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.
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.