Exotic case design solves computing heat issues..

[HTRN]

By submerging the whole thing in mineral oil.

Now admittedly, this seems a little bit much, but then, it's basically the same Idea Cray was running 25 years ago, only I think Cray was using Flourinert.

[Yogimus]

yea this is decades old technology.

[Greg]

The crazier overclocker types have been doing this sort of thing with PC hardware for a decade at least that I'm aware of.

[blackeagle603]

ummmm, butter

[Greg]

ummmm, butter

Not really my area but TSMC fabs those, right? A process advantage is a huge thing to have and Qualcomm should make the most of this.

[blackeagle603]

Qcom has a huge advantage/lead in low power core technology. Some of it comes from working their way up from the bottom (portables) and thinking about pwr consumption and heat in every chip since day 1 vs trying work down into portables from heavy hot desktops (a la Intel). Some of it comes from buying an orphaned IBM group ~12 years ago or so in RTP area if I recollect.

[HTRN]

The crazier overclocker types have been doing this sort of thing with PC hardware for a decade at least that I'm aware of.

Yeah, I remember seeing somebody using Flourinert as a heat transfer liquid and liquid N2 to cool it. The difference here is that it's a nice neat kit that doesn't look like something pieced together from stuff under the workbench.

[slowpoke]

Doesn't mineral oil tend to dissolve the prepreg?

[Yogimus]

There are several liquids out there that are designed specifically for this purpose, but at last check they cost about 50+ dollars per gallon.


Here are the MAIN issues with a liquid submerged cooled case:

1. Takes up HUGE amounts of room (relatively speaking). only about 1/4 to 1/8th of the liquid should be in the case, while the rest is going through radiators. (Compressor style radiators require less liquid, more space)
2. HUGE power draw. That liquid has to be pumped, and at a RAPID PACE. Less cooling equipment you have outside of the box, the faster the liquid must move inside the box.
3. Complexity. Once you set a system like that up, forget ever moving it. Remember, that liquid is many dollars per gallon.

Of course this is if you plan on crazy overclocking, with heat management issues. If not, then you can skip the external radiator. Over-all, if you DO NOT plan on overclocking, it is a pure novelty.

[Catbird]

Back in, I'm gonna say the early 90's, I walked past a nightclub in the Pioneer Square neighborhood of Seattle. In the entryway, they had several televison sets stripped of their chassis and submerged in some kind of colored liquid. They were displaying music videos. It was a cool effect.