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One of important Intel product lines for the electronics industry and consumers are RAID
controllers used for the purpose of data redundancy and performance improvement. Intel RAID
modules incorporate RAID-on-Chip (ROC), RAM modules, heat sinks etc. from a major manufacturer. These
components and assemblies often come with Coolit models providing predictions of their
performance and verified with experiment.
The Intel engineer assigned to the task of designing the RAID module despite being a first
time Coolit user, quickly mastered the software. "Coolit's user-friendly interface made it easy
to quickly ramp-up my modeling skills," he noted. "Furthermore, I could export the model to an
STEP file and transfer it to my other analytical tools or import STEP models into Coolit."
The major heat sources in the RAID module were the16 W main chip and DDR3 modules each
dissipating 0.6 W. The only design option analyzed was airflow direction. Air at 45C
moved across the module 0.8 m/s flowing either from front to back or, alternately, from left to
right.
In both scenarios, Coolit analysis predicted the main chip would not exceed its upper
junction temperature limit. However, the RAM modules would reach their upper limit if air flowed from
right to left across the module, but would stay well below their limit if air moved from front
to back.
Coolit's analytical predictions enable the engineer to easily identify the optimum
configuration.
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