Pro/Forums - View Single Post - Waterblocks with heat pipes pins possible?

8-Ball · 05-19-2004, 11:50 AM

There appears to have been a lot of interest in heat pipes recently for what ever reason.

A while ago, I found a company by the name of thermacore who had developed a heatsink base using heat pipe technology.

I emailed them about the possibilities of using such a device for waterblocks, and was sent a wealth of information.

After getting out the scrap of paper and my calculator I came to a fairly quick conclusion.

There is a significant bottleneck.

The thermal resistance of the vaporisation stage alone was more than the TOTAL thermal resistance of most waterblocks.

Heat pipes are not a performance cooling technology unless you are wanting to move thermal energy over a relatively large distance.

8-ball

05-19-2004, 11:50 AM	#3
8-Ball Cooling Savant Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Oxford University, UK Posts: 452	There appears to have been a lot of interest in heat pipes recently for what ever reason. A while ago, I found a company by the name of thermacore who had developed a heatsink base using heat pipe technology. I emailed them about the possibilities of using such a device for waterblocks, and was sent a wealth of information. After getting out the scrap of paper and my calculator I came to a fairly quick conclusion. There is a significant bottleneck. The thermal resistance of the vaporisation stage alone was more than the TOTAL thermal resistance of most waterblocks. Heat pipes are not a performance cooling technology unless you are wanting to move thermal energy over a relatively large distance. 8-ball __________________ For those who believe that water needs to travel slowly through the radiator for optimum performance, read the following thread. READ ALL OF THIS!!!!