This water-cooled gaming laptop packs a full-size desktop RTX 5090 and even fits in a backpack, but I sure wouldn’t want it in mine

Gaming laptops are as popular as ever, but one thing that’s still a bit annoying is that the GPU inside is never quite as good as its desktop equivalent, even if they share the same name. Well, one laptop crowdfunding project has a solution to that problem—stuff a full-size GPU into a backpack-sized laptop.

This week, a new Kickstarter page (via VideoCardz) popped up, claiming to be the “world’s first built-in split type water-cooled gaming laptop”, and it will be launching into its funding period soon. The UHPILCL (Ultra High Performance Integration Liquid Cooled Laptop) is upgradable up to an RTX 5090 GPU and Ryzen 7 9800X3D CPU, both of which don’t have an equal in the mobile world right now (though the latter isn’t entirely out of the realms of possibility).

It supports any Mini-ITX motherboard and is compatible with desktop CPUs and GPUs. It also has room for 2 x M.2 and 2 x SATA drives.

What exactly “split type” means in this context is a bit fuzzy, though it likely refers to the separate cold blocks for the GPU and CPU and “world’s first” is equally fuzzy. We don’t get a single shot of the laptop’s internals, so we can only guess right now. We have seen built-in water cooling in the Lenovo Legion 9i in 2023 (though this one ends up being closer to just another vapor chamber), and the likes of the XMG Oasis is an external water pump that can connect to XMG laptops to water cool them.

Alternatively, “Split type” could refer to the fact that this uses some degree of air cooling too, though that wouldn’t be novel either.

The video accompanying the Kickstarter shows a Ryzen 9 9950X version of the UHPILCL being grabbed from a backpack and set up on a desk. Though it’s impressive that the device fits inside a backpack, it is monstrously large and also rather ugly.

Aside from being bulky, with large grates on the side to let out air and a stand on the bottom to prop the device up, the trackpad sits on the right-hand side of the keyboard, and it all looks rather wide. I don’t use this word often, but I would consider the UHPILCL chonky.

Once plugged in, the laptop takes 45 seconds to boot up, which isn’t the best sign early on. However, the creator does show off three minutes of Black Myth: Wukong gameplay using their build, and it all functions rather well. It’s an impressive feat, even if it all seems a bit over the top to me. There are two main devices included in this Kickstarter period: the T1000, which is a bit thinner and weighs in at 4.8 kilograms, and the T1000 Super, which is a bit thicker and weighs 5.2 kilograms.

The Kickstarter page clarifies that, if you want to use an RTX 5090, “please choose the T1000 SUPER, use a more powerful double-layer water cooling system, and the thickness of the rear part will increase by 7 mm.” As well as being upgradable and giving prospective buyers the ability to fit in desktop parts, this new laptop prototype comes with one more upgrade that many laptops on the gaming market don’t: a 4K camera.

With a max storage capacity of 32 TB and compatibility with rather impressive components, this laptop could be both the most powerful and ugliest laptop I’ve seen in recent times.

The Kickstarter mentions an optional hybrid model with “two computers with different configurations inside, one with high power consumption and ultra-high performance” and one with “low power consumption, powered by an internal battery”.

This is an optional extra, but as the project isn’t live, we don’t know how it fits into the Kickstarter pricing structure or how much more it will cost. Or if it’ll actually exist at all, though that’s another thing entirely…

It’s worth noting that this is a Kickstarter, and the page hasn’t even gone live yet. There’s always a risk with crowdfunding platforms that you don’t get your product or that the final product is a bit different from the one you expect. The UHPILCL is an interesting oddity for a few different reasons, but we don’t know if it will properly launch. And that’s before factoring in whether it even hits its funding goal.