The hottest part is typically the CPU, northbridge, or GPU. The CPU is connected to the northbridge, which is connected to the GPU and RAM. These connections need to be extremely short, which is why these parts are placed in physical proximity. You'd basically have to put the entire motherboard back there, which is going to cause some very interesting engineering problems.
As a side note, amichall, I notice that of your last 30 posts, two were about your startup, and 17 were Ask YC posts which, frankly, seemed pretty random. You might want to start trying for quality over quantity.
As a side note, amichall, I notice that of your last 30 posts, two were about your startup, and 17 were Ask YC posts which, frankly, seemed pretty random. You might want to start trying for quality over quantity.
No, what I'm saying is that if you, yourself, focus on making one or two really good posts, instead of five or ten mediocre ones, not only will you be helping yourself, but you'll also be helping out the rest of us.
I'm curious: could you run a heat sink from the CPU/GPU back through the case? Many metals are excellent conductors: if one part gets hot, it all gets hot. It seems like you could use this to radiate heat away from the hot parts and then sink it to an area with better ventilation.
Most people like their laptops to be able to close. The hinge is already mostly full with power and video cables for the LCD, as well as cables for any other hardware in the display such as a webcam or microphone. Now you want to thread a heatsink through there? That's a product recall just waiting to happen.
Once you get the heat into the display, that's not an issue; LCDs do great with heat unless it's hot enough to melt plastic. The problem is getting the heat there.
You're asking the wrong question. Why do modern computers burn so much energy? 12 years ago, I was using an Amiga600 which came with a 15 Watt power supply. Nowadays, try finding a laptop that has a power supply less than 100 Watts. Furthermore, you can buy gamer tower cases which come with 1000 Watt power supplies. WTF?
Obviously power consumption has gone up because demand for performance has outstripped increasing power efficiency. But the Forrest Curve is catching up, as we can see from all the enthusiasm for sub-$400 computers.
(BTW, laptop power supplies are double-sized, since they need to be able to power the laptop and charge the battery simultaneously. e.g. a 40W laptop will have an ~80W supply.)
As a side note, amichall, I notice that of your last 30 posts, two were about your startup, and 17 were Ask YC posts which, frankly, seemed pretty random. You might want to start trying for quality over quantity.