A Thermally Advantaged Chassis (TAC) is a computer enclosure that complies with the Thermally Advantaged Chassis specifications created by Intel. It is capable of maintaining an internal ambient temperature below 38 degrees Celsius when functioning with

Intel Intel Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California. It is the world's largest semiconductor chip manufacturer by revenue, and is one of the developers of the x86 seri ...

Pentium 4 Pentium 4 is a series of single-core CPUs for desktops, laptops and entry-level servers manufactured by Intel. The processors were shipped from November 20, 2000 until August 8, 2008. The production of Netburst processors was active from 2000 ...

and

Celeron D Celeron is Intel's brand name for low-end IA-32 and x86-64 computer microprocessor models targeted at low-cost personal computers. Celeron processors are compatible with IA-32 software. They typically offer less performance per clock speed comp ...

processors based on 90 nm process technology, and an ambient temperature below 39 degrees Celsius when using a Pentium D processor. Intel maintains that using a thermally advantaged chassis is the absolute minimum requirement for using Pentium 4 (Prescott),

Pentium D Pentium D is a range of desktop 64-bit x86-64 processors based on the NetBurst microarchitecture, which is the dual-core variant of the Pentium 4 manufactured by Intel. Each CPU comprised two dies, each containing a single core, residing next to ...

, and Celeron D, processors.

Overview

In the 1.1 version, the TAC design is intended to disallow internal temperature rises of more than 3 degrees Celsius, and provide the processor with a cooler environment to work in. Its main feature is a Chassis Air Guide that directs room temperature air directly in the path of the CPU fan and

heat sink A heat sink (also commonly spelled heatsink) is a passive heat exchanger that transfers the heat generated by an electronic or a mechanical device to a fluid medium, often air or a liquid coolant, where it is dissipated away from the device, th ...

. The chassis air guide is a passive cooling system, and relies completely on internal system

fans Fan commonly refers to: * Fan (machine), a machine for producing airflow, often used for cooling ** Hand fan, an implement held and waved by hand to move air for cooling * Fan (person), short for fanatic; an enthusiast or supporter, especially wit ...

to guide the air.

Airflow pattern

As with most computers, the rear fan and

power supply A power supply is an electrical device that supplies electric power to an electrical load. The main purpose of a power supply is to convert electric current from a source to the correct voltage, current, and frequency to power the load. As a r ...

fan exhaust, moving hot air away from the computer. This causes a slight depressurization inside the chassis, and requires all other openings to become intake vents. Airflow from the front of the chassis moves around the Chassis Air Guide, allowing the processor fan to only draw air from outside the chassis, providing more effective cooling.

System fans

The rear chassis exhaust fan is required to be at least 92-mm or larger, providing a minimum of 55 CFM in free air. The processor is required to have an active cooling system, consisting of a fan and heat sink.

Side-panel venting

The side-panel is required to have an add-in card vent, which provides room temperature air to the add-in cards. High-performance graphics cards will benefit from the lower temperature air.

External links

Thermally Advantaged Tested Chassis ListChassis Air Guide
v1.1 (September 2003)
Standard
(Japanese). Computer hardware cooling Computer enclosure {{comp-hardware-stub