How to combine the benefits of a laptop and a desktop computer? Analysis of the problem and ideas for solving (Part 2)
After my previous publication , the community had questions, and most of them (and first of all, comments with the highest rating) turned out to be on topics about which, it seemed to me, there should be no questions at all. However, these questions arose, and it became obvious that almost no one understood my idea. So let's get a little deeper.
The idea is to combine all the advantages of a computer and a laptop . That is, mobility, compactness, and the ability to work autonomously should be taken from the laptop. And from a stationary computer, ultimately - performance, the possibility of a wide choice of components for the needs of those who wish, and so on and so forth. But how to implement it?
If we undertake to make such a decision "right now, today, without shelving", then we will fail. The market of components for stationary computers is tailored to the dimensions intended for stationary computers. Some steps, due to the appearance of mini-ITX cases, have been made, but the dimensions of modern components still remain too large, and other parameters (lack of a lithium-ion battery, etc.) do not imply the possibility of taking one jump. make a decision that combines all the above benefits. So you need to do this gradually, step by step.
What will be the first step? We have two options:
')
“To bring closer” in this context means to add advantages to the first from the second. That is, in the case of “approaching” the “laptop to the computer” - to increase the performance of laptops, reduce the price, increase the possibilities for upgrade. This option goes to large companies (it should be noted, not because they want to go this way, but because the laws of the market require it). But it is worth noting that this way for startups is more difficult - it is necessary not only to place ready-made components inside the case, but also to produce these components, which has considerable technological difficulties.
For startups and small companies, the second way is simpler - “bring the computer closer to the laptop”. Some of them are engaged in the production of compact monitors (for example, GeChic company). Someone produces a diverse kind of periphery.
The simplest way is the production of compact cases, and many startups follow this path, in particular those listed in the previous article. They collect money using crafted platforms, such as kickstarter.com , and subsequently sell their products - it should be noted, at very high prices.
I also want to choose this path for the first step (if, of course, I have enough enthusiasm and strength to do it), and I see my original audience among those who are interested in those buildings that collect money on platforms like kickstarter. Considering the cost of cases from these sites, people who buy such cases obviously assemble high-performance systems, which means that my proposal for them will most likely be more interesting than those that they choose, given that my solution solved the problem much better. cooling
I also want to “pull away” some of the audience from those who prefer ready-made solutions, such as the MSI Trident system blocks listed in the previous article.
How can the solution described in the previous article be mobile? Small peripherals (mice, keyboards, etc.) can be carried around, and large ones (monitor) can be searched at the connection location. For example, you can work this way: during the day at the office, a system engineer brought a workplace, and took it home in the evening. If you need good performance for work
(for example, you are a designer, and you need a cool video card and a powerful processor in your computer), then such a decision will be very helpful. If you are a professional gamer or streamer, you get a solution with which you can come to another city and have the performance that suits you. The monitor, if necessary, is almost always possible to find (for example, connect to a TV). Or, again, there are specialized compact monitors.
Anyway, from the very beginning (if, I repeat, this will be the beginning) my goal is to gather an audience with which the solution I proposed will be relevant. The fact that this audience will be, I have no doubt (see the reasons above). I understand perfectly well that such an audience is far from 30% of the world's inhabitants, but it will help me to take the next steps.
All these steps will be associated with the standardization of personal computer components in a more compact size than those that exist on the market now, and the addition of missing functions to these components. Partly this standardization is described at the end of the previous article, partly it depends on the requirements of time and manufacturers, but on fingers I’ll say the following: I don’t see any reasons preventing the video card from being reduced to, say, 200 * 110 * 20 parameters (i.e. the reference PCB and the installation of the water-block “to the exact same” on the size of the PCB, and not the decisions that are taking place now, with the removed adapter), the motherboard - up to the standard thin mini-ITX (170 * 170 * 25 ), power supply - at least 15 mm in thickness (size built-in fan) and so on. Again, this will ultimately be determined as a compromise between vendors, suppliers and user requirements for the long term.
In parallel, will develop other components of a stationary PC, no doubt. For example, now LG is preparing for the debut a collapsible large-diagonal OLED display. Of course, even in the assembled state, it is not quite compact, but I am sure: if necessary, and with the development of technology, a similar solution with a diagonal of 20-30 will be created. ”In the end, manufacturers will achieve that when folded, the display will be quite small. Moreover, this display can be changed, as well as other peripherals, and internal components of the system unit. As a result, such a computer can be easily adapted to the requirements of the time. It is much more interesting than a 22 ": -D laptop.
Inside the power supply at one time, of course, someone would think of cramming a lithium-ion battery, and thus this power supply can provide some autonomy. With greatly reduced frequencies of the processor and video card (that is, it is impossible to play games, but at the same time some small work can be done) this autonomy will last for several hours - that is, similar to laptops.
I think that the previous wall of the text explained the motives I had and answered 90% of the questions. Now I will answer those good questions to which the answer has not yet given:
rPman
A completely liquid cooling system has one not obvious drawback - with the complete absence of air cooling and a tight layout, even 1 watt becomes a problem, and 20 from a hard disk - and even more so is fatal. On the motherboard, in addition to the processor, there is also a north and south bridge, power chips, etc., 20-50 watts (especially if you have top-end hardware). All this can be covered with water blocks and this by itself will require even more space and weight.
In general, the movement of air, even in a compact case designed for liquid cooling, will have to be designed and one or even two coolers will still need to be used. It does not work out to put everything together like leaves in a book. On the other hand, one cooler may be in the power supply unit, and the other - to remove heat from the radiator of the water block.
By the way, the radiator of the waterblock decently takes place, it would be an order of magnitude more effective in the space occupied, if the case itself was thus the waterblock and radiator for heat dissipation, only you couldn’t find a compact one, but to put it very mildly very expensive.
ps dream about the times when water cooling will become standard and will be integrated into the motherboard, and the chips on it will remove heat in its direction and the entire periphery will have channels for water in the coropus by default.
Thanks for a great comment. Let me now give you an answer.
I was professionally engaged in my time microprocessors. And, having some experience, I can professionally answer you: about 1 watt, you are not quite right. In my experience in this matter, in order for the element to have sufficiently passive cooling, heat dissipation should not exceed 1 milliwatt per square centimeter per degree delta. If the heat-producing components (the processor core, the graphics card core, and possibly a number of other elements listed by you) are subjected to liquid cooling, then the remaining elements will be passive. And for this purpose it is enough just to drill several holes in the body. A 2.5 "hard drive doesn’t allocate much more than 20 watts, but much less (more than 5 watts I don’t even know the model).
And what about the radiator of the water block - it, of course, takes up decent places, but these are the realities. Nothing more effective has yet been invented. And I'm not going to invent. There are more simple features.
Silverado
In my opinion, you are greatly exaggerating the problems of compatibility of the processor sockets with waterblocks / pumps / maintenance-free ITSs. For quite a long time all (well, or all relatively decent), they come with adapters for all mainstream desktop sockets. And even the change of Intel's socket generation does not change anything in the installation dimensions of the cooling system.
Not certainly in that way. The LGA 1151 platform differs from the AM4 and LGA2066 (and a bunch of other, similar platforms) in fact, by the size of the mountings, but they have the same dimensions of landing pads. Solutions on the TR4 platform have other, significantly larger landing sites, and there are no options at all: standard coolers with a standard size cannot cool the Threadripper well.
But I have already said that this is not the main problem. Indeed, if you do not take trapper and epic, we can assume that the size of the landing pads of mass processors will not change. And how will you cool the elements of the power system, which on each motherboard is its own? What about video cards? In short, I have been thinking about whether it is possible for a long time. But in the end now it seems to me that it is better to do exactly as I wrote.
The idea is to combine all the advantages of a computer and a laptop . That is, mobility, compactness, and the ability to work autonomously should be taken from the laptop. And from a stationary computer, ultimately - performance, the possibility of a wide choice of components for the needs of those who wish, and so on and so forth. But how to implement it?
If we undertake to make such a decision "right now, today, without shelving", then we will fail. The market of components for stationary computers is tailored to the dimensions intended for stationary computers. Some steps, due to the appearance of mini-ITX cases, have been made, but the dimensions of modern components still remain too large, and other parameters (lack of a lithium-ion battery, etc.) do not imply the possibility of taking one jump. make a decision that combines all the above benefits. So you need to do this gradually, step by step.
What will be the first step? We have two options:
')
- Trying to bring the "laptop to the computer"
- Trying to bring the “computer to the laptop”
“To bring closer” in this context means to add advantages to the first from the second. That is, in the case of “approaching” the “laptop to the computer” - to increase the performance of laptops, reduce the price, increase the possibilities for upgrade. This option goes to large companies (it should be noted, not because they want to go this way, but because the laws of the market require it). But it is worth noting that this way for startups is more difficult - it is necessary not only to place ready-made components inside the case, but also to produce these components, which has considerable technological difficulties.
For startups and small companies, the second way is simpler - “bring the computer closer to the laptop”. Some of them are engaged in the production of compact monitors (for example, GeChic company). Someone produces a diverse kind of periphery.
The simplest way is the production of compact cases, and many startups follow this path, in particular those listed in the previous article. They collect money using crafted platforms, such as kickstarter.com , and subsequently sell their products - it should be noted, at very high prices.
I also want to choose this path for the first step (if, of course, I have enough enthusiasm and strength to do it), and I see my original audience among those who are interested in those buildings that collect money on platforms like kickstarter. Considering the cost of cases from these sites, people who buy such cases obviously assemble high-performance systems, which means that my proposal for them will most likely be more interesting than those that they choose, given that my solution solved the problem much better. cooling
I also want to “pull away” some of the audience from those who prefer ready-made solutions, such as the MSI Trident system blocks listed in the previous article.
How can the solution described in the previous article be mobile? Small peripherals (mice, keyboards, etc.) can be carried around, and large ones (monitor) can be searched at the connection location. For example, you can work this way: during the day at the office, a system engineer brought a workplace, and took it home in the evening. If you need good performance for work
(for example, you are a designer, and you need a cool video card and a powerful processor in your computer), then such a decision will be very helpful. If you are a professional gamer or streamer, you get a solution with which you can come to another city and have the performance that suits you. The monitor, if necessary, is almost always possible to find (for example, connect to a TV). Or, again, there are specialized compact monitors.
Anyway, from the very beginning (if, I repeat, this will be the beginning) my goal is to gather an audience with which the solution I proposed will be relevant. The fact that this audience will be, I have no doubt (see the reasons above). I understand perfectly well that such an audience is far from 30% of the world's inhabitants, but it will help me to take the next steps.
All these steps will be associated with the standardization of personal computer components in a more compact size than those that exist on the market now, and the addition of missing functions to these components. Partly this standardization is described at the end of the previous article, partly it depends on the requirements of time and manufacturers, but on fingers I’ll say the following: I don’t see any reasons preventing the video card from being reduced to, say, 200 * 110 * 20 parameters (i.e. the reference PCB and the installation of the water-block “to the exact same” on the size of the PCB, and not the decisions that are taking place now, with the removed adapter), the motherboard - up to the standard thin mini-ITX (170 * 170 * 25 ), power supply - at least 15 mm in thickness (size built-in fan) and so on. Again, this will ultimately be determined as a compromise between vendors, suppliers and user requirements for the long term.
In parallel, will develop other components of a stationary PC, no doubt. For example, now LG is preparing for the debut a collapsible large-diagonal OLED display. Of course, even in the assembled state, it is not quite compact, but I am sure: if necessary, and with the development of technology, a similar solution with a diagonal of 20-30 will be created. ”In the end, manufacturers will achieve that when folded, the display will be quite small. Moreover, this display can be changed, as well as other peripherals, and internal components of the system unit. As a result, such a computer can be easily adapted to the requirements of the time. It is much more interesting than a 22 ": -D laptop.
Inside the power supply at one time, of course, someone would think of cramming a lithium-ion battery, and thus this power supply can provide some autonomy. With greatly reduced frequencies of the processor and video card (that is, it is impossible to play games, but at the same time some small work can be done) this autonomy will last for several hours - that is, similar to laptops.
I think that the previous wall of the text explained the motives I had and answered 90% of the questions. Now I will answer those good questions to which the answer has not yet given:
rPman
A completely liquid cooling system has one not obvious drawback - with the complete absence of air cooling and a tight layout, even 1 watt becomes a problem, and 20 from a hard disk - and even more so is fatal. On the motherboard, in addition to the processor, there is also a north and south bridge, power chips, etc., 20-50 watts (especially if you have top-end hardware). All this can be covered with water blocks and this by itself will require even more space and weight.
In general, the movement of air, even in a compact case designed for liquid cooling, will have to be designed and one or even two coolers will still need to be used. It does not work out to put everything together like leaves in a book. On the other hand, one cooler may be in the power supply unit, and the other - to remove heat from the radiator of the water block.
By the way, the radiator of the waterblock decently takes place, it would be an order of magnitude more effective in the space occupied, if the case itself was thus the waterblock and radiator for heat dissipation, only you couldn’t find a compact one, but to put it very mildly very expensive.
ps dream about the times when water cooling will become standard and will be integrated into the motherboard, and the chips on it will remove heat in its direction and the entire periphery will have channels for water in the coropus by default.
Thanks for a great comment. Let me now give you an answer.
I was professionally engaged in my time microprocessors. And, having some experience, I can professionally answer you: about 1 watt, you are not quite right. In my experience in this matter, in order for the element to have sufficiently passive cooling, heat dissipation should not exceed 1 milliwatt per square centimeter per degree delta. If the heat-producing components (the processor core, the graphics card core, and possibly a number of other elements listed by you) are subjected to liquid cooling, then the remaining elements will be passive. And for this purpose it is enough just to drill several holes in the body. A 2.5 "hard drive doesn’t allocate much more than 20 watts, but much less (more than 5 watts I don’t even know the model).
And what about the radiator of the water block - it, of course, takes up decent places, but these are the realities. Nothing more effective has yet been invented. And I'm not going to invent. There are more simple features.
Silverado
In my opinion, you are greatly exaggerating the problems of compatibility of the processor sockets with waterblocks / pumps / maintenance-free ITSs. For quite a long time all (well, or all relatively decent), they come with adapters for all mainstream desktop sockets. And even the change of Intel's socket generation does not change anything in the installation dimensions of the cooling system.
Not certainly in that way. The LGA 1151 platform differs from the AM4 and LGA2066 (and a bunch of other, similar platforms) in fact, by the size of the mountings, but they have the same dimensions of landing pads. Solutions on the TR4 platform have other, significantly larger landing sites, and there are no options at all: standard coolers with a standard size cannot cool the Threadripper well.
But I have already said that this is not the main problem. Indeed, if you do not take trapper and epic, we can assume that the size of the landing pads of mass processors will not change. And how will you cool the elements of the power system, which on each motherboard is its own? What about video cards? In short, I have been thinking about whether it is possible for a long time. But in the end now it seems to me that it is better to do exactly as I wrote.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/447164/
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