What is a CPU Heat sink Fan? How to choose the right heat sink

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Every CPU has something in common: they get very hot when they are working. That's why we have these coolers, to keep the CPU running cool instead of immediately cooking itself.

But how do you know what kind of cooler you want? That's what we're going to talk about.

Heat sinks, also known as heat sink fans (HSFs) or coolers, come in various shapes and sizes. The purpose of each cooler is to draw heat away from the CPU and dissipate it. The CPU needs to be cooled because if it gets too hot, it will blow itself up, although modern CPUs are smart enough to slow down or even shut down completely before they get too hot.

In an air cooler like this one, the heatsink is in contact with the CPU through heat-conducting metal and heat pipes that suck heat away from the CPU and dissipate it over a wide area while blowing it away with a fan.

If you are wondering if heat pipes do anything, we can assure you that they serve a purpose. They are hollow inside and contain attendants in a partial vacuum, so water boils near the temperature of the warm CPU. Here the water boils into steam, flows upward, condenses back into the water, and drips down again. This is to move heat very efficiently from the CPU down to the rest of the heatsink.

But we wouldn't put a heatsink on a CPU without a bit of thermal paste.

Thermal paste is a substance with a high thermal conductivity that allows for better heat transfer between the heatsink and the CPU. It fills all the tiny gaps between the two and doesn't allow air gaps that could harm the cooler's performance.

There are many different thermal conductive pastes on the market, but the ones that come with aftermarket coolers today are perfect.

Stock coolers are more diminutive and potentially noisier. They usually work fine if you don't plan on overclocking your CPU, although when your CPU is working hard, they usually make more noise than the larger coolers.

Many people think that stock coolers are bad, but this is false. Stock coolers are more than adequate for general CPU cooling. Unless you want to overclock your CPU, they are usually not good enough, and you may not like the noise they make under stress.

At this point, one might want your cooler to have the following characteristics.

1. it will usually be quieter

2. if you want to overclock your CPU, the cooler will do a better job keeping the CPU cool for optimal performance and reliability.

If you are unsure which CPU heat sink is better for you, feel free to contact Coolsolte, and our professional sales staff can recommend the best cooler.

Whether you need a cheaper or more expensive cooler depends mainly on how much you want to overclock and how hot the CPU is running. The best coolers are more expensive, but only if you overclock a lot or if your PC is in a scorching spot.

So, let's say you have done your research and decided to buy an aftermarket cooler. There are two main things to keep in mind.

First, it needs to be compatible with your motherboard, so check compatibility to ensure it fits in your particular motherboard's CPU slot.

Next, your cooler needs to fit your case and not interfere with your RAM. Check the size measurements and make sure everything fits without causing any headaches. Often the easiest way to find out if they are compatible is to Google the name of your case and the cooler you want to use and then quickly find out.

Finally, I hope this article has been a little helpful in helping you pick a CPU cooler. If you need to customize CPU heat sink and purchase CPU coolers, please contact Coolsolte, a professional heat sink manufacturer.

Reprinted from Coolsolte - “What is a CPU Heat sink Fan? How to choose the right heat sink”