Now as you may or may not know marble has a natrural occurence of being cooler than the surrounding enviroment, so wouldnt you think it would be( ....wait wait here comes the pun....)Cool to use marble for a case mod? I know what youre going to say " he's crazy, marble isnt cheap" Well maybe it could be salvaged from counter top sources, as scrap. And of course all of this is just an idea....let me know what spins your brain on this =)

Make sure to buy a forklift for when you go to move your case

Yeh lol and get some good figures on marble aswell. I doubt theres a single modder hus tried a marble CPU heatsink/water block, and youll have a hell of a lot of trouble getting it into the right shape...and you'll have to be presise - marble cant be soldered together because you slipped when cutting.

Get wiht some chemistry folk and pop some questions on heat absorbancy, resistance etc....they may well laugh at you for the modding idea, so keep yourself to yourself on that one.....intresting idea however, ill be keen to see what progress you make.

I thought he was gonna use it to make a case...

For a heatsink? Forget about it, unless you like cool CPU keychains...

Quote: Originally Posted by pimp joose I thought he was gonna use it to make a case... For a heatsink? Forget about it, unless you like cool CPU keychains...

Ya I thought he wanted to make a case, that would be really cool. But for a heatsink,? That can't be done easily, the marble would sweat to much.

Just the sheer weight of marble would be such a hassle. Not to mention the cutting, and putting together. Cutting would require some type of wet saw, and quite a good and sturdy one. The assembly of the parts would also require special tools, and products.

Perhaps something to consider would be some of the man made materials that resemble marble, and mimic its 'cooling' qualities. Like Corian or some of the other solid surface man mades.

i remember seeing a post awhile back about someone who wanted to make a case with marble as well. the cons greatly out weighed the pros of the project, but i dont know if the person went ahead with it or not. honestly forgot where i read it too.


i was under the impression this was for a case too, but if it is really for a heatsink, than ya i would say forget it as well.

maybe if you inasulated the area around the CPU like people who use peltiers do, and throw a peltier on top of the marble... maybe that would work. but i doubt it.i honestly dont see any benefits of having any kind of stone( natural or manmade) heatsink for a computer. they cant get rid of heat fast enough. actually, it stores it, and maybe amplfies it from the extra heat in your case.

anyways..

TCG, I believe this is what you were talking about, http://forums.pcapex.com/showthread....ghlight=marble

why build a marble heat sink? even if you could, why? copper conducts heat much better (i would assume), is cheaper, easier to machine, and good already made copper heat sinks are readily available. a marble case would look cool albiet unportable. i can see it being cool for a home theater pc that isnt gonna move much if the marble matched your home theater decor or something where it makes sense to use it

Yes, i was reffering to adding it to my case, as decoration and if possible cooler ambient temps. forgive my noobishness on reffering to the cooling.
I think a decent green and black marble block on the front would definetly give a certain touch of class.

Where in the hell did you guys get heat sink outta his post? I've read it like 3 times and i still dont see where it came from..

Anyways now to be helpful... IF you decide to do it, epoxy works great to get things held together properly. Try JB Weld Expoy (no the quick version of it) It has 3900 PSI tensile strength and you can cut, dril, and grind it.

BTW
LOL and I DONT think a dremel would be much help on a marble case...

Absolutely the marble would look sweet.

Marble is most assuredly NOT cooler tham ambient, that's a physical impossibility. What you may be detecting is coolness to the touch, which just means it pulls heat from your (warmer than ambient) fingers due to high heat capacity and thermal conductivity. One it acclimates to ambient temperatures it has no special properties whatsoever.

on the marble front though

Hum..........Just a idea?
What about using Contact paper...( Marble Print )
It would give the look without the Weight........

I think to use marble in a case mod is an interesting idea. Although the sheer weight and not to mention the cutting issues make it a daunting task to say the least. This is not to say that using marble would be totally out of the question. It would be nice to use as a modding material if used in small amounts. Such as custom case feet, drive covers, corner accents. Blend the marble with a stainless steel case or even one of the wooden ones that are available and you just might have something pretty sweet. The thought of it has the hamster in my brain spinning it's little wheel a little faster than normal.

Instead of using marble, why not paint the case or whatever you will make to LOOK like marble? When done right, no one can tell the difference

Some more ideas.....Check out this site...........

Marble Effects

http://www.cptnet.com/ken/faq.html

Couple things that might help. Go to your local Lowe's, or Home Depot. preferably lowe's because I work there Go to their kitchen dept. and check out samples for laminate counter top materials. this stuff is maybe 1/32" thick, and you can custom order it to size, cut it easily with a table saw, jig saw, or router. you will need to take special care when you cut it, if someone wants to know how, pm me and I will explain it to you. Check out some of the samples on this site. http://formica.com/collection.jsp?co...=81&group_id=1


If you want a more realistic feel, go with what is called in the industry SSV, or solid surface veneer. This stuff is man made to look like stone without all the weight, and cost. It is a veneer roughly 1/4" thick that is applied over plywood or particle board for counter tops. Also installers use it for making custom shower surrounds.

another product out there is called cultured marble. This is a mixture of marble dust, and plastic resin. another inexpensive lightweight product that looks great.
http://www.heritagemarble.com/show.html

I personally think it is an excellent idea, and if done right could make a case look very sharp!

Even though case material's affect on your case tempertaure is completely negligible, just for ****s and giggles......the thermal conductivity of marble is about 79 times lower than aluminum and baout 15 lower than steel. It's actually about as dense as aluminum but, more brittle. If you're gonna do it, do it for the looks/theme only. There are very little other selling points.

Another idea would be to use immitation marble plastic. Check out manufacturers that sell floor tiles, fireplace materials, kitchen cutting boards, kitchen counters....things along those lines.

EDIT---RAA beat me to it.

Wasn't someone a while ago asking about using marble for a case that they were planning on building into a kitchen counter top? Too lazy to look for it.

There is one man on these forums that I know of that could do a marble case and that's Lokie (or to put a even finer point on it - Lokie's Dad). So Lokie might be a better source of ideas for this proposed project. But that'd be a helluva expensive case you'd never want to pack to a LAN.