Diamond Heatsinks

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Thread: Diamond Heatsinks

  1. #1
    Great White Shark
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    Diamond Heatsinks

    Random urge got me to looking at the thermal conductivity of various elements, and why they aren't used in computer manufacturing.

    Found this: http://usapplieddiamond.com/thermal-management/

    Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD) diamond heatsinks.

    Which made me think.... Would there be any benefits to say.... coating the inner and outer surface of the heatspreader on modern CPU's/GPU's with this to aid in heat removal? From what little I know about vapor deposition, it leaves a thin uniform layer of the substance on a substrate. Seems like it would be a (relatively) cheap way to boost the efficiency of heat removal from your processors.

    *Edit: Requisite extra reading:
    Wiki article on Thermal conductivity



    Thermal Conductivity of metals

    And a quick list of common (and not) heatsink materials:
    Code:
    Thermal Conductivity (W/m K)
    Aluminum:  205
      Copper:  385
      Silver:  406
     Diamond:  1000
    Last edited by James; 10-05-2012 at 10:15 AM.

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  2. #2
    Engineer credit to *****! flutie98's Avatar
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    James,

    Both CVD and PVD Diamond layers would require expensive vacuum process tools to perform the deposition. I think the price barrier to entry would just be too high compared to the cost of manufacturing heatsinks and heatspreaders.
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  3. #3
    Hammerhead Shark
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    isnt there going to be a weak link of thermal transmission in between the die and diamond layer of the heatsink? for example the commercial grade heat spreader manufactured into the die package? or the thermal paste between the heat spreader and the diamond layer of the heatsink... is there thermal paste with the conductivity of diamond?

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