Cryogenics chilled systems at CeBIT

This liquid-cooled system put together by cooling company Zalman is suitable for noise-sensitive environments, where air-conditioning or fans may be too disruptive, the company claims. Korea-based Zalman didn't have a figure for the decibels, but the system was near-noiseless, tucked away in a quiet corner of the CeBIT show in Hanover.

The inside of this PC, from motherboard maker Foxconn, looks more like a refrigerator.

If you want to get a system running really cool, there's only one option: liquid nitrogen, as seen in the wings of the Foxconn stand at CeBIT.

Not so carefully does it: supercooling a motherboard in the heat of a CeBIT exhibition halls requires regular top-ups. Luckily liquid nitrogen is a very good insulator so a little spillage won't harm the electronics.

Finally the Foxconn staff get the machine to boot, with an expectation that it will reach "something over 5GHz".