January 5, 2008

Excerpt from The Press Enterprise article titled “Cal State San Bernardino grad develops liquid-cooled computer”:

A Cal State San Bernardino graduate is driving computers just like cars, with liquid cooling.
It allows users to get better performance without risking a system failure, said Mark Kodesh, of Rancho Mirage, founder of Global Night, a producer of liquid-cooled computers.

PCs used for hours of graphics-intensive gaming can get hot. Gamers and other computer users who tax their machines know that heat is the enemy, and they’re glad to have a fan there to cool the processor and other heat-sensitive parts.
Sometimes, though, a computer has to hold itself back for fear of overheating, and a user’s bragging rights or more can vanish in the delay.
Maybe the solution is for computers to go where cars have been for decades — into the water.

Kodesh is starting to gain recognition for Global Night on local TV and in his hometown paper in Wisconsin.
A liquid-cooled computer is larger and heavier (Global Night’s weighs 60 to 80 pounds) than a regular, fan-cooled model. The extra size and weight are to accommodate the hoses and reservoir for the liquid and the copper radiator innards.

Liquid cooling helps stave off heat for computer users who want to “overclock” their machines, Kodesh said. “Overclocking” is running a processor at a higher speed than it is designed for. He said manufacturers underestimate processor speeds to compensate for the heat generated by computing activity.

Another benefit is that liquid-cooled computers are relatively quiet.
“It’s simple,” Kodesh said. “The lack of fans means less noise.”

The Concept
The company started from a quest Kodesh made on his own behalf.
“A while ago, I set out to build myself the most powerful, fastest computer imaginable,” Kodesh said. “I knew water-cooled technology would make fan-cooled computers obsolete, so I wanted to be one of the first to perfect it.”
When he was designing prototypes, Kodesh said he talked to water-cooled computer users and made an inventory of their concerns.
“I found out that they were experiencing problems with leaking hoses, kinked hoses and hoses detaching completely from the water block,” he said. It took seven prototypes to get what he wanted. “I spent every night for about six months just on the tubing and attachments,” he said.

At least two other companies produce water-cooled computers, HP’s Voodoo Computers Inc. and Dell’s Alienware.

The lowest-priced Global Night computer is about $3,600, which Kodesh said is about $1,000 less than competing models. Buyers include gamers and manufacturing engineers who use their computers for design.

Mainstream Appeal

Marc Diana, product marketing manager for Miami-based Alienware, said liquid-cooled computers are still a “semi-niche” product now but won’t be for long.
“They’re right on the cusp of being mainstream,” he said.
Price will be what causes liquid-cooling to take off, Diana said.
“The mainstream will be adopting it as cheaper technology becomes available and the public catches on to (its) benefits,” he said.
Alienware started producing liquid-cooled computers in 2004, Diana said; the company’s first model has a radiator on top of the case to expel heat.

Global Night’s computers use Fluid XP, a mixture of propylene glycol, deionized water, benzotriazol, plus other ingredients.
The computers are built in Rancho Mirage and sold on the Internet. Among their distinctive features is a see-through case.
“Most people like to see what they’re paying for,” Kodesh said. “That’s why I’ve worked to make the inside of the computer look as neat as the outside.”
The hoses carry the coolant past the most heat-prone parts of the computer, the central processing unit and the video card. The liquid takes heat away from those parts and flows to the radiator.

Palm Desert resident Nicholas Martin said he bought a Global Night machine after seeing it on TV and then being swayed by Kodesh’s hands-on approach to customer service.
“I didn’t want to get a standard PC,” Martin said. “Friends suggested a custom-built (model).”
Martin, a Web developer, said he puts his machine to intense uses, often running five or six programs on about 5 percent of its capacity. Web developing and gaming are among his primary pursuits with the Global Night computer.
“I think it’s rad,” Martin said. “It looks cool, it’s really, really fast and it’s quiet.”

Price vs. Performance

Frank Vahid, a professor of computer science and engineering at UC Riverside, said liquid-cooled computers represent a trade-off between price and optimum performance.
He said liquid-cooling is more expensive and more complex than air-cooling, but allows for faster computation.
“There are companies who need that speed, so they’re willing to deal with the extra cost and complexity,” Vahid said, adding that scientific advances eventually will steer more manufacturers to liquid-cooling.
“Companies are going to have to go to liquid-cooling to deal with the higher power of today’s processors,” he said.
Vahid said chips are getting more powerful, and thus will put out more heat than previous-generation chips of the same size.
“I think the number of companies that are willing to pay the extra cost will increase” as prices fall, he said.
Gamers and hardware enthusiasts — “anybody who’s really looking to maximize his system capability” — have been liquid-cooling’s biggest fans so far, Diana said.

November 11, 2007

Excerpt from Palm Springs Life article titled “Geek Cool”:

Although Dell and Hewlett Packard paid hundreds of millions of dollars for his competitors (Alienware and Voodoo Computers, respectively). Mark Kodesh plans to keep Global Night to himself.

Global Night’s customized computers run between $3,600 and $8,500 (monitor and keyboard not included). That’s a bargain when compared to the $14,000 price tag Maximum PC placed on its Dream Machine 07. “Everything they had in it is what I offer,” Kodesh says.

September 27, 2007

Excerpt from The Chronotype article titled “Gamers Warm to Cool Invention”:

He said that Global Night was not a fickle creation but a cumulation of thoughts, hopes, dreams and nightmares.

“I’d like to think that a little bit of my blood actually flows through the computer itself,” he said. “The bottom line is that this computer is fierce. It’s not cheap because it wasn’t made cheaply. It’s a monster computer with capabilities that only a true gamer would understand.”

The Global Night computer is getting national attention, including a story done on Kodesh in Maximum PC magazine and a two-part series on CBS 2 in California.

August 30, 2007

Excerpt from The Desert Sun’s article titled “Rancho Mirage Businessman Creates Water-Cooled Computer”:

Kodesh’s water-baby is a computer enthusiasts dream. It features all of the bells and whistles of a typical high-end computer, but is liquid-cooled (as opposed to fan-cooled) making it remarkably faster and quieter.

Similar to the way that coolant cools a car’s engine, liquid lines run through the body of the computer, keeping its inner parts from overheating. The result is a noticeably cooler, more stable computer that is able to handle the most rigorous computer activity. And the lack of fans, means less noise.

As Kodesh predicted, water-cooled computers are making their way onto the market, but few and far between, because their construction is detailed, and their price, high-end. Kodesh is starting his Global Night computer at $3,600 - a high price, but still about $1,000 less than his competitors.

July 28, 2007

Maximum PC’s September 2007 issue hit news stands July 31 with Global Night’s advertisement on page 75! Look for our advertisements in CPU Magazine.

July 18, 2007

A CBS 2 special report features Global Night creator and owner, Mark Kodesh… an expert on liquid-cooled computers and technology. (Second part in a two-part series.)

July 17, 2007

Maximum PC’s “How to Guide” hit news stands July 17, 2007 with Global Night’s full-page advertisement on page 27! Look for future advertisements in Maximum PC (subscriptions) and CPU Magazine.

July 17, 2007

Watch CBS 2’s special report on Global Night’s water-cooled powerhouse. (First part in a two-part series.)