it, because otherwise liquid metal won't stick to it."

The block sits directly atop of the CPU silicon—hence the name, direct-die. The model on display at Thermal Grizzly's booth is designed for an AM5 processor, and one with two CCDs, so ideally a Ryzen 9 9950X. Though you do have to delid a processor to get down to the silicon, which can be a precarious business.

You can see on the inside of the block where each chip will sit: the IO chip is cooled by lapped metal, but above the two CCDs sit the two razor-thin CVD diamond inserts.