Could you cover the entire motherboard / CPU in plastic, keeping only the heatsink open to air?
Then have an open-air / caseless system that's dust-proof / somewhat water-proof.
Shrink wrapped motherboards
- Thread starter Phryq
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Could you cover the entire motherboard / CPU in plastic, keeping only the heatsink open to air?
Then have an open-air / caseless system that's dust-proof / somewhat water-proof.
I hate dust.... dust collects on everything in my life (I travel, so I live in different rooms at different times, but they always seem to be dusty).
I find effectively cleaning computer parts to be impossible... canned air does nothing.
Trying not to sound like a maniac, but I really just want my computer to stay dustless forever, which is why I've been trying passive cooling.
I find effectively cleaning computer parts to be impossible... canned air does nothing.
Trying not to sound like a maniac, but I really just want my computer to stay dustless forever, which is why I've been trying passive cooling.
I'd really love that too. Maybe out of the box thinking is what we need. Only shrink-wrapping it wouldn't probably be fruitful, but adding a non-conductive liquid that somehow can transfer heat to an outside heatsink would help. Though the first thing that comes to mind is that VRMs need a lot of cooling, so you might want to skip straight to full-cover waterblock.
BTW: I've pondered about solving this dust-issue myself from other angles: "clean room", trapping dust for 99%, using geometry to trap dust, etc. But none seem viable.
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VRMs, do you mean power supply? I'm planning to use an external powersupply - I'd like heat to be as separated as possible. I'm also not using a GPU (if I ever need one, I'll go external, but I'll likely never need one). However I do want a 7700k, which is hot, as are NVMe drives sometimes.
Ideally we could cover the entire thing in diamond (or maybe not, as heat from the CPU could damage the motherboard?
But a non conductive liquid... like nail polish maybe? covering everything. Put the heat-sinks on first, then just nail polish around them. That way you don't need to polish your heatsink or put anything insulating between hot parts and heatsinks.
Polishing the entire board could also mean no more need for standoffs. If the board touches metal no problem.
I thought of covering the entire thing in non-conductive thermal paste... also expensive.
Voltage Regulator Modules. They are the black squares on the motherboard that regulates voltage from the power source. They get hot.
Also don't bother to think to use thermal paste (or anything) as coolant coating. That's not what it's for, and that's not how thermodynamics work.
Now come to think of it, how does one transfer heat from inside an airtight box to the outside....
Also don't bother to think to use thermal paste (or anything) as coolant coating. That's not what it's for, and that's not how thermodynamics work.
Now come to think of it, how does one transfer heat from inside an airtight box to the outside....
- Jul 19, 2015
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What your getting at sounds not dissimilar to conformal coating used by some extreme overclockers and some industrial / military applications. Im not sure how this solves the issue of dust so much as moves it. instead of your mobo getting dusty whatever you encapsulate it in gets dusty instead. Perhaps the computer in an aquarium tank full of mineral oil would be a solution, perhaps not. Alternatively an air compressor might work for blasting out the dust, one able to generate more pressure than canned air is supplied at, maybe not though.
See the video below for an example of (apparently) some old Military VAX boards that have been confomally coated.
Wow, cool board. I feel like cleaning a coated board will be easier than cleaning a regular board. You could even wipe it with a cloth, no? It would also be immune to short circuts / wouldn't be much harmed by dust.
You could stream water over it
ASRock did it with their Z87 and Z97 overclocking boards, but they've stopped doing it (rumor was it was because they couldn't refurbish RMA boards).
ASRock did it with their Z87 and Z97 overclocking boards, but they've stopped doing it (rumor was it was because they couldn't refurbish RMA boards).
Why not use a fanless industrial case? That's what they're for and there's plenty of options if you don't need a dedicated GPU.
Actually how about encasing it with a cnc'd giant custom waterblock? Something like the below but covering the entire motherboard
^ by /u/p0Pe
^ by Brodholm
Haven't thought on how would transferring the heat from the water to a passive radiator hold up, and you'd still need to clean the radiator anyway. Also come to think of it the water has to be emptied every time before you head to the airport...
^ by /u/p0Pe
^ by Brodholm
Haven't thought on how would transferring the heat from the water to a passive radiator hold up, and you'd still need to clean the radiator anyway. Also come to think of it the water has to be emptied every time before you head to the airport...
Because that's the easy way ! Oh wait...
The problem with watercooling a motherboard in a way that no airflow passes it, requires some specific waterblocks (VRMs, chipset) and thus very limited selection of boards. It's also very expensive to do properly. Although at this point it seems the easier way of realising an airtight build.
Are there tiny fanless industrial cases you can buy? Where? They can cool a 7700k?
I thought about putting the mobo in liquid, but it would be a pain for travel.
The benefit of watercooling is in transferring the heat from CPU to heatsink case, but that's relatively easy with heatpipes, no? Water-cooling doesn't radiate the heat away from the case any better than any other system - it would depend on the attached radiators / fans.
But... The idea of having the fan external to the case... I think that's what you're getting at. (Watercooling could mean transfering heat to a heatsink outside the case, also possible with heatpipes).
I am considering one of those small no-maintenance watercooling systems however, for example from Silverstone.
I thought about putting the mobo in liquid, but it would be a pain for travel.
The benefit of watercooling is in transferring the heat from CPU to heatsink case, but that's relatively easy with heatpipes, no? Water-cooling doesn't radiate the heat away from the case any better than any other system - it would depend on the attached radiators / fans.
But... The idea of having the fan external to the case... I think that's what you're getting at. (Watercooling could mean transfering heat to a heatsink outside the case, also possible with heatpipes).
I am considering one of those small no-maintenance watercooling systems however, for example from Silverstone.
Logic Supply specializes in industrial cases: https://www.logicsupply.com/ml250/
I'm not real familiar with their lineup, so they may have a different case that's more suitable.
I don't believe this will be able to handle a 7700k, for example
here is their bre-built system, it only allows 45 W cpus
Here is their highest performing passive system,
And even it still only comes with 45 W cpus
Seeing as I would like to go even smaller... and I don't really see how their design can be improved, other can placing the system vertically and adding a few side fins.
But then I see this
"Operating Temperature Range 0°C ~ 50°C"
Does that mean this will work even placed in a 50°C room? My room is never above 30°C (normal room temperature). So I'm thinking this design above, but make the 'box' portion smaller, and fins a bit longer. I wish there was a diagram somewhere how the internals / heatpipes of this thing works.
At least some of their models just have an aluminum block that bridges the gap between the CPU and the top cover/heatsink.
Would you be willing to undervolt/underclock the 7700K? Would make a ventless build much easier.
Would you be willing to undervolt/underclock the 7700K? Would make a ventless build much easier.
Well, under-clocking I might as well get the non-K version. But if they're just using an aluminum block... their designs would do much better with heatpipes / vapor-chambers.
Actually... if they made the roof capable of lowering down so it would sit just above the ram, in order to minimize the gap, and place a vapor-chamber/heatpipes system connecting the CPU to the roof, I'm guessing they could do much better.
Actually... if they made the roof capable of lowering down so it would sit just above the ram, in order to minimize the gap, and place a vapor-chamber/heatpipes system connecting the CPU to the roof, I'm guessing they could do much better.
I'm talking about a new design in this thread,
Here's the pic
But this design could maybe benefit from having a 'sealed' motherboard, to protect it from dust. No?
There are no walls or anything; it's naked. I could just put walls up, but that'd give less airflow to the heatsink.
If you want to comment about the actual design, maybe the other thread is better, but here I'm just asking whether a coating (ceramic, plastic, nail polish) on the motherboard would help anything.
Here's the pic
But this design could maybe benefit from having a 'sealed' motherboard, to protect it from dust. No?
There are no walls or anything; it's naked. I could just put walls up, but that'd give less airflow to the heatsink.
If you want to comment about the actual design, maybe the other thread is better, but here I'm just asking whether a coating (ceramic, plastic, nail polish) on the motherboard would help anything.
wouldn't be easier to just dust filter a case? there are sff case with intake fans. a removable dust filter can easily be clean. maybe a portable vacum cleaner to travel with you?
also, dust sets when there is no airflow. Its better to have a fan constant spinning in a really low rpm than no fans/ or passive cooling, if there is going to be open vents.
also, dust sets when there is no airflow. Its better to have a fan constant spinning in a really low rpm than no fans/ or passive cooling, if there is going to be open vents.
