Summer is coming, we focus on DIY and begin to care for CPU radiators. In fact, this little gadget that can make CPU "turn waste into treasure" is a hot topic of concern to many people, especially those over-frequent enthusiasts. Recently, AMDX2 processors continue to reduce prices, Intel's new dual-core Pentium, single-core Core Saiyang show their magic, these low-end single/dual-core overdrive will leave too much imagination space for the mainstream DIY market. The eager mainstream players want to buy matching radiator "squeeze" CPU performance. Throughout the market, CPU radiators are available from low-end pure aluminium fins to middle-end pure copper, aluminium fin plug copper, aluminium fin die-casting copper, heat pipe, to high-end water cooling, oil cooling, semiconductor refrigeration, compressor refrigeration, dry ice refrigeration, liquid nitrogen refrigeration, liquid helium refrigeration and so on. There are many kinds of heat dissipation methods, from passive heat dissipation to active heat dissipation to active refrigeration.

In such a dazzling array of radiator products, how can we choose a suitable CPU radiator? Next, we will start with the "theory" and introduce in detail the performance analysis of various materials and structures of radiators.

Air-cooled radiator

As the choice of low and middle-end radiator market, air-cooled radiator has achieved a good balance in cost performance. Common material, simple structure products can be purchased for tens of yuan, and it is no problem to deal with the overfrequency of entry-level processors. In order to achieve higher performance, air-cooled radiators can also provide "avant-garde" products with high-grade materials and advanced structure. A complete set of air-cooled radiators should be composed of radiators, fans and fasteners. Here we introduce them separately.

Radiator

1. Pure aluminium radiator

This kind of radiator is one of the most widely used radiators at present. It is made of pure aluminium as a whole. Aluminum is the most abundant metal on the earth. Its main characteristics are low cost and low heat capacity. Although it slows down, it releases heat quickly, and the heat dissipation is proportional to its structure and workmanship. The more fins, the better polishing the bottom, the better heat dissipation. The principle of heat dissipation is simple: the radiator is used to increase the contact area with the air, and the fan is used to accelerate the air flow so as to take away the heat on the radiator. The radiator made of pure aluminium is inexpensive and cost-effective with low-end CPU.

2. Pure copper radiator

As the name implies, the material of pure copper radiator is pure copper. Because copper has a congenital advantage over aluminium: heat transfer

The conductivity is 412w/mk, nearly double that of aluminium 226w/mk, but copper has a congenital disadvantage: too high heat capacity. That is to say, this kind of radiator absorbs heat quickly but releases heat slowly, and the heat accumulates in a large number of copper sheets. It needs to cooperate with high speed and large size fans to meet the heat dissipation requirements.

Copper is much easier to manufacture than aluminium because of its good toughness. The density of radiators can also be higher than that of aluminium, and the area of heat dissipation is correspondingly larger, which can make up for the shortcomings of slow heat dissipation caused by high heat capacity. But the cost of pure copper is much higher than that of aluminium, and higher-grade fans are needed to meet the demand of heat dissipation, which directly leads to the high price of pure copper radiator, which has been slowly withdrawn from the historical stage of radiator. CPU radiator

3. Copper radiator with aluminium fin plug

The copper fin plug fin fin fin fin fin fin fin fin fin fin fin fin fin fin fin fin fin fin fin fin fin fin fin fin fin fin fin fin fin fin fin fin fin fin fin fin fin fin fin fin fin fin fin fin fin fin fin fin fin The manufacturing process of copper-embedded radiator is based on the principle of thermal expansion and contraction. After heating the aluminium radiator to a certain temperature, the prepared copper blocks are embedded. When the temperature of aluminium drops, the shrinkage wraps the copper blocks tightly together. The advantage of this kind of radiator is that it is cheap and can be purchased for tens of yuan. It is more economical and effective than the pure copper radiator with hundreds of yuan starting. CPU powder

Heater

4. Aluminum fin die-casting copper radiator

At first glance, the radiator looks like a copper radiator with an aluminium fin plug. There is also a piece of copper on the base. But the difference is that the copper block on the heat sink is not embedded by the principle of thermal expansion and cold contraction, but by using advanced die casting technology. It can be said that it is completely seamless connection, which fundamentally guarantees the thermal conductivity between the copper block and the aluminum base. Therefore, it has super heat dissipation performance. Of course, due to the complexity of manufacturing and fine workmanship, the price of radiators manufactured by this process is usually more than 500 yuan. Although the price is relatively expensive, but the heat dissipation effect is excellent, suitable for overfrequency enthusiasts to choose.