Anyone try something new?

[AC]

Why outfit your case with a ton of noisy power hungry fans when you can turn your entire case into a heatsink?

Like attaching your processor and drives directly to a strong aluminum plate and mounting a heatsink to the outside, like you'd find on car stereo amplifiers? Then your fans can be external. It'd still be air cooled but without the noise or pressure drop of fan holes...

Wouldn't that better?

 

[DurocShark]

Wouldn't that be kinda ugly???

Then again, I've never thought amps were terribly attractive, and I sure don't want the clear panels so I can see the ugly electronics inside.

 

[AC]

Well, a heatsink is just a block of metal with fins to increase the outside surface area. You can shape them any way you want. And aluminum can be anodized with different colors. But yeah, heatsinks aren't the prettiest of things. Besides a computer case is just a retangular box, with fan and drive openings. I don't like the way the the new Macs look either.

Has anyone actually made a unique aesthetically pleasing computer case?

 

[RagManX]

Heat takes time to travel through metal. The more metal you have, the hotter one end will get. Your processor will run much hotter if you try to move the heat too far through a heatsink before getting rid of it.

RagManX

 

[AC]

Hmm...actually heatsinks should have high thermal conductivity. As you recall, thermal conductivity is the measure of heat flow through a material.

For example, thermal conductivity (W/cm K) of the following materials are roughly:
Air (still) - 0.0003
Wood - 0.001
Water - 0.0055
Thermal grease (metal oxide grease) - 0.007
Glass - 0.008
Titanium - 0.157
Stainless Steel - 0.240
Tin - 0.63
Platinum - 0.734
Zinc - 1.024
Brass (70% copper, 30% zinc) - 1.220
Magnesium 1.575
Aluminum - 2.3
Gold (pure) - 2.9
Copper (pure) - 3.9
Silver (pure) - 4.1

Equation for calculating thermal resistance:
R=t/kA
where t=thickness of material, k=thermal conductivity constant, and A=contact area

So, thermal resistance across a block of aluminum between a processor and air is the sum of:
R across thermal grease = 0.1cm / (0.004W/cmK * 2cm^2)
R across 2cm thick aluminum heat sink = 2cm/ (2.3W/cmK * 6cm^2)
R across air = 1/ (0.0003 * 6cm^2)

These calculations doesn't factor in heat transfer via radiation which usually accounts for 25% of total heat transer, but is less of a factor if there air is flowing since convection is more efficient.

In other words, the temperature difference between the processor side and the air side of the heat sink is minuscule. The important factors would be the interfaces between the processor and the heat sink, and air and the heat sink. So to reduce thermal resistance, use good thermal compounds on the processor side, and good airflow for the air side.

 

[zephyrprime]

the temperature difference between the processor side and the air side of the heat sink is minuscule

This is simply not so. The temperature difference is big. Aluminum and copper have high thermal conductivity but not nearly high enough to do what you want. Even with heatsinks only as tall as what we have now there is a big difference between the temperatures at the fan side compared with the cpu side. Just compare by touching the tips of the fins near the fan and the base of the HS.

You idea could easily work only if the distance between the CPU and the outside of the case is really short. (like it is in a car amp.)

 

[Cogman]

oo, oo, I know. Get a tower heatsink and attach fans from the bottem to the top, weakest to strongest. Then, on the very bottem have a freon cooler that the heat sink is on top, And make everything Pure Silver. That'd keep your system cool. What am I trying to say here? Even most extreme Oc's Would probibly not pay the Price for the mounting system and the Big Copper block that would have to go betwean the cpu and case. It is not always a question of working, but a question of Price. It just would not generate a profit for the sellers, and would not be very attractive to someone that has to install/pay for the thing. (I mean think about it. How much is a 10 pound block of copper?) (looks it up), Ok it is about $0.60-0.75 per Pound. Then there is shipping+price of increase for Profit+Tax Increase. It adds up to cost inefective.

 

[AC]

So are you guys saying that air is still the better heat transfer medium?

PS: Remember that the fans are inside the case and the air has to flow through holes and around obstructions.