According to a story on newscientisttech.com, a UK-based company plans to introduce system that are cooled by chilled oil, rather than traditional heatsinks and fans. The idea behind the technology is that oil is a much better conductor of heat than air, and with an adequate design all of the fans can be eliminated from the system...
"It is possible to cut power consumption in half," managing director Peter Hopton told New Scientist. "You don't need to drive inefficient fans, or the usual air conditioning." Hopton first got the idea after seeing computer enthusiasts discuss the idea online. Oil does not affect the function of electronic components and offers a potentially useful cooling solution since it transports heats more efficiently than air.
A number of enthusiasts have tried this technique over the years and it actually does work. It's the cleanup that's a real pain!
Marco Chiappetta
Marco's interest in computing and technology dates all the way back to his early childhood. Even before being exposed to the Commodore P.E.T. and later the Commodore 64 in the early ‘80s, he was interested in electricity and electronics, and he still has the modded AFX cars and shop-worn soldering irons to prove it. Once he got his hands on his own Commodore 64, however, computing became Marco's passion. Throughout his academic and professional lives, Marco has worked with virtually every major platform from the TRS-80 and Amiga, to today's high end, multi-core servers. Over the years, he has worked in many fields related to technology and computing, including system design, assembly and sales, professional quality assurance testing, and technical writing. In addition to being the Managing Editor here at HotHardware for close to 15 years, Marco is also a freelance writer whose work has been published in a number of PC and technology related print publications and he is a regular fixture on HotHardware’s own Two and a Half Geeks webcast. - Contact: marco(at)hothardware(dot)com
