The reason you want a big heatsink is because of the way that thermodynamics works. Think of thermodynamic transfer as water flowing, in the sense that when water flows it flows from areas where water is to areas where water isn't, until there's an even level of water over the whole area. Temperature is the depth of the water (depth in a container), heat is the volume of the water. Also, imagine all containers are of a height so that when full, temperature is maximum for your CPU. In this analogy, all containers would be the same height but the radii of all of the cups vary.
A bigger heatsink is like a container with a bigger radius (and therefore area). When you pump heat into a heatsink (chunk of metal), it evenly distributes the temperature across the system. So it takes more heat to heat a larger heatsink to the same temperature a smaller heatsink would reach. A larger heatsink can take the same amount of heat and have less temperature. Think of a thin cup vs a really fat cup. You could pour the full thin cup into the fat cup and it only be a quarter full. In the same way, a really tiny heatsink (stock cooler, for example) would overTEMP your CPU at much lower heats than a larger heatsink. A larger heatsink will be cooler for the same heat absorption.
Another difference is that the more surface area you have the more of a chance for cooling there is. Plus, a bigger heatsink means a bigger fan which means more airflow across more surface area across more fins which means exponentially better cooling. Now, very efficient heat transfer (conductivity) is more important than heatsink mass. 100% perfect heat transfer isn't good transfer, it's 0% insulation. So any inefficiencies in heat transfer don't only hurt the heat transfer, but it insulates the CPU from cooling. So, where the CM Hyper 212 wins is that it is simply the best at conducting heat up and away from the CPU....not because it's the heaviest.
A bigger heatsink is like a container with a bigger radius (and therefore area). When you pump heat into a heatsink (chunk of metal), it evenly distributes the temperature across the system. So it takes more heat to heat a larger heatsink to the same temperature a smaller heatsink would reach. A larger heatsink can take the same amount of heat and have less temperature. Think of a thin cup vs a really fat cup. You could pour the full thin cup into the fat cup and it only be a quarter full. In the same way, a really tiny heatsink (stock cooler, for example) would overTEMP your CPU at much lower heats than a larger heatsink. A larger heatsink will be cooler for the same heat absorption.
Another difference is that the more surface area you have the more of a chance for cooling there is. Plus, a bigger heatsink means a bigger fan which means more airflow across more surface area across more fins which means exponentially better cooling. Now, very efficient heat transfer (conductivity) is more important than heatsink mass. 100% perfect heat transfer isn't good transfer, it's 0% insulation. So any inefficiencies in heat transfer don't only hurt the heat transfer, but it insulates the CPU from cooling. So, where the CM Hyper 212 wins is that it is simply the best at conducting heat up and away from the CPU....not because it's the heaviest.
Project: watREDdown
(14 items) |
Macbook Pro 13"
(13 items) |
| CPU | RAM | Hard Drive | OS |
|---|---|---|---|
| Core2Duo E6600 | 4GB | WD 1TB | OSX Lion |
| View all | |||
|
Project: watREDdown
(14 items) |
Macbook Pro 13"
(13 items) |
| CPU | RAM | Hard Drive | OS |
|---|---|---|---|
| Core2Duo E6600 | 4GB | WD 1TB | OSX Lion |
| View all | |||
