View Single Post
Unread 07-02-2003, 10:28 PM   #11
Al Kaseltzer
Cooling Neophyte
 
Join Date: May 2003
Location: Montreal, QC
Posts: 14
Default

Well, to ignore the limitations of ATX specs for a second, the design is sound. It's technically a thermosyphon, and not a heatpipe. A heatpipe by definition has a wicking material on the inside to pump the fluid, a thermosyphon only needs gravity.
Your thermosyphons don't need any fins on the inside, either, Condensation and Boiling are the most effective forms of heat transfer, and fins won't help.
Also, thermosyphons and heat pipes need very little fluid to work. Basically you want to coat the entire inside of your pipe, and a few drops more. Trying to boil a whole pool of fluid as shown in your diagram reduces the efficiency. You'd need some sort of texture or coating over the cpu that would remain wet, and you'd direct the condensed fluid to drip down onto that to keep it wet as the fluid boils off of it. Something like a wire screen or even a piece of cloth. Well, at least for a vertical CPU. If the CPU is horizontal, you'd just need to make sure it's level.

And since I've already said screw ATX, why don't we get rid of the fan entirely. Just make the Thermosyphons nice and long, with vertical fins, and you'll have enough surface area for Passive convection to cool the whole thing down.
Al Kaseltzer is offline   Reply With Quote