Passively Cooled PC Uses Giant Heat Sink for a Case

In the pursuit of a passively cooled PC with no fans, Ville “Willek” Kyrö happened upon a solution ingenious in its simplicity: make the entire case a giant heat sink. A whole bunch of custom rigging later, his Opteron-powered machine was a success—ignoring that the case weighed over 44 pounds.

Project: Passive [Metku.net]

1. [Songe]

   Pass Labs Aleph 3 Amplifier:

   http://calab.kaist.ac.kr/~cgkim/audio/amp/zen/www.passlabs.com/images/a3_lg.jpg

2. [Jake von Slatt]

   That looks expensive!

   I made one a couple of years ago with Home Depot parts:

   http://vonslatt.com/proj-cc4.shtml

   I did have to add one fan running at half voltage to cool the Northbridge, but the CPU and PSU were cooled purely through the Thermosiphon effect.

3. [Jake von Slatt]

   OK, I clicked through and actually read the article, I take back the “expensive” comment – the guy’s a Maker Mench!

4. [w000t]

   I’m working on a passive-aggressively cooled PC in which the case is made out of a proprietary mix of guilt, blame, and doubt. So far, I’ve achieved some small success by repeatedly asking my motherboard, “Is it getting hotter in here?”

5. [clockwork]

   What a fantastic case (the Zalman that is)! Some of the features on there, even beyond the passive cooling, are pretty rare. the casters, the pretty HD tray, even the handles on top, automotive aluminum. I wish I had known about this before I got my Temjin Silverstone.

6. [Anonymous]

   Zalman already created cases like this this several years ago. (And you can buy them!)

   http://www.zalman.co.kr/ENG/product/Product_Read.asp?idx=116

   and the smaller, saner version:
   http://www.zalman.co.kr/ENG/product/Product_Read.asp?idx=186

   Now the only issue is making them cost less…

7. [dculberson]

   Awe-SUM!!!

8. [Anonymous]

   Here is another fanless, passively-cooled case available for purchase:

   http://atechfabrication.com/products/mini_client_2500.htm

9. [strider_mt2k]

   WOW
   That was an interesting read.

   I’ve had to deal with maintaining electronics in environments where sheet metal work and other fabrication was happening close by, and yes it does suck when a tiny piece of something screws up the works.

   I watched a tiny trimmed-off piece of metal sail across a sheet metal shop and go into a hole in a control box for an industrial punch.
   One in a million shot.

   Of course the piece came right back out again. -it was being pushed by all the arcing and smoke.

   Projects like this that aren’t entirely successful are still good to learn from, and the thing was industrial-style cool looking to be sure!