The Sandia Cooler

[NiMx1233]

Just watch a video on the YouTube about the Sandia Cooler (sorry if I'm slow >.<), http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWQZN...layer_embedded ,and here's the specs, not detailed unfortunately. http://techportal.eere.energy.gov/te....do/techID=527 . Anyone knows how much of a breakthrough is this?

[Arne Saknussemm]

Lots of nice ideas never make it to market....cost of production vs performance gain etc. How is your ram going to fit under that! Also sandia means water melon in Spanish!

[NiMx1233]

I doubt the cost of production will be really high, doesn't seem really sophisticated and the materials are mostly aluminium(I think). As for the performance gain, it should be better than current high-end air coolers, but I've no idea when it is compared with water cooling. Doubt the size will be a matter, just minimize it by a lil' bit and it should fit well. By the way, watermelon tastes good xD

[xeromist]

Lots of nice ideas never make it to market....cost of production vs performance gain etc. How is your ram going to fit under that! Also sandia means water melon in Spanish!

They already have 2 partners for bringing it to market. No word when that will be though.

[Arne Saknussemm]

Hmm well fingers crossed but I'll believe it when I see it and see it compared to an NH-D14....don´t get me wrong I'm all for progress but I wonder about this. Especially as there are a whole number of water cooling options coming to market. Seems like its released just as air cooling went out of fashion. What happens if you move your case while its spinning? And air bearing is air right so heat transfer there?

Still, Coanda would be a happy man!

[xeromist]

Yes, there are a lot of questions unanswered with this cooler. To me the biggest is whether this will even have a place with enthusiasts. This could wind up being a more industrial/commercial type solution that doesn't really make it into consumer machines at all.

[Arne Saknussemm]

Actually I just saw the first paper on this was from 2010 so it's been a while coming. Apparently the air bearing is really thin so heat transfer there wont be a problem I presume.

I wonder if they could interface a few of them with a 360 rad?

[xeromist]

Well, with a cooler like this it would not be a traditional radiator. I'm not sure it could even really be classified as a radiator since the cooler would be doing the actual heat transfer to the surrounding air. It would be more like another block that would interface directly to the bottom of the cooler(s) with thermal paste. It would certainly turn some heads.

[Arne Saknussemm]

Actually, if it comes down to it a radiator is not a radiator either but we'll leave the thermodynamically correct to one side! Yeah, I can se it now.... three reverse versions of a CPU block in a row with three of these things spinning on top...or more....straight six....or V8