Active or Passive Cooling for P2?

[Mr_Loon]

It seems to me that if P2 ends up using a current Gen SOC then major consideration should be given to what sort of cooling is going to be required.

If the SOC is going to be pushed to its full potential then active cooling (i.e. a fan) as per NVidia Shield will probably be needed.

The other option is to ensure that the SOC never reaches the point where active cooling is required by limiting clock frequency.

From my perspective there is no 'correct' answer here, some may value system power over noise & portability, others may feel that silent running and portability are far more important than what could be fairly minor gains in performance from pushing a SOC to its limits.

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What the Poll answers are supposed to mean :

Small Heatsink : A heat spreader, The sort of thing you'd find in a mobile phone / tablet

Large Heatsink : A heat spreader plus fins

Small Heatsink + Fan : Would have less overall size / weight impact than a large Heatsink (see Nvidia Shield tear downs)

Large Heatsink + Fan :  Maximum power / weight / noise

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Please don't make this thread another ARM vs x86 debate, or a discussion about what SOC to go for, there are plenty of other threads for this. Please concentrate on what sort of cooling solution you believe the P2 should use.

 

[Magic Sam]

Hi,

Passive cooling for me

Bye, Magic Sam

 

[EvilDragon]

Passive, definitely.

There's no place to put active cooling in anyways, unless you want to increase the thickness by 1,5cm.

 

[milkshake]

and use more juice to power it

 

[Mr_Loon]

Passive, definitely.


There's no place to put active cooling in anyways, unless you want to increase the thickness by 1,5cm.

I also strongly favour passive cooling, but looking at what is used in the NVidia shield you would not necessarily have to increase the thickness by 1.5cm.

 

[MrConfusion]

What the Poll answers are supposed to mean :

Small Heatsink : A heat spreader, The sort of thing you'd find in a mobile phone / tablet

Large Heatsink : A heat spreader plus fins

Small Heatsink + Fan : Would have less overall size / weight impact than a large Heatsink (see Nvidia Shield tear downs)

Large Heatsink + Fan :  Maximum power / weight / noise

Hey, where's my "no heatsink" option?

For some years already I've carried my PDAs in my wallets. The Palms have been just small enough. Meaning: I buy a wallet which I can also use as a case. Before that the PDA was the phone... Keys, phone, wallet... check.

I'm currently trying to figure out what I'm going to do with the Pandora, because it is just so big I would need to go back to my "wallet in the Filofax" days... Not impossible, I kind of liked Filofaxes before PDAs...

...but the last thing I want is to have someone ask me: "Dude, is that your wallet making that whining noise or are you just happy to see me?" :lol: .

 

[thatgui]

me wants total quietness => passive

 

[EvilDragon]

I also strongly favour passive cooling, but looking at what is used in the NVidia shield you would not necessarily have to increase the thickness by 1.5cm.

Did you actually see how thick this fan is?

Where do you want to put it without increasing thickness?

 

[Mr_Loon]

I also strongly favour passive cooling, but looking at what is used in the NVidia shield you would not necessarily have to increase the thickness by 1.5cm.

Did you actually see how thick this fan is?


Where do you want to put it without increasing thickness?

It looks less than 1cm to me.

Perhaps a better example would be the Odroid XU where the heatsink and Fan is about the same height as a full size USB header. i.e. if the board has a full sized USB header attached there might not be a huge impact in overall device thickness if a heatsink & fan is used. However please don't think this is what I want to see for P2

 

[PokeParadox]

Passive. Definitely passive.

Maybe with a hatch you can open to clip in a fan if you want to overclock enough for ARM to generate heat...

 

[matzesu]

I want my Pandora2 a bit thinner as the Pandora 1, so i can put it in my pocket..

the sice of the 3DSXL would be great..

The Pandora 1 ditnt need a fan...

Hey if the Pandora 2 need a cooler, this means whe have a diverent case from the Pandora1

 

[_wb_]

Passive cooling for sure, and also not too much weight/volume wasted on the heatsink.

If I need processing power, I'll use my laptop, desktop, cluster or supercomputer.

 

[pmprog]

where the heatsink and Fan is about the same height as a full size USB header.

You did notice that head has two USB ports, whereas the Pandora currently only has one?

 

[matzesu]

The Pandora 2 has to get thicker, as whe want 4 Shoulderbuttons.. , so a watercooler shouldn bee a Problem...

But wasnt the technik so far, that Computer gets realy thin this Yeahrs?? My Galaxy Note 2 have a Quadcore in it so its a bit faster than my Notebook.., but its a lot smaler,..

So, why not put a SOC from a Smartphone in the Pandora 2 ?? , I dont know a Smartphone who needs a Coolingsystem..

If the Pandora 2 needs a cooling System, whe cant axpekt a now Video whit Craig and his Fur Hat on the Snow...

 

[Batou456]

Passive.

Active cooling would push it beyond the bounds of pocket-able into the realm of bag-able to little advantage. Pocketability is one of the Pandora's key features that differentiates it from something like the Shield.

 

[hdonk]

Active when plugged in to the mains.

Otherwise passive.

Maybe a plugin cooling cartridge?

 

[Mr_Loon]

where the heatsink and Fan is about the same height as a full size USB header.

You did notice that head has two USB ports, whereas the Pandora currently only has one?

Yes, I noticed that, the double headed USB port is taller than the heatsink and fan. If it was a single header as per Pandora my guess is it would be about the same height as the heatsink & fan.

 

[Grench]

100% Passive.  

My definition of a 'large' heat sink for this device:  

Use a sheet of aluminum (somewhere between 20ga and 12ga thickness?) as a heat spreader sandwiched between the battery and the SoC.  Bring it out the font edge and corrugate (fold) it multiple times to create a 1.5mm deep metal-air radiator the height and width of the device - enough on the corners to keep it from cutting hands.  This can also act as the central structural member that everything else gets screwed into.

This requires that the SD slots be moved to the side(s).

The device doesn't need to be thicker - not even for 4 shoulder buttons.  The shoulder buttons should be actual buttons - not a flap of plastic that is also the corner of the device.  They can take the form of a split-rocker so that both buttons can be run with one finger.  Roll up for the upper, roll down for the lower, mash for both at once.

 

[pmprog]

The problem with active also means you need vents in the device, and they have to be carefully placed so you don't block them up when you're holding the unit etc.

A lot of design considerations for that

 

[fusion_power]

I also strongly favour passive cooling, but looking at what is used in the NVidia shield you would not necessarily have to increase the thickness by 1.5cm.

Did you actually see how thick this fan is?

Where do you want to put it without increasing thickness?

Right. The Shield is pretty thick, of course there is room for such an Fan. But I'm sure these is no need for an active cooling in the "P2", even with Tegra 4 if choosen. A clamshell Handheld needs to be thin and comfortable. And most of the space is needed for the battery anyways.