Thermal enhancement of desk top computer by chassis design optimization

The increased functionality of desktop computers has resulted in higher power dissipation of the processor and other associated electronics and forced the thermal designer to look for better thermal solutions at the system level. The simpler approach is to go for a higher flow rate fan or an active heat sink for the processor, but the additional cost and increase in overall system noise level is an undesirable part of the exercise. Hence any simple modification of the existing chassis to optimize the air flow path inside the computer is a better option. The main focus of this paper is to study the airflow pattern, velocity around critical components in the existing design and the improvement by having additional baffles in the system using numerical techniques. The study demonstrates that additional baffles in the existing chassis have significant impact on system airflow pattern, and air velocity around the critical components. This results in lowering of the processor junction temperature for the same power level and the overall air temperature inside the system. The increased thermal margin of the system helps the end user to upgrade hardware with high power dissipation at a later stage.