Fanless \ Noiseless computer #1

    Before moving to a new flat in a quiet neihbourhood computer noise was never a problem for me. I was satisfied with the noise levels granted by ordinary off the shelf cooling systems. But when the unlimited Internet channel appeared, I stopped turning my computer off at nights. And the “whine-problem” instantly became unbearable… This is how I came to the Idea of relieving my electronic friend of the main noise source: unreliable and dust sucking fans. All the well-known methods (from liquid cooling systems to power hungry Peltier modules) were tried before the present design appeared. I was actually satisfied with liquid cooling - all but its reliability. The system was removed after the very first leak and is now used only for overclocking experiments. Peltiers were no good either. High working currents required an extra power supply, more powerful UPS… The whole power supply system became very complicated (hence less reliable) and I still couldn’t get rid of the fans! Finally I realized that heatpipes were the only reasonable option for me.
   My inspiration came from the projects of a japanese modder Numano and the Zalman's fanless TNN500 case - hurray, I thought, so it can be done!!! However a purchase of a 800USD toy hadn't quite matched my plans so I decided to fabricate a silent, fanless heapipe-based computer myself. With a small group of enthusiasts we proceeded to business and despite all hardships the idea was sucsessfully materialized. All the computers that were built using this technology half a year ago still work flawlessly having lived through hot summer days.
   Unfortunately, we couldn’t foresee the result, that’s why we have no step-by-step photo session of the modding process. Almost all the pictures had been taken during the final assembling of the computers.

    Well, we have the design here. The construction’s weight is about 40 kg. We used an aluminum plate (300*300 mm and 40 mm thick) as a basis. It is not a plate actually, it looks more like a heatsink with rows of milled grooves and a fair hundred of holes drilled here and there. We bought a few of them at a flea market for the price of scrap metal. The idea was really successful. Firstly, thick aluminum distributes and dissipates heat well. Secondly, it is easy to fix all the other parts to it. I really advise all the followers (if there are any) to start with looking for somethiing like this, or at least for a plain aluminum sheet (but not thinner than 10 mm). I remember that I was really surprised by uneven warming-up of finned side panels in a TNN500AF tower (I was assembling a computer for a customer). The panel’s base was only 7 mm thick! Well, it seems that our Korean friends economize on aluminum…