Thermal interface manufacturer and overclocking hardware designer Thermal Grizzly has released its new CPU Block MPII water block for custom-loop CPU cooling. The AMD model is compatible with AMD’s AM5 and AM4 sockets, while the Intel model supports current-generation LGA-1851 and last-generation LGA-1700 sockets. It’s not yet clear whether it will work with the upcoming LGA-1955 socket for Nova Lake CPUs.
There’s no denying the waterblock is gorgeous. It’s built on a nickel-plated copper cold plate, with a nickel-plated brass housing, a borosilicate glass window to show you all the coolant rushing around the micro fins, and an anodized aluminum cover to go over the top. It uses G1/4-inch tubing, so it will fit most standard loop designs, and the RGB lighting is controlled via a standard 3-pin 5V ARGB motherboard cable.
Credit: Thermal Grizzly
To cater to the unique chiplet layout of AMD’s AM5-socket chips, it uses a dual microfin design, with the areas above each CCD getting their own batch of 25 microfins, spaced 0.2mm apart. The I/O die area gets its own set of fins, too, with 29 all measuring 0.4mm wide.
The Intel version has 40 microfins with a 0.2mm slot and fin width, but places them all centrally above the main tile area. There are an additional 30 fins above and below that, each 0.3mm wide, to provide uniform coverage across the chip.
Both blocks also feature RGB lighting that provides tasteful accenting of the smart machining and the coolant as it circulates through.
We’ll need to wait for some third-party reviews to confirm what the performance is like, but it should be strong: it’s Thermal Grizzly, after all. But the price tag is going to make even some high-end enthusiasts balk. At $410, this takes already pricey custom water loops and throws them into a new class of layout.
This isn’t for the AIO crowd, but in 2026, when the price of everything is so high, these halo-level components feel ever more out of reach.
