I've seen several Shuttle mini-PCs that utilize a CPU heatsink with a heatpipe to the main exhaust fan, however no dedicated CPU fan. I like this idea. I like it so much that I think it would be fun to try on a normal PC -- especially given that my processor is about 3 inches from my main exhaust fan, and having two fans (exhaust and CPU) pulling at 90-degree angles seems to cause some turbulance.
So, I'm wondering if anyone has tried this CPU heatpipe idea in a standard ATX setup? I'm not talking watercooling here -- just standard solid or wicking heatpipe. If so, how did you do it? How were the results? Got any pictures?
Overall, it just seems like a great way to remove a fan from my system, especially considering the beautiful 120mm exhaust fan I just installed.
CPU Heatpipe
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I use one of the shuttle mini PCs model SN41G2 for my movie machine in my living room. The heat pipes work quite efficiently and quietly remove the CPU heat from the system. The main fan cools most off the system (Besides the PSU and nForce2 chipset) and keeps my AMD Barton 2500+ OC’d to 2800+ @ 1.725V Core just fine without any heat issues and it stays very quiet and most of the time around 48° C @ 2400RPM. I think heat pipes would be a perfect cooling mod for common case styles such as my Antec Plusview 1000AMG. Most of Antec’s cases have those two fan grills in the back for exhaust, a perfect location for a Fan/radiator combo for the heat pipes to push the CPU heat straight out of the case with low airflow. The only problem is that most motherboards don’t have the CPU socket in the same location and the heat pipes on my shuttle don’t seem to be very flexible at all. You might be able to purchase a “replacement” heat pipe kit for one of these shuttle boxes and try to get it to work in your system. It would be a very hard mod to do yourself but I think it would work very well. I love my shuttle, it’s a small powerhouse, but the only thing you must watch out for is that you must get a quiet hard drive because the case is small and all aluminum and you can hear the bearing noise and every little seek it makes throughout the whole case. 
Possibly even better....
Check under Technik and CPU Cooling....
http://www.deltatronic.info/index.html
I would love to see an entire system done this way if possible. Just to see if it's possible to have a silent system. Only the Hard Drive would have moving parts. Everything else might be passive cooled. Don't put anything on the case though. It might burst into flames.
http://www.deltatronic.info/index.html
I would love to see an entire system done this way if possible. Just to see if it's possible to have a silent system. Only the Hard Drive would have moving parts. Everything else might be passive cooled. Don't put anything on the case though. It might burst into flames.