The thing that I wish would go away is oversized graphics cards that take up 3 or more slots. There needs to be more options for liquid cooling that doesn't require modifying the card.
I think I’m misunderstanding your comment. Once you liquid cool the card, it’s no longer an oversized behemoth. My reference 4080S is only taking up a single slot.
Most graphics cards have massive air coolers that block other PCIe slots. I want more water cooled options since they are low profile. I just don't want to have to void the warranty on a brand new card to install a water block.
I know for sure that installing a water block does not void the warranty on reference Nvidia cards. I’ve read that Asus (and evga rip) are the same. Not sure about MSI, and have read that Gigabyte will try to void warranty.
Sure, but the PCB with water block only takes up a single PCIe slot, and is shortened enough to fit in pretty much any case. Is my water cooled 4080S longer than my water cooled RX 480? Yes. Substantially longer? No. Thicker? Also no, basically same thickness.
I am thinking that maybe more liquid cooling will happen with the whole AI thing on the datacenter side. That has a lot of parallel compute cards generating a lot of heat. Easier to move it with liquid than air.
Some other liquid-cooling annoyances:
Cases don't really have a standard-size mounting spot for the radiators.
I want to use one radiator for all of the things that require cooling. Like, I'd rather have an AIO device that provides multiple cold plates.
I really doubt liquid is easier for a data center. They have airflow solved pretty well and noise doesn't really matter. Liquid failing could potentially do way more damage, and might require shutting down whole areas for repair/damage prevention in the case of a single leak.
If they did do liquid at scale, it wouldn't be done in a way it would work down to consumers. It would be like custom boards with full coverage blocks for the whole system that tied into whole room water chillers or something.