Heatsink Discussion

[WhiteFox560]

me and my friend were having a discussion where heat pipes should be placed inside the fins or sitting on top. He claims the pipes sitting on top of the fins would provide more heat leaving because air can travel more freely but I say it is just the same. Am I right or is he right ? 

[Guest]

Think of a heat pipe as a water cooling tube. It transfers thermals from one location to another.

 

As long as there is fins somewhere attached, that's where most of the heat will dissipate. 

 

The only thing that really matters is which configuration would provide the most CFM through the fins for best dissipation.

[WhiteFox560]

3 minutes ago, ShrimpBrime said:

Think of a heat pipe as a water cooling tube. It transfers thermals from one location to another.

 

As long as there is fins somewhere attached, that's where most of the heat will dissipate. 

 

The only thing that really matters is which configuration would provide the most CFM through the fins for best dissipation.

so is he right or am I right?

[Guest]

Just now, WhiteFox560 said:

so is he right or am I right?

From the pictures, neither is correct or incorrect.

 

Both coolers will dissipate the same BTU, unless one heat sink has a larger fin array. Which they are equal in size.

 

So it does not matter if the fins are mounted on top or not. Only the fin array size would make a difference. One considerably larger than the other. Or one fan has a higher cfm rating than the other.

[Guest]

You say it's the same?

That would be correct.

[WhiteFox560]

1 minute ago, ShrimpBrime said:

You say it's the same?

That would be correct.

thank you, now I have some proof

[Guest]

Just now, WhiteFox560 said:

thanks you, now I have some proof

This is my opinion. 

 

Vigorous testing would give you real life numbers aside from what we can see. 

 

The coolers do look identical, just the fin array is located either top or bottom. In theory, this makes very little difference. 

 

However, and there's always a design change for a reason, we can say that one is designed with fins on the bottom to pull air from across the main board to help cool vrms for example. And thus why vigorous testing for numbers on average would be the only way to draw a true scientific conclusion.