I'm thinking riing fans atop 30mm rad, with the side panels clearanced around the fan "barrels", and the top fan flanges removed, would be a badass looking mod
Dan - great to see you continuing to optimize your ideas and support the mITX community!
I had good luck with 4.3GHz air cooled CPU + dual GPU in a Shuttle, back in the day, and the power supply fan helped get heat out of the case. Power supplies can typically survive warm air intake, though...
FWIW, I'm basically running my i7-980 as if it were an X5650 - hot bclk and low multiplier for better IO and 4.0GHz all-cores.
CFL at stock is trying really hard to maintain Kabby single core performance within a thermal envelope, but also deliver better multi vs Kabby (eg. 6 * 80% clock > 4 *...
cinematics have banding - step one, make that go away
beyond that - go outside. wow, that's some dynamic range. now look at a Waterhouse painting. then work on the game - you're welcome
All the new economics is deflationary. Automation/efficiency engineers the cost out of both supply chain and production. Then competition at lower cost drives down price.
Factory owners take a cut from price, but price is shrinking. Probably the only thing holding back faster adoption of...