Sandia cooler. 30x more efficient and licensed to an unnamed company

Brian Ambrozy 21 Jun, 2012 at 11:22pm ET Article published in

CORRECTION: We originally said 30% more efficient; that was a misquote; these are thirty times more efficient. 30x. Our apologies for the typo!

DVice is reporting that Sandia National Labs has finalized a heatsink design that is 30x more efficient than traditional designs. The design involves an air bearing rather than contact with thermal paste; there is a very small air gap between the cooling surface and the CPU die. In such a confined space, air acts more like a fluid. Rather than a fan helping to dissipate heat, the entire heatsink rotates at a relatively low RPM, creating an air vortex in the center that pushes air out past the fins.

The video tells the story:

The most interesting bit of the story is that Sandia has licensed the design to an as-yet-unnamed company to create a CPU cooler for desktop PCs. Hopefully we’ll see final designs and review samples soon.

Comments

22 Jun 2012 ~ 3:34am Straight_Man This could be a boon to Laptops also, in the future.
22 Jun 2012 ~ 3:34am Cliff_Forster So let me get this straight. There is no metal to metal contact at all? It's creating a mini typhoon right above the CPU die and that's enough to transfer the heat to the fins?
22 Jun 2012 ~ 12:38pm Tim So what if the CPU is on its side relative to the force of gravity, as it is in most desktop computers? What then? Will this thing fall over? There will be no force of gravity keeping it pushed against the CPU. And what about laptops that get moved into many positions?

This is technology with severe limitations. Not practical for the home user.
22 Jun 2012 ~ 1:59pm mertesn
I have no idea what I'm talking about
Fixed.
22 Jun 2012 ~ 4:43pm Butters I agree with Tim. If it falls over, because of gravity, it will probably land at the bottom of the case. Meaning, lower center of gravity = increased stability. So then this will make the PC more stable but not necessarily cooler. Especially around corners or bad weather conditions.
22 Jun 2012 ~ 5:22pm Thrax I'm concerned that this is one of those designs that would work well to replace the crappy OEM heatsinks, but can't scale upwards to benefit enthusiasts.
22 Jun 2012 ~ 5:22pm RyanFodder
So let me get this straight. There is no metal to metal contact at all? It's creating a mini typhoon right above the CPU die and that's enough to transfer the heat to the fins?
They are trying to make the boundary layer of air as small as possible - the rotating makes the layer smaller by some strange behavior of air at that small air gap.

There is always this layer at a microscopic level, even with bolting on a heatsink. So if they can take advantage by treating the air like a fluid rather than an insulator, then you get better cooling.
22 Jun 2012 ~ 10:41pm Tim No Butters, you don't get it. The fact that most CPUs are on their sides in computer cases means there's no steady reliable force to keep the spinning part in close contact with the CPU.

Or maybe you did get it and are trying to be funny.

Maybe the people who make this CPU cooler can invent a socket adapter that turns the CPU 90 degrees so it stays horizontal, so this design can work.
23 Jun 2012 ~ 4:22am Requit It seems like it'd be very useful for servers, but it seems to have limited applications for a desktop setting.
23 Jun 2012 ~ 9:22am tau_awolfe https://ip.sandia.gov/techpdfs/Fundamentally New Approach.pdf
The cooler doesnt use gravity to hold itself together. It will work in any orientation, even upside down. The thin layer of air separating the two parts is more like a bearing that transfers heat well.
23 Jun 2012 ~ 11:01pm Tushon Like tau_awolfe said, it creates a vortex which pulls the entire apparatus to the CPU close enough to work normally. I imagine this would even work upside down, but what you are saying is completely untrue. It would never go flying off (because the top is still attached like a normal heat sink) and the functionality isn't changed. It would have functionality in both desktop and server setups, to reduce noise generated.