Aluminum Case Design

[mhoney]

I'm working on designing an all aluminum case for the Nanopi Neo that will also act as the heatsink for the processor. Wouldn't it make sense to design the case so the heat sink fins are on the top since heat rises? Although it may seem strange to have all the connectors upside down, it seems that would be the best thermal design choice. I'm curios what others opinions are on this matter.

FYI, our odroid-c2 aluminum enclosure is almost finished. Here is a link to some pictures that may give you some idea of what it is we are trying to achieve - https://gallery.chipflingers.com/index.php?/category/3

Tia

[mhoney]

ABS Printed prototype for the soon to be aluminum enclosure is done. Now to hand things off to our CAM'ing engineer and start work on an aluminum prototype.

NanoPi NEO ABS Proto.jpg (30.66 KiB) Viewed 5742 times

Any input before we start producing is more than welcome.

[davef]

Two things:
a) there have been some measurements made on how effective the current heatsinking arrangement works. Which exact 3M thermal tape are you using? And how thick?

b) I see you have feet on the Odroid unit, will you have feet on this unit? Will you get some air flow through the unit?

Nice work.

Dave

[mhoney]

We've done lots of testing in house with various thermal pads, tape and grease/paste and hands down thermal grease is by far the winner. We will include a packet of thermal grease/paste and rubber feet with each enclosure.

Marc