US 6,272,007 B1 · Computer system cooling configuration

Abstract

A computer system housing where a vertical printed circuit board, e.g., a riser card, is inserted into a socket on a computer system motherboard. Some internal space within the housing may allow optimization of system memory capacity through packing of additional memory modules on the riser card. The additional memory may be mounted on the riser card and may reside in the vertical space created between the riser card and the directly-mounted memory on the motherboard. The computer system housing further includes a chassis that may be partitioned into two separate sub-chassis for proper positioning of one or more cooling fans as well as to accommodate changes in computer system configurations with minimized retooling of the chassis. The cooling fans may be mounted at such locations on the chassis that allow optimization of air circulation and, hence, cooling within the housing. However, extra cooling fan(s) for the additional memory on the riser card may not be necessary in view of the creation of dedicated cooling channels within the housing by an efficient placement of the cooling fans. The optimization of fan placement within the housing results in efficient cooling of various system components and allows for increase in system component packing density without a similar increase in the number of cooling fans.

Claims20

Dependent claims

A computer system housing comprising:

a chassis;
a first circuit board mounted on a wall of said chassis, wherein said first circuit board comprises:
one or more first sockets mounted on said first circuit board,
one or more first memory cards, wherein each of said one or more first memory cards is inserted into a corresponding one of said one or more first sockets, wherein upon insertion said each of said one or more first memory cards is oriented substantially perpendicularly to said first circuit board, and
a second socket mounted on said first circuit board and in parallel to said one or more first sockets;
and
a second circuit board inserted into said second socket and in parallel to said one or more first memory cards, wherein said second circuit board comprises:
one or more third sockets mounted on said second circuit board, and
one or more second memory cards, wherein each of said one or more second memory cards is inserted into a corresponding one of said one or more third sockets, and wherein upon insertion said each of said one or more second memory cards is oriented substantially perpendicularly to said second circuit board and remains in a vertical space between said second circuit board and one of said one or more first memory cards that is inserted nearest to said second circuit board on said first circuit board.

6 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Computer system cooling configuration

Life of this patent

Computer system cooling configuration

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims20