MSI XpertStation WS300 Thermals: Why a 1,300W GB300 Doesn't Throttle on a Desk
10 hours ago
- The MSI XpertStation WS300 uses a liquid cooling loop with cold plates on the GPU, CPU, memory, and NIC, rated for 1,400W, providing 100W headroom over the GB300 Superchip's 1,300W limit.
- MSI's Component Integrity Test (CIT) data shows GPU cold plate thermal resistance drops from 0.031°C/W at 0.3 LPM to 0.012°C/W at 3 LPM, with the loop optimized for 1.5-2 LPM flow.
- Radiator performance at 60% fan speed keeps coolant 10-16°C above ambient at 1,000W and 15-23°C at 1,400W, with full speed roughly halving those figures.
- During a 2.8-hour test with burn-in and inference workloads, the Blackwell Ultra GPU held steady at 60°C (about 20°C below thermal throttle limits), HBM at 70-73°C, and Grace CPU at 64°C.
- Coolant temperature rose 10°C across the loop (from 37°C to 47°C) during burn-in, matching MSI's predicted flow rate of ~1.5 LPM and confirming the cooling design's accuracy.
- The system never approached power limits—peak Superchip draw was 1,080W vs. the 1,300W cap—and GPU clocks remained flat at 2.07GHz with no throttling.
- Idle power draws 220-290W (GPU alone 150-210W), and the system requires a 20A circuit in North America.
- The warmest component is the ConnectX-8 NIC at 76-77°C, which is why it's liquid-cooled, and thermal margins are ample for sustained performance.