SPCR

I got hold of a zalman tnn500a (fanless heatpipe) case and while it does work, im not finding the temps really that satisfactory so Im thinking of ways to mod the case.

The idea I have is to change over to water cooling but use the case as a giant radiator. So while there are no inputs for water, would placing 2/3 water blocks be enough to transfer the heat to the case from the cpu?

eg. pump --> cpu --> h20 block to case ---> h20 block to another part of case --> reservoir --> pump

I can probably add in a real radiator but I wouldnt be using a fan with it.

btw. the case is 25kg of metal - only problem is transferring the heat to it.
Rather than using waterblocks, are there radiators that are flat rather than finned on one side? that would really help in my situation.

Just a guess, but I'd wager that the limiting factor in cooling is not the thermal resistance to the fins, but rather the fin's ability to dump heat to atmo. Sorry.

are you saying that 25kg of steel / fins are not enough to cool a quad core cpu? (ideally I would like to to cool the gpu too)

I am doing that right now - Im just looking for options for lower temps.
The problem I have with the current heatpipe setup is actually that the cpu block is blazing hot and not getting the heat to the case fast enough.

Thats why I was thinking of using h20 and multiple blocks or a special radiator to get the heat away from the cpu. The case can handle it im sure - the mod is to find a better way to get the heat away from the cpu than just a copper block and heatpipes.

oh and if anyone knows of a store bought radiator that has one side that is flat and can act like a giant waterblock that would be great. even 80mmx80mm is more than enough?

Might be a good idea to look at HDD-blocks? The kinds that hide the whole bottom side of the disk. Can't really think of larger area blocks... You might also score a nice bargain on some older/used models, maybe...

oh great idea! why didnt I think of that before.
The other thing I thought of is to use flat copper piping and essentially create my own radiator and attach it to the inside of the case.


hopefully 2 or 3 of these hdd blocks is enough to transfer the heat out.

What's the wall thickness of the TNN case?
If it's thick enough you could consider drilling vertical pipes in the walls for the water to run through.

No matter what, the key for success should be to have the heat dumped off over a larger heatsink area than it is with the heat pipes. (My theory is that the heat isn't spreading fast enough within the heatsink/wall.)

Cheers
Olle