Raktron Turbo PC: A 'turbocharged' PC with an actual turbocharger

[zekrahminator]

For several years, people have used the cliche "Turbocharge your PC" when referring to upgrading it. Raktron Inc., which has both PC and car enthusiasts, had enough of this nonsense and decided to literally turbocharge their PC. They took a turbocharger out of a 1990 Mitsubishi Eclipse, and hooked what would be the intake manifold to the front of the case, and set the turbocharger fan to run at 3500rpm. Raktron then proceeded to put headlights on the case, gave it an incredible paint job, and licensed it through Ohio (could just be a novelty plate, though).


For more details of this project, please see the source link below.

View at TechPowerUp Main Site

 

[Zero Cool]

must be super silent!

 

[LordSeshamaru]

must be super silent!

Yea man TRUE!!!!!
Super silent!!!
<<<Turbocharger<<<

 

[OnBoard]

That front paintjob looks bad as it's no a constant color. Ruins it for me although the rest of it looks nice Maybe if you hook it up to a gas pedal, the noise wouldn't be so bad. Top that of with some racing game and turbo sound should be quite authentic

 

[XooM]

'cause thats not revoltingly hideous at all...

 

[LordSeshamaru]

Man CooL thought Yea that wud be really nice Step on da gas and Vroommm
o.0 but it wud be better if the case does not fit wheels

 

[spectre440]

ROFLMAO

pure freakin' genius!

 

[regan1985]

how the hell do you power a turbo charger

 

[erocker]

Obviously, in the picture it is powered by an electric motor in the rear. When they are used in automotive applications the force of the exhaust forces the fans to spin.

 

[Zero Cool]

Obviously, in the picture it is powered by an electric motor in the rear. When they are used in automotive applications the force of the exhaust forces the fans to spin.

seriously?
wouldnt that apply more ressistance to the exhaust pipes making the airflow harder, so it will reduce the power output of the engine

 

[Exceededgoku]

oh dear u guys... 01/04...

 

[evil bill]

yes - thats how they work.

The exhaust gasses spin the turbine which forces fuel and air into the engine and gives a power boost. There is a flat spot between the turbo getting up to speed and the benefit of the forced induction kicking in known as turbo lag but this can be reduced by using smaller, and even multiple turbos.

A Supercharger works on the same principle but it is mechanically driven, rather than by the exhaust gasses. The Lancia Delta S4 Rally car was both Turbo AND Supercharged

 

[LonGun]

That front paintjob looks bad as it's no a constant color. Ruins it for me although the rest of it looks nice Maybe if you hook it up to a gas pedal, the noise wouldn't be so bad. Top that of with some racing game and turbo sound should be quite authentic

lol yea with a gas ped installed, 1 PuSH will wOOf the shOOt outta the case, and left you with a nice smoky mobo hanging on the desk

 

[Dippyskoodlez]

seriously?
wouldnt that apply more ressistance to the exhaust pipes making the airflow harder, so it will reduce the power output of the engine

There is an initial pushback, but once it spins up it provides more than it restricts...

Stronger combustion->stronger output.

 

[Xtant25]

Zek the turbo is actually from a 97 Eclipse (Garrett T25).

 

[Wile E]

That front paintjob looks bad as it's no a constant color. Ruins it for me although the rest of it looks nice

I'm guessing you've never seen an old school flame job on a car. That's how it's supposed to be done.

 

[tkpenalty]

That turbocharger is more of a supercharger =_=.

Apart from that what the hell would be the point of pumping air into the PC? Unless you have an intercooler its sorta useless.

 

[mandelore]

noise... plain daft, why not just upgrade the cpu cooler? hahahaha

 

[Zubasa]

seriously?
wouldnt that apply more ressistance to the exhaust pipes making the airflow harder, so it will reduce the power output of the engine

Yes, that is why turbo charged engines has a low torque at low RPM.
But when the RPM of the engine rises, the turbine start spin up and increase the pressure, forcing more air into the combustion chamber.
And Turbo engine always has special valves to reduce pressure at a certain or else the engine can actually blow.
(And you can hear the sound from these valves.)

 

[LonGun]

What about the vibrations the turbo might charges the whole machine? I still don't get the complete idea of this technique... guess I'll have to go study cars more...

 

[OnBoard]

I'm guessing you've never seen an old school flame job on a car. That's how it's supposed to be done.

If it was done like this, the it would be ok:
http://www.sierravistacarclub.org/spring/spring01/flame.jpg

but it's done like this and looks bad:
http://truetalk.typepad.com/truetalk/images/flames_on_car.jpg

Either way I prefer it like this:
http://image61.webshots.com/61/0/10/21/462601021VzkYpJ_fs.jpg
http://www.cal-roadster.com/gallery/images/gold_flames_jpg.jpg
http://www.everythingmuscle.com/Service_Work_ Body/70 Chevelle 396 car on Fire!.JPG

This is too much of a photoshot look:
http://image56.webshots.com/156/9/91/13/462599113KOnLUd_fs.jpg

 

[RickyG512]

wat is this actually doing for the PC ?, it doesnt say it clearly on the home page

is it cooling it? powering it? wat ???????

 

[OnBoard]

wat is this actually doing for the PC ?, it doesnt say it clearly on the home page

is it cooling it? powering it? wat ???????

Turbocharging cool air inside, so it's an "intake fan".

 

[xvi]

That turbocharger is more of a supercharger =_=.

Apart from that what the hell would be the point of pumping air into the PC? Unless you have an intercooler its sorta useless.

An intercooler won't help unless the turbocharger can compress the air enough for it to heat up (not to forget the heat of the turbo). Even then, you'd need some sort of airflow over the intercooler. I suppose you could submerse it in water, but if you're bringing water into the mix, I'd rather see a vapor tower.

Props to the mod, though.

 

[WarEagleAU]

That should be one cool PC Case then.