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Intel Embedded Processor Module Thermal Design Guide
Application Note
15
The heat pipe thermal resistance is the sum of the conduction through the wall of the pipe,
conduction through the wick, evaporation temperature difference, vapor pressure drop,
condensation temperature difference (
T), conduction through the wick, and conduction through
the heat pipe wall on the opposite side of the pipe. The predominant thermal resistances are the
evaporation (
T) and the vapor pressure drop.
A heat pipe solution is a unique, customer specific solution. The customer must provide the system
environment, application and thermal requirements to the heat pipe vendors in order to generate an
optimal design. Refer to Appendix A for a list of heat pipe vendors.
7.5
Thermal Transfer Plate
A thermal transfer plate (TTP) is available to attach a fan, heatsink or heatpipe solution to cool the
processor. The plate is attached to the board with standard screws through the backside of the
board. The screw is flush with the TTP. A non-conductive, nylon washer is placed between the
board backside and the head of the screw to avoid shorting nearby traces or vias. Refer to
Appendix A for a list of thermal transfer plate vendors.
7.6
Thermally Conductive Interface Materials Information
The current heat sink attachment interface material is a thermally and electrically conductive
grease. Thermal grease provides an effective interface between the heat sink and the processor
package. Thermal grease typically provides the lowest thermal resistance of the available
alternatives.
Other thermally conductive materials such as copper heat spreaders, film, tape, adhesives or gap
fillers may be used to enhance the thermal characteristics of components that do not have a heat
sink solution, such as the 82439HX System Controller, SRAMs, and the side of the Pentium
processor package opposite the heat sink.
A copper tape heat spreader placed on top of the exposed components yielded a five degree or
better drop for the processor and a 10 degree or better drop for the system controller and cache
components. Two copper spreaders may be placed in a “criss-cross” fashion to further improve the
thermal performance of the processor. Refer to Appendix A for interface material vendors.
Figure 8. Thermal Transfer Plate