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Twin exhausts (hear me out!)

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HawkFlight

Registered
Joined
Mar 23, 2009
So, next winter I'm going to be building a new desktop, and I wanted to run a new cooling idea by you guys to see what you thought.

What I want to do is get a pair of copper exhausts, like the ones you find in sports cars, only copper. They would, of course, be perforated for maximum cooling efficiency. Then I want to install a pair of fans behind them, to blow the hot air out of these exhausts. Now, here's the kicker: attach them to various heatsinks in the computer using copper wire, so the heat will be drawn through the copper wire, into the exhausts, where it's dissipated into the surrounding air via fans and a temperature differential!

So, what do you think? Could it work?
 
... I'm thinking it might work if you used copper heatpipes instead of copper wire as heatpipes literally move heat faster than the speed of sound... And maybe you might want to have smaller and smaller exhausts inside each other connect via more heatpipes to give a higher surface area for dissipation.
 
No that is fine, drill all the holes you want, but say the largest pipe (a) is x inches in diameter, have pipe (b) be x-1 inches and then pipe (c) be x-2 inches and so on a so forth. Perferation might help with air flow, but I don't see it helping heat transfer as it decreases surface area.
 
Well, the exhausts won't really be that large in the first place, is the thing.
 
What kind of diameter and length are we talking about? because what you are suggesting won't have a very good thermal capacity due to low surface area... You could offset that with a 2 foot long pipe, but how is that going to fit?
 
Wait a minute, I'm not sure whats being discussed here.. Are you trying to get more cooling efficiency from your existing heatsink by wiring copper pipe to it? I really cant picture that helping you. In fact, it might even hurt your temps by restricting airflow.

Maybe if you used the pipe as a duct to vent hot air outside the case, it would keep the computer from recycling as much hot air, but other than that I cant think of any gains... You would probably be better off using the pipe as a cold air intake to bring air TO the heatsink from outside the case.
 
What kind of diameter and length are we talking about? because what you are suggesting won't have a very good thermal capacity due to low surface area... You could offset that with a 2 foot long pipe, but how is that going to fit?

That's the problem. I haven't decided exactly what the size will be, because I haven't picked out a case. But they'll be small enough that it won't make anything awkward, no more than a few inches in diameter.

Wait a minute, I'm not sure whats being discussed here.. Are you trying to get more cooling efficiency from your existing heatsink by wiring copper pipe to it? I really cant picture that helping you. In fact, it might even hurt your temps by restricting airflow.

Maybe if you used the pipe as a duct to vent hot air outside the case, it would keep the computer from recycling as much hot air, but other than that I cant think of any gains... You would probably be better off using the pipe as a cold air intake to bring air TO the heatsink from outside the case.

You think? But won't the heated copper warm up the air, thus causing it to pull in warmer air?
 
TBH I think you should do them - but keep them out of cooling. Add them on for looks and a nice mod but don't expect them to cool anything.
 
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But won't the heated copper warm up the air, thus causing it to pull in warmer air?

The short answer is no... the reason is, its not going to transfer heat that well. I would imagine at most, the pipe would only be a degree or two above ambient. Lots of manufacturers use ducts from the front of the case or side panel to bring outside air to the processor. Its a proven design. :thup:

But like zbo said, it would be for show more than anything. Dont expect any performance jump from them...
 
The short answer is no... the reason is, its not going to transfer heat that well. I would imagine at most, the pipe would only be a degree or two above ambient. Lots of manufacturers use ducts from the front of the case or side panel to bring outside air to the processor. Its a proven design. :thup:

But like zbo said, it would be for show more than anything. Dont expect any performance jump from them...

Except he isn't ducting the air, he is trying to attach the pipe to a heatsink and thus move the heat from the sink to the pipe and then use a fan to blow air through the pipe. Which is why I suggested he use copper heat pipes to move the heat instead of copper wire.
 
Copper heat pipes might work, but then you have all the hassle of getting them and working with them. It would be much easier just to buy a finned heatsink. The surface area of copper exhausts just won't be that great. It *might* work, but it's not really worth the effort for the gain you would see. Like someone else said - probably a cool looking mod, but impractical for cooling purposes.
 
... I'm thinking it might work if you used copper heatpipes instead of copper wire as heatpipes literally move heat faster than the speed of sound... And maybe you might want to have smaller and smaller exhausts inside each other connect via more heatpipes to give a higher surface area for dissipation.

Now here's a question. How do you attach the heatpipes to the heatsinks?

Also, I'd probably wind up using aluminum, I heard it conducts heat faster than copper.
 
Sorry to confuse, I meant drill through the exhaust pipe and then solder the heatpipe into the newly made hole. And making any cut or hole into a heatpipe renders it useless.
 
Why are you doing risky mods then? Copper wire doesn't transfer heat fast enough so getting heat pipes requires a risky move taking them from a purchased heatsink...
 
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