Ok, I see everyone's point.
Zedric: I know that the socket would be on the other side, but I have seen components mounted on both side of a PCB before. I am sure you are right in saying it would increase costs. Even if the cost was $30 higher for a case like this? Don't most of us spend at least that much on a HSF anyway?
Blinden: But bigger
is better... at least when talking about more surface area for a HS anyway.
silky62678: Not sure, haven't tried it. But since the case is already exposed to ambient room air and since a mid/full tower side panel is so big, it makes sense I would think.
lmi91: If the aluminum or copper was mounted sturdily enough, then I wouldn't think that would be a big issue, but then, I'm not an engineer.
I don't know about you, but rarely does anything bump hard enough against my PC to cause any kind of damage like that. I thought aluminum might be sufficient instead of copper since the surface area is so big. Maybe a copper contact plate and the rest of the side aluminum?
LeeJend: Yeah, I suppose there are similarities to a laptop. BUT, most people do not put mid/full towers on their lap. :blink:
I already figured the side plate would have to be thicker than it is now (even 1/4 to 1/2 inch I figure and aluminum is cheap), but the sheer size of the panel would be sufficient. Even use shallow fins to help the surface area... might actually look cool too.
BTW: After running benchmarks a bunch of times, I can touch my HSF bare-handed and it isn't hot enough to burn. And that coming from a small HSF compared to a much larger case.
A light bulb, as you used for an example, is severly limited in surface area as well as heatsink material: glass isn't a very efficient HS. I'm sure we would use copper or aluminum, but it would be hard to see the light through those materials, plus heat isn't as much as a concern. Sure, it might shorten the lifespan of a bulb, but they only cost a buck or two to replace. Once CPUs reach that price point, I won't care about heat as much I'm sure.
taurus: Ok, maybe this isn't the best ideas, but it seems like we are re-inventing the wheel (albeit with improvements) with these liquid ideas. I was trying to come up with something different. Well, not really different because my idea sorta comes from how car audio amplifiers work. They produce
tons of heat, esp those big ones. At a typical efficiency of 55% (ish), a 1,000 RMS watt (not a class D) amp draws about 1800 watts of power from a battery. That means there is 800 watts (thats right kiddies, not a "mere" 65 or 75 watts) of power dissipated on the heatsink. Granted, that heat is generated from many different devices, but the point is the case is the heatsink and it does a good job, provided the amp is not installed in a severly airflow-challenged location.
Zedric : That's what I'm talking about! Sure, it is limited right now, but thats because it's new. I like that idea and looks bad@$$ too.
I am just going a bit further than hushtech is going and not as drastically retooling the case.
Indomidable: I guess I don't follow. My design does not use peltier, or water cooling. Nor does it involve increasing the size of the chip.
Indomidable gives me an idea though: why not water cool the panel? Extrude the aluminum panel/fins with holes along the inside for liquid to travel through, and only where it is needed. The water would stay outside the case and not have any chance of leaking on your expensive hardware.
Thanks everyone for their thoughts (and criticisms).