Where does the heat disburse? Custom stand question

[adamvk]

I am designing a stand that will allow me to slide my Mac underneath my Dell U2410 basically. It will be made of wood, and the mac portion will be raised ~1" from the desk. The front and back will be open, and I'm also going to make slots for the optical drive as well as a hole in the left side for I/O. However I also want to make sure it doesn't get too hot. So basically I'm wondering if there is a central place where the heat essentially "exits?" I was thinking of putting a few holes into the board so that the heat could leave the stand that way...but any other ideas?....Thanks!!!

I attached an image of what the general concept is. I still am going to make it look pretty and such.

 

[simsaladimbamba]

The heat will come out mostly on the back, where the hinge is. The CPU and GPU are located around the left middle keys, but maybe this can help:

from http://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/MacBook-Pro-15-Inch-Unibody-Mid-2010-Teardown/2212/1

 

[mulo]

also increasing airflow by lifting the mbp off a flat surface helps cool it as heat dispurses from the bottom. my 17" runs a lot cooler in my lap then on a desk because of the increased airflow.

 

[Erasmus]

If you made the bottom plate out of metal instead of wood, I'm sure it would help keep it cool.

Also, if you slope the top back a little (and optimally the base as well) you will get a small amount of heat assisted airflow, which would help your cooling too.

I guess you'll just have to build it, try running intensive stuff on it in clamshell in there, and see what happens. If it's still getting too hot, you could put two low speed fans at the back to pull air through. If you really tried, you could even power them using one of the MBP's USB ports.

 

[adamvk]

Ok thank you. I'll put in a big opening near the back, and also put holes into the bottom, as well as putting it on a slight angle. Thanks for the help!

 

[mulo]

Ok thank you. I'll put in a big opening near the back, and also put holes into the bottom, as well as putting it on a slight angle. Thanks for the help!

sounds excellent! What version of CAD is that?

 

[tjb1]

sounds excellent! What version of CAD is that?

Thats AutoCAD for mac.