Best heatsink material?

Y

yuki953

New Member
Ok, so heres the discussion.
Read it all please...
(I will constantly be adding more, and giving background info/backup)


there are 4 main heat-sink materials.
  • Copper
  • Aluminum
  • Copper and Aluminum
  • Diamond? (let me explain.)
They all have there Pros and Cons.

First up: Copper

Measuring at
380 W/m*K
making this the 3rd best Heat conductor

Pros.
Copper is supposed to be a GREAT heat conductor. In fact , they put it on the bottom of pots and pans, so they can heat up evenly and quickly. They also let go of heat faster then aluminum.

Cons.

Heavy and more expensive then Aluminum.



Next: Aluminum

Measuring at:
220 W/m*K (pure)
120--180 W/m*K (alloys)
This making it the 5th best heat conductor out there.

Pros.
These are known for there light weight, and cheapness? Also being the 4th best heat conductor (right behind copper, silver, and diamond.)

Cons.
They pick up heat slower then Copper.. this may cause higher temps... so not recommended for major over clocking? (read about it in an article over the internet... ill try to find backup.) Letting go of heat slower then Copper (recently corrected, my teacher was rong) may also be an issue



Now: Copper and Aluminum

Measuring at:
900 - 2320 W/m*K
Making this the BEST!!!! over topping the 2nd one by almost 2.5 times, at the least. and almost 5 times, at the most.


Pros.
The hybrid.. Good, and light. and sorta shiny =)

Cons.
Not nearly as good as 100% copper




And soon??: Diamond? (let me explain...)

Explanation.
I thought of this because I was watching Modern Marvels, and it said that Diamonds are GREAT heat conductors... and how it dissipates heat well.

Pros.
Whats better then Diamond in your case? Show off the latest "Bling". Also it is a great heat conductor, and it fans off easy.

Cons.
Expensive much?

-----------------------------------------------

Got any other Materials? Say them and give me some info, or a place to read about them.​

------

Edit: Major fix mix up with copper and Aluminum.
Edit: Fixed minor things
Edit: Added a measurement scale, for the substances.
 
Last edited:
yuki953 said:
And soon??: Diamond. (let me explain...)

Explanation.
I thought of this because I was watching Modern Marvels, and it said that Diamonds are GREAT heat conductors... and how it dissipates heat well.

Pros.
Whats better then Diamond in your case? Show off the latest "Bling". Also it is a great heat conductor, and it fans off easy.

Cons.
Expensive much?
Click to expand...

Actually we already use diamonds, ever heard if ic7? Thermal compound made from diamond dust. And also, copper doesnt let go of heat slower than aluminum... it lets go faster than aluminum. Hence the reason the most expensive coolers use copper, but for now the best coolers are copper+aluminum such as the xigmatek s1283, but that is mainly due to the design. If the S1283 used copper fins it would be even better than it is now(and atm its one of the best);) But about the diamonds, no chance we will ever be using them for actual heatsinks due to.... the cost, but for thermal compound it is feasible, but since it doesnt work that much better than silver(2nd best heat conducter afaik) its not worth the premium cost...
 
Last edited:
no i mean full on diamond lol... and someone told me it lets go slower then copper...

get meh some proof...

also, if coppers better why the aluminum? lolz
 
theres also liquid metal coolers someone had previsouly posted a liquid metal cooler link to a responce for an air cooler comparable to water cooling
 
yuki953 said:
no i mean full on diamond lol... and someone told me it lets go slower then copper...

get meh some proof...

also, if coppers better why the aluminum? lolz
Click to expand...

Aluminum is cheaper and lighter.

Also, you would need an absolutely insanely large piece of artificial diamond to make it into an effective heatsink.
 
yuki953 said:
no i mean full on diamond lol... and someone told me it lets go slower then copper...

get meh some proof...

also, if coppers better why the aluminum? lolz
Click to expand...

Because diamond for one isnt large enough naturally to be made into a heatsink. And think for a second, if copper is slower than aluminum... the copper has to transfer that heat to the aluminum, so your point there is now... invalid. Copper isnt used as mainstream in newer heatsinks because aluminum is much cheaper... and much much lighter, look at the limited edition TRUE copper edition for example, nearly $110 and over 3 pounds, its insane. Personally i think that cpu coolers should have alternating copper and aluminum fins, so you can get the weight advantages of aluminum, but the heat transfer of copper. Kinda like the zalman orb cooler from awhile back, the 7700 al/cu i think it was called...
 
For cons of copper and aluminum, id put "Not as effective as full copper". And for aluminum i would add "Easy to form, cheap, durable, the 4th best heat conductor next to copper, silver, and diamond".
 
edited.

What would you recommend for heat-sinks for these sockets
  • INTEL LGA 771
  • INTEL LGA 775
  • INTEL LGA 1366
  • AMD AM2
  • AMD AM2+
 
Last edited:
FTW, copper transfer heats much better then aluminum. There is no such thing as it holding onto the heat longer, blah blah blah. Copper can retain more heat, but dissapates it faster. The only thing that dictates how long a metal holds "its heat" is by how slow it transfers heat.

O btw, silver is better then copper at transfering heat, and gold is better then silver.
 
Motoxrdude said:
O btw, silver is better then copper at transfering heat, and gold is better then silver.
Click to expand...

no you are rong

Silver IS the 2nd best Heat conductor hitting a whopping 429 W/m*K but gold only hit 318 W/m*K making it right above Aluminum. racking 5th place

Silver isnt up there because its expensive and soft
 
yuki953 said:
no you are rong

Silver IS the 2nd best Heat conductor hitting a whopping 429 W/m*K but gold only hit 318 W/m*K making it right above Aluminum. racking 5th place

Silver isnt up there because its expensive and soft
Click to expand...

And diamond isnt expensive?:P I can see it now though, one of these days someone will come out with a silver plated diamond studded heatsink.... bling bling:P
 
Diamond is useless as a computer heatsink...
1. the price, you can refrigerate your computer for a fraction of the cost of a diamond heatsink.
2. It is brittle, most copper and aluminum heatsinks are molded into fins to increase surface area for cooling, diamonds could not be shaped into big thin fins because it would shatter with the slightest provocation, it would be like having a glass heatsink. Also, how would you even begin to start shaping it into that? Metal is stretch and molded, a diamond is just a rock, completely non-malleable.
3. Because of the lack of sufficient surface area, the CPU would just heat the diamond up until the CPU just cooks itself because of no heat dissipation.
 
i agree with the fact that it would really hard to make diamond fins but diamond is one of the hardest things on this planet if not the hardest i think. thats why all the expensive drills have diamond tips because its compressed carbon that been put under alot of pressure so i dont think we could snap it
 
Mineral Oil!!!! yea yea! it works pretty well. similar thermal conductivity as water. not as good i belive. but it doesnt conduct electricity. So buy a fish tank, fill it with mineral oil and throw the computer in!
 
bcoffee20 said:
i agree with the fact that it would really hard to make diamond fins but diamond is one of the hardest things on this planet if not the hardest i think. thats why all the expensive drills have diamond tips because its compressed carbon that been put under alot of pressure so i dont think we could snap it
Click to expand...
Diamonds are the hardest natural (non man-made) thing on Earth. Strength is subject to what property you are testing. Diamonds are hard in that they are hard and very resistant to abrasions but are subject to shattering from shock. Diamonds do not strain (deform when put under stress) like metals do so it is brittle and easily broken when there is a single point of stress (in this case, a 1mm thin "fin" made of diamond), the diamond fin would simply snap off. It is similar to glass, if you have a large cube of glass, it is pretty hard and not likely to break but a glass window is easily broken, this is why Plexiglas is better used as a window when there is the risk of high pressure shocks, many people put plexiglas windows on Jeeps for the purpose of going off-road driving. If you drop your copper or aluminum heatsink, the fins will simply bend but the diamond one will likely break if it somehow managed to have fins.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top