Re: does motherboard contain radiation?

On Fri, 1/16/2026 9:26 AM, Mr. Man-wai Chang wrote:
> On 14/1/2026 11:49 pm, Paul wrote:
> 
>>
>> Don't think of it as radiation, the core of the motherboard
>> would be a source of electrical interference.
> 
> 
> BTW, have you ever considered the slightest but evil possibility that heatpipes in giant CPU/GPU coolers might contain radioactive fluid? :)
> 
> And customers have no way of discovering this!
> 

The fluids are very safe.

The very first heat pipe (more of a heat chamber) was
done for some DEC computer CPU. The guys used an alcohol
for the working fluid. They were, of course, crazy people
for having done this. But this was a lab experiment to
see if it could work. They were testing fluids at 1 ATM,
and not attempting to alter the boiling point.

You don't have to do that. You can use water for the
working fluid. By manipulating the quiescent pressure
inside the heatpipe, that affects the operating
temperature range. The quantity of fluid is minimal.
Inverting the cooler, there should be NO sloshing noise.
A heat pipe today, might have two drops of fluid. It's
not a lot. And the water can flow uphill, because
the pipes are sintered inside. And via capillary action
the water runs uphill during phase change. A heatpipe in
the wrong orientation is not super-efficient particularly,
but the water keeps running uphill to some extent. Before
they added internal sintering to the pipes, a heatpipe
would shut down if inverted.

If the thermal load at the source is too high, all
of the working fluid only exists as vapor, and it
will not condense. The behavior of heat pipes is
non-linear at some point. And you must pay attention
to the thermal rating when using a heatpipe, for best
results. If you have a 238W Intel processor, then
a 250W cooler would be a good fit. Fitting a 132W
Noctua would not be a good idea. Since the CPU
has "throttling protection" and PROCHOT, you cannot damage it
by using the wrong cooler. But to get the best execution
speed from the CPU, the correct cooler (250W) is a must.

   Paul