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  • close - Thursday, June 8, 2017 - link

    At least the saucer has an interesting design...
  • edzieba - Thursday, June 8, 2017 - link

    "closed-loop heat pipes"

    All heat-pipes are by definition closed-loop, or they would be ejecting a continuous stream of working fluid. They might mean heat-pipes with separate vapour and liquid phase paths (rather than the combined paths we are used to using internal grooved or sintered wicking) but that does not appear to be the case from the photos.
  • MajGenRelativity - Thursday, June 8, 2017 - link

    I think the author means that the heat pipes do not have ends, and connect to each other. And by "don't have ends" I don't mean that the pipes are unsealed, just that they form a complete circle.
  • close - Thursday, June 8, 2017 - link

    Heatpipes themselves - the metal tubes - are rarely closed loops. They're usually tubes with two sealed ends, one at the base of the cooler and the other at the top. This time they are a continuous closed loop, no ends.
    The "loop" you're thinking of is the cycle inside the heatpipe.
  • MrSpadge - Thursday, June 8, 2017 - link

    Does anyone know the benefit of using these "closed loop" heatpipes? In a regular heatpipe the vapor will find its way anyway and the liquid only occupies a small volume, so both streams should hardly conflict. I also don't see the point of offering the cooled liquid an additional path to the COOL top side of the cooler. What is is supposed to do there? Flow to the other fin block, where the other stream of hot vapour is already condensing? Gravity doesn't have much influence on the movements inside the heatpipes, as the other forces are much larger (if it's well constructed).
  • MrSpadge - Thursday, June 8, 2017 - link

    BTW: 200 W for such a massive cooler with 3 fans isn't all that impressive, so the "closed loops" can't be of that much help.
  • close - Thursday, June 8, 2017 - link

    Probably for aesthetic effect. Without additional fins the bare heatpipes at the top would hardly make a difference.
  • Valantar - Thursday, June 8, 2017 - link

    Does anyone know what a 'heat column' is? I certainly don't, and the article doesn't exactly go out of its way to explain the concept.
  • Chaitanya - Friday, June 9, 2017 - link

    check frosty techs article: Cooling Overview 2004. Also thermal column with reference to atmosphere is: A thermal column (or thermal) is a column of rising air in the lower altitudes of Earth's atmosphere, a form of atmospheric updraft. Thermals are created by the uneven heating of Earth's surface from solar radiation, and are an example of convection, specifically atmospheric convection. The Sun warms the ground, which in turn warms the air directly above it.
  • Rocket321 - Thursday, June 8, 2017 - link

    A couple of questions based on the text:

    closed-loop heat pipe - what's different from the heat pipes we've been using for the last decade?

    heatcolumn - what's this?
  • close - Thursday, June 8, 2017 - link

    Usually heatpipes have two closed ends, one in the base of the cooler and the other one at the top. In this case the heatpipe is ring shaped, a closed loop, going through the base, then to one side of the tower, then to the other side, and back into the base to form a loop.

    The "Heat Column" is (besides what appears to be the name of the cooler) a basically a big vertical heatpipe. Then you attach fins on the outside for better heat dissipation.
  • Valantar - Thursday, June 8, 2017 - link

    So a heat column is essentially what AMD has in the Wraith Spire, and what Intel used to have in some high end stock coolers? A sort of mix between a heatpipe and a vapor chamber? Well, if the Wraith is anything to go by, it's a very effective cooling method.
  • BrokenCrayons - Thursday, June 8, 2017 - link

    "Because enthusiasts appreciate customizable lighting..." I think there's evidence to support arguments against that idea as much as there's justification to make such a claim in the first place which might make such an assertion better left unsaid.

    +1 on for some additional information about the "heat column" thing. Are we just talking about a solid copper center post or something else?
  • close - Thursday, June 8, 2017 - link

    Not solid. It's usually basically a huge heatpipe.
  • scmorange16 - Thursday, June 8, 2017 - link

    "200 W of hear" - it should be "200 W of heat", no?
  • tygrus - Friday, June 9, 2017 - link

    "200 W of hear" freudian slip because it's so loud your neighbours are going to hear it.
  • HollyDOL - Friday, June 9, 2017 - link

    I would like to see the performance difference between "baby case" horizontal mounting and usual tower vertical mounting. Will there be any (noticable one)? Aside that I am curious about fitting such a sauce in...

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