So, If it’s not too complicated, I have an idea for an airflow oriented backplate for the laptop. I’m thinking it could be something like a mesh front panel for a desktop, which gives the Framework laptops a little more room to breathe. Maybe something in between a mesh backplate and a metal backplate. I’m not sure how it’s going to work, but I’d like to see what other people might come up with!
What’s wrong with the current implementation? Laptops are designed so that air pulled in by the cooler flows over VRMs and the like. Implementing more vents might actually worsen performance.
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That sounds like a good idea but a few questions:
- Structural rigidity, the frame must be strong but the mesh will be a weak point and the laptop body might not have enough space or weight to reinforce
- Laptop fans from experience, can’t compete in terms of static pressure or airflow compared to desktops
- Next, because of limited fan designs for laptops, forcing air thru mesh using a blower fan is gonna generate quite a bit of noise, especially when it runs at loads
These are the immediate issues I see, there could be more or some could be resolved with some tech/modern materials, not sure there.
I think one potential way is to use the base as some kind of heatsink but you risk burns operating on lap and putting the CPU facing downwards and in contact with a heatsink would risk major damage when dropped.
Maybe we could do some kind of additional heatpipes to the CPU then make it go down to a vapor chamber base cover or even just the base cover itself, similar to those passive cooled desktops.
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Ok. So you don’t know.
This is not an argument against a particular design. We don’t know.
Yes but we don’t know the design.
Probably but OP didn’t point into an implementation of it.
For instance increased holes would increase productivity of these kinds of external cooling pads:
Do I know with 100% certainty? No, of course not. I haven’t tried it. But I do know how laptops are designed specifically to draw air over components, a design that will be disrupted be punching holes willy-nilly in the bottom of the chassis. Yes, throwing the big cooler pad underneath will likely alleviate this problem but that wasn’t mentioned before nor does it answer the question I first posed. What is wrong with the current implementation? This laptop isn’t that noisy.
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Just because you have more holes, it doesn’t mean you get ‘good’ air flow. The flow of air from one area to another area is due to pressure equalization…so you need to ensure you have low or high air pressure at the right places, such that the flow of air is in the right direction, at the correct rate needed.
In short, just because you have a grill, it alone isn’t going to solve anything…assuming it doesn’t make things worse. Fluid dynamics is the area to address this properly.
Any random person can get a fan…but not everyone can use a fan in the ‘most’ efficient manner.
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Yeah, I don’t wasn’t really sure about the stability and rigidity of the chassis, but I’m not really an expert in this field and just had an idea. There’s nothing wrong with the current implementation, but I’m just seeing if improvements can be made, to improve it for everyone. I’m not the expert in fans, but someone who is could help with this idea, since I know basically nothing about fluid dynamics and how air, fans, and heat spread works. Another concept that I came up with could work something like an external cooler, or something similar to a dock, to connect the laptop to a better cooling system if needed, and charge it with a recycled battery pack. This could be an add-on of some sorts, or can be sold on the marketplace. There is also a need for fan improvements in the laptop space, so that could be something to note.
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