What makes a good cpu heatsink?

[pomkon]

You can change fans easily, and they are often replaced. I want to quickly determine a heatsink capacities just by looking at it, without checking reviews for each one because it’s time consuming. I want to know a reference tdp figure to rely on.

Lets start with a 6 heatpipes, 12cm fansize 12x12x5, with 1 decent fan. What would the tdp be?

step up to 2 decent fans, tdp =?

    8 heat pipes, tdp =?

step down to 4 heat pipes, tdp =?

   4 heat pipes, 9x9x4, tdp=? 

.... and other common designs, tdp =?

 

[Bananasplit_00]

size, fin density and heatpipes. more of all of those is better generally

[Knaj]

You can't really just look at one and automatically know the TDP. But in general:

 

More fins, more heatpipes, more fans, and larger design means more heat dissipation.

[pomkon]

32 minutes ago, Knaj said:

You can't really just look at one and automatically know the TDP. But in general:

 

More fins, more heatpipes, more fans, and larger design means more heat dissipation.

You wont know until you read reviews. 

But you can guess a range!! 

There is another word - estimation.

[pomkon]

43 minutes ago, Bananasplit_00 said:

size, fin density and heatpipes. more of all of those is better generally

Of course more is better. You have said nothing.

[Bananasplit_00]

Just now, pomkon said:

Of course more is better. You have said nothing.

well what do you want then, there is no common dissepation number or something like that. going off what the manufacturer puts on the box is about as good as picking at random when comparing coolers of about the same size, and then the TDP number on your CPU isnt the same as whats on the cooler.

 

a 180W TDP cooler isnt enough for a chip drawing 180W or speced by the manufacturer at 180W. a Hyper 212 evo i doubt will keep a 1950x cool but they are both specced at 180W TDP, and the Shadow Rock 2 thats also speced at 180W is ~2C cooler than the Hyper 212 evo, but couldnt keep my I5 4690K at 4.7GHz cool enough(that should be around 180W of power draw). TDP numbers are pretty much useless, you cant even compare them across AMD and Intel. hilariously enough the NH-D14 in only rated for 165W while keeping that I7 4790K far from TMax when the suposed 180W cooler couldnt

[WoodenMarker]

12 hours ago, pomkon said:

But you can guess a range!! 

--which can easily be wrong. The mounting hardware also makes a tremendous difference in performance which can't be guessed by just looking. 

If you want a list of how coolers compare in performance: