Overview / Usage

Inspired by Intel Arc, Nvidia CMP HX, and ASUS ROG Strix LC series, this GPU Shroud is designed to be compact, powerful, and very well cooled. The reason that I created this is that all PC parts should come with RGB (it's way cooler that way) and this is going to be a gaming GPU so of course, it has to come with RGB. And it also should shout Intel from miles away and shock people with the awesome animation. Finally, it has to support both fan and liquid cooling for the different people out there and be compact at the same time. It might not be efficient to have no fan at all, but most PC would have 3 fans at the front and one at the back, that should be more than enough airflow to keep things cool.

This design is created, rendered, and animated on Fusion 360, which uses quite a bit of resource, something Intel Arc can help with wink wink.

To build this, the heat sink would have to be crafted with a CNC machine while the aluminum case around the heat sink can be created by bending of aluminum sheet. Aluminum is lightweight and less expensive compared to copper and has a layer of oxide that helps to prevent rust like steel. Of course, this can only be done with the precise dimension of the Arc GPU which should be released soon.

The liquid cooling compartment will be created with 3D printing using transparent materials. 3D printing materials have a melting point a lot higher than the boiling point of water, the GPU would most likely fail before the 3D printed part started to melt so that won't be a concern. The compartment is designed this way so that the LEDs at the back will reflect the liquid and makes the entire compartment glow in a cool way like a swimming pool. The compartment will have to be water-tight, so there are going to be rubber seals along the edges, and the compartment will screw down together, becoming a heatsink + circuit board + liquid cooling compartment sandwich. The connector will be secured with the PVC pipe glue to another 3D printed part that is not transparent. *Radiator and pipes not included.

For the LED, most LED motherboards would have an LED controller on board or there are separate LED controllers as well. But the center LEDs, the white stripes, and the Intel logo is going to be part of very cool animation. To do that, some form of control is needed there. Intel has had Altera FPGA on their other product before so having an Altera here would do the job nicely and there is no need to introduce a microcontroller (which may or may not be easier to integrate, I feel like Altera is more expensive than ATmega). There are LEDs on all 3 sides of the GPU that lets the light show shine when mounted vertically or horizontally. *I can't get the animation right on Fusion, so there isn't any rendering of the light show yet.

Methodology / Approach

The black aluminum heat sink is "stolen" from the Nvidia CMP HX series which are designed to be used in server racks so they are compact, come with no fan attached. The heat sink is designed in a way where airflow can flow right through it from one end to another. Most PC would have at least a fan in either the front or the back, that fan would be able to provide sufficient airflow to circulate inside the case.

The main cooling component here is the liquid cooling system, usually liquid cooling pipes are very close to each other, in this design, the connectors are on both sides of the GPU which should move the liquid around fairly quickly than having to circulate back and would less likely to trap bubbles. (Might need to check this theory)

The LEDs are addressable strips along the length of the GPU inspired by other GPUs out there and would be RGB enabled just like the ASUS ROG Strix LC series. And it also looks a lot like the previous Intel GPU prototypes. The front LEDs are going to have an awe-inspiring jaw-dropping animation, the white stripe will slowly light up from left to right like water flowing through and when it reaches the Intel logo, the Intel logo starts to splash in (more like pop in) and the white stripe on the right starts to flow from the logo out too. This can rival the ROG Ryujin liquid cooler's LCD display in a cheaper way.

Technologies Used

• Intel Arc GPU
• Intel Altera FPGA