Comments on: The chugga-chugga-chugga mobo

by: xuth

Tue, 04 Mar 2008 12:44:24 +0000

I hope it makes it into production, and I also hope it’s well enough made that it’ll last at least as long as the crappy electric fans you usually get on a northbridge heat sink.

I would say a lot depends on the bearings that they put on this thing. If they're no better than the bearings put on the crappy electric fans, then I'd say you're probably SOL in that regard.

by: NickL

Tue, 04 Mar 2008 07:02:52 +0000

On a side note; I'm actually a bit surprised that Dan doesn't have a small mill and lathe setup to build cool toys like Stirling engines.

by: Steven Den Beste

Tue, 04 Mar 2008 05:59:51 +0000

One neat thing about this application is that as the temperature of the chip rises, the stirling engine should run faster, causing the fan to move more air for cooling.

by: Daniel Rutter

Sun, 02 Mar 2008 16:39:11 +0000

Those are both Böhm engines. They have a distinctive look.

by: Changes

Sun, 02 Mar 2008 08:51:33 +0000

Isn't the Bohm engine just a single-engine version of the one above it?

by: NickL

Sun, 02 Mar 2008 07:20:44 +0000

Don't sterling engines usually require a little nudge to get them started? I wonder how the MSI board deals with that.

by: furrfu

Sat, 01 Mar 2008 20:02:14 +0000

For me, the main reason the MSI motherboard fan is so neat is that it's got the Stirling engine actually doing something.

Which is my main problem with small steam- and stirling engines: usually they're very pretty to look at, but they just sit there and rotate. Which gets a bit boring, after a while. And most bigger stirling engines that are meant to do work (ie. generator ones for boats) aren't much to look at.

If I had a wood stove, I'd be getting that fan in a flash. :-) Maybe go all steampunk on it, too...