Convertible heat exchanger for air or water cooling of electronic circuit components and the like

摘要

A heat exchanger, especially for use in conjunction with a wide range of computer systems ranging from work stations to massively parallel processors is employable with both air and water cooling systems. In particular, a heat exchanger is provided which is convertible from a heat sink modality to an air cooling modality and finally to a liquid cooling modality in response to either increased performance demands or an increase in the number of processors or circuit components employed. The conversion may be carried out in the field and provides a flexible and less costly upgradeability path for data processing customers.