What does the future hold for PC noise?

The bad news and the good news: 

The never ending quest for more performance out of computer systems invariably results in hotter components that require more and more cooling which whether done by fans or water pumps increases the noise generated. The good news is that boffins at chip manufacturers are constantly looking at new ways of designing chips to consume less power and generate less heat. 

There are a lot of interesting ideas and concepts being tested. One of them involves “nano-lightning” i.e. the production of an air flow along the surface of the heat sink by ionising and pumping air molecules using minute electric currents. Electrodes containing carbon nanotubes have a tiny charge applied to them resulting in electrons being knocked off air molecules and the consequent positively charged ions being attracted towards a negatively charged electrode …taking heat with them. This flow of ions is then controlled to move the heat away from the surface of the heat sink. Viola, no fans. But this, and other innovations, are still in the testing stage and have a long way to go before reaching the market.

The researchers will eventually develop systems for transferring heat out of PCs without using any noisy equipment like fans and pumps. In fact, here’s hoping they develop ways of increasing PC speed using techniques that don’t involve the creation of heat in the first place. That, together with advances in solid state technologies involving storage devices with no moving parts, should make for some pretty silent computing in the future. But till then we hope this article has helped.