[coffeebeqn]

It’s a little half assed though. Moving to a more desktop form factor would allow them to dump the laptop thermal solution with maybe one large case fan and a low profile cpu cooler. You could have an extremely quiet little machine instead of a jet engine that barely moves any air.

I’ve been doing a somewhat similar mod on an old Lenovo tiny pc and it’s definitely great value as long as you put a little effort and thought into it. Once you get into a M.2 to PCIE adapter and cutting holes to fit fans you know you’re building something neat

[brnaftr361]

I thought the same thing, too. But I also wonder if the cooler mounting pattern is going to be compatible with consumer market coolers. I expect the one they've chosen is already tooled.

I've got an older laptop with a busted screen, I've thought about pulling the mainboard and dropping it into a 3D printed chassis myself, and using it as a server. Haven't gotten around to it.

[coffeebeqn]

It’s usually not the same. I have a AM4 OEM mini PC which has a B300 motherboard and it’s almost the AM4 Mount but it’s slightly narrower so I had to use zip ties on one end

[fbdab103]

How much cooling does a laptop specced processor require? Presumably they are already engineered to run at lower power (<20 watts) and have severe thermal throttling by default.

[progval]

The Odroid-H3 <https://www.hardkernel.com/shop/odroid-h3-plus/> has a laptop-grade CPU, consuming 10-20W, and is passively cooled; so it seems doable.

[pb82]

Framework uses 28W (TDP) class CPUs on their Intel boards. Better cooling would allow better boosting behaviour. Still, this case plus one of their 13th gen or AMD boards is very tempting.

[coffeebeqn]

It’s more that a bigger fan and heat sink is completely silent while laptop blowers are almost always loud at full load