CPU on the Back of Motherboard & Huge Passive Heatsink - ENCTEC REV Motherboard Review
video description
Date: 2021-01-11
Related videos
Comments and reviews: 10
Jorge
Okay, I have to admit, I already could see a use case for a board like this. Namely, the wife's system is now 9 years old, but I'd been apprehensive about just building her a new system myself, since, she's notoriously bad at keeping it clean from dust. And it's certainly not from not having compressed air around. In my case, I've been using it so much that I almost think I should just get one of the electric ones as a way to save some money.
Provided it's a modern enough, overclockable platform, a board like this with a big enough heatsink to passively cool one of the higher-end CPU's on the market at the time would be fantastic. It'd also make case designers take airflow more seriously, if nothing else. A modern AM4 or even that z490 with a big passive cooler, would probably be a really great choice for her, since then it wouldn't feel like being handicapped to say, choose one of the locked variants to drop in at a discounted price.
reply
Okay, I have to admit, I already could see a use case for a board like this. Namely, the wife's system is now 9 years old, but I'd been apprehensive about just building her a new system myself, since, she's notoriously bad at keeping it clean from dust. And it's certainly not from not having compressed air around. In my case, I've been using it so much that I almost think I should just get one of the electric ones as a way to save some money.
Provided it's a modern enough, overclockable platform, a board like this with a big enough heatsink to passively cool one of the higher-end CPU's on the market at the time would be fantastic. It'd also make case designers take airflow more seriously, if nothing else. A modern AM4 or even that z490 with a big passive cooler, would probably be a really great choice for her, since then it wouldn't feel like being handicapped to say, choose one of the locked variants to drop in at a discounted price.
reply
Rodrigo
I believe this has the potential to revolutionize the industry, especially regarding cooling. Certainly the mainstream market will resist changing from what's traditional today, but just imagine this: A dual chamber case where you have a tower cooler on one side, with airflow in one orientation, and another chamber with only the GPU, with airflow in a different orientation (having the intake case fans of this chamber blowing air right into it). It would solve the problem where you cannot efficiently cool both the GPU and CPU since their orientation is different and impacts one another (such as the SL600M). And this would be only the beginning, as you said, it opens the door for a lot more of creative ways of cooling what could not be done today.
reply
I believe this has the potential to revolutionize the industry, especially regarding cooling. Certainly the mainstream market will resist changing from what's traditional today, but just imagine this: A dual chamber case where you have a tower cooler on one side, with airflow in one orientation, and another chamber with only the GPU, with airflow in a different orientation (having the intake case fans of this chamber blowing air right into it). It would solve the problem where you cannot efficiently cool both the GPU and CPU since their orientation is different and impacts one another (such as the SL600M). And this would be only the beginning, as you said, it opens the door for a lot more of creative ways of cooling what could not be done today.
reply
Mike
I saw one of these little boards for sale through an industrial parts recycler. I loved the design, but they wanted way more money than it was worth, and it didn't come with a heatsink, power supply, or the SATA power cables. Also, at the time, there was barely anything on the board, let alone the manufacturer, online.
I'm interested in a small form factor model like the h110 for a home automation/surveillance system. I would also like using one for a shop management system, by use of USB or PCIE GPIO setups to control air flow and ventilation, monitor air quality, power use, remote control and monitoring of automated systems like 3d printing and machining, and so on.
reply
I saw one of these little boards for sale through an industrial parts recycler. I loved the design, but they wanted way more money than it was worth, and it didn't come with a heatsink, power supply, or the SATA power cables. Also, at the time, there was barely anything on the board, let alone the manufacturer, online.
I'm interested in a small form factor model like the h110 for a home automation/surveillance system. I would also like using one for a shop management system, by use of USB or PCIE GPIO setups to control air flow and ventilation, monitor air quality, power use, remote control and monitoring of automated systems like 3d printing and machining, and so on.
reply
Bl4ckP0150n
Everyone is being so positive towards the company and rightfully so, engineering first perspective and all, but I want to give props to Steve for explaining why such technology can potentially cost more due to the increased manufacturing cost. Seems Steve has the engineering first perspective as ENCTEC :) I'd love for ENCTEC to introduce this to the gaming market, alongside with some cool cases and also another food for thought - we can reintroduce sidevents for CPUs once again like in older cases.
reply
Everyone is being so positive towards the company and rightfully so, engineering first perspective and all, but I want to give props to Steve for explaining why such technology can potentially cost more due to the increased manufacturing cost. Seems Steve has the engineering first perspective as ENCTEC :) I'd love for ENCTEC to introduce this to the gaming market, alongside with some cool cases and also another food for thought - we can reintroduce sidevents for CPUs once again like in older cases.
reply
Kevin
The potential for this company in the HTPC market is significant. Kits to mount these in closets, cabinets, and media centers would be a good ROI if marketing was targeted to the right people in the services sector. Even a few write-ups in Enthusiast and entertainment publications would spark interest and revenue stream potential.
A good product with a stable platform, and a fair and informative review. We could not ask for more. Thanks again for another great bit of content GN.
reply
The potential for this company in the HTPC market is significant. Kits to mount these in closets, cabinets, and media centers would be a good ROI if marketing was targeted to the right people in the services sector. Even a few write-ups in Enthusiast and entertainment publications would spark interest and revenue stream potential.
A good product with a stable platform, and a fair and informative review. We could not ask for more. Thanks again for another great bit of content GN.
reply
thingi
those mobos ae screaming for a case that's also the heatsink. It's been done with the cpu on the other side, but this is a much better and cleaner way to implement a cooler/case combo. I'd also like to see a double sided PCIE riser, one card using the space over the backside of the CPU above the IO shield and the other facing the other direction, that would make for a very small almost server chassis type (passive) case :D
reply
those mobos ae screaming for a case that's also the heatsink. It's been done with the cpu on the other side, but this is a much better and cleaner way to implement a cooler/case combo. I'd also like to see a double sided PCIE riser, one card using the space over the backside of the CPU above the IO shield and the other facing the other direction, that would make for a very small almost server chassis type (passive) case :D
reply
itech
The primary purpose of this configuration is to minimize airflow inside when you can't afford to let in tons of dusts into the case to cool CPU. One solution in such situations is to use this setup and give it a durable heatsink that sticks out to the backside. If necessary the heatsink may be screwed onto case opening with a gasket so that the case backside can be made waterproof. Rare in ITX or ATX form factors though.
reply
The primary purpose of this configuration is to minimize airflow inside when you can't afford to let in tons of dusts into the case to cool CPU. One solution in such situations is to use this setup and give it a durable heatsink that sticks out to the backside. If necessary the heatsink may be screwed onto case opening with a gasket so that the case backside can be made waterproof. Rare in ITX or ATX form factors though.
reply
willgart
finally!!!!
I always asked myself why the connectors are in the front the motherboard and not the back... so hidden.
from a look and feel point of view, if I can have the RAM, CPU and PCIe on the front (especially for the ones loving RGB). the connectors, VRM etc on the back, there is nothing nice to see there.
but this one for cooling reasons, its pretty nice too.
reply
finally!!!!
I always asked myself why the connectors are in the front the motherboard and not the back... so hidden.
from a look and feel point of view, if I can have the RAM, CPU and PCIe on the front (especially for the ones loving RGB). the connectors, VRM etc on the back, there is nothing nice to see there.
but this one for cooling reasons, its pretty nice too.
reply
Michael
could do some cool custom cover where the CPU would be, like a LCD temp monitor screen, or just some cool cover like what some boards do over the chip set/m.2 slot. Cases like Meshify S2 with a slideable mobo tray, if you mount your gpu vertical would work. Lots of unique features could be built.. Wall mounted systems, with the heatsink on the inside of the wall....
reply
could do some cool custom cover where the CPU would be, like a LCD temp monitor screen, or just some cool cover like what some boards do over the chip set/m.2 slot. Cases like Meshify S2 with a slideable mobo tray, if you mount your gpu vertical would work. Lots of unique features could be built.. Wall mounted systems, with the heatsink on the inside of the wall....
reply
Commander
I've always wanted a completely passively cooled system with no moving parts but I'd need a passively cooled gpu too. Although these days I just stick on headphones on my gaming PC. However for my HTPC, if it was capable of 4K playback that would be very interesting. Should team up with a case manufacturer like Silverstone, needs to look good in media centre.
reply
I've always wanted a completely passively cooled system with no moving parts but I'd need a passively cooled gpu too. Although these days I just stick on headphones on my gaming PC. However for my HTPC, if it was capable of 4K playback that would be very interesting. Should team up with a case manufacturer like Silverstone, needs to look good in media centre.
reply
Add a review, comment
Other channel videos
26:48
