When heatsink manufacturers come up with ideas for high-surface-area heatsinks with closely-spaced fins, I have to wonder if they assume people operate their computer inside a ultra-dust free cleanroom environment.
If you've ever seen a PC that's been in use a year or more, you've seen dust. And when dust builds up it blocks airflow and reduces cooling efficiency by creating a thin insulating barrier.
Yes, that skived heatsink has a LOT of surface area. but with the fins so close together, what will the cooling efficiency be in a year from now, when those narrow slots are filling with dust?
Probably the people who are bothering to go out of their way to buy a skived heatsink are so cutting-edge oriented, that they'll be happily discarding the PC in six months anyway to get the next fastest model, so dust may not be a concern to them.
But for me at least, I want a system that is both quiet and can deal with real-world operation for at least three years without a lot of fiddling and maintenance to keep it from dying from heat death.
Also, I question the idea of making extremely rough-surfaced heatsinks, because that rough surface is a prime landing spot for dust. Where the air becomes turbulent, dust seems to fly out of the airstream and land in the rough pockets on the surface. Look at any fan or heatsink that's been in operation for more than a year, and you'll notice that the dust seems to accumulate faster in the rougher areas of the frame/sink.
So although the heatsink surface may be rough and transfer lots of heat when brand new, how well will it perform a year from now, when dust has filled in all those little rough spots and created a thin insulating barrier between the airflow and the heatsink? Are you going to go in and brush all that dust out of those deep, tiny crevices by hand, to keep it running efficiently?
I don't think the heatsink manufacturers (such as the one with 200 screw threads pointing towards the fan) are thinking about such issues at all. Hot! New! Cool! Neon! Well, what about long-term reliability and efficiency?
-Scalar
Skived/Thin-fin heatsinks... and dust...
Moderators: NeilBlanchard, Ralf Hutter, sthayashi, Lawrence Lee
Good points. One thing that may lessen it is the use of one of those screamer fans which work well for getting air in the closely spaced fins. I can tell you are intrigued by heatsink designs. One of the tough parts must be the compromises one must make when desinging.
I've read some good threads here on home brewed air filters.
I've read some good threads here on home brewed air filters.
when you say screw heads i assume your pointing at swiftech?
what you are saying is true. eventually something will fill those gaps and hamper preformance.
but dust will accumulate anywhere.
I know my sister's dell, which she baught becaus eof the low noise, had dust accumulated so much that is was forcing the cpu to have to thermal throttle itself. behold the culprite was the heatsink design. it has little arc type thisng to inhance airflow from the side. well with a low cfm fan dust starts to build up. I had to take 2 bottles of compressed air just to clean the friggen thing out. Not to mention if you've every dealt with a dell you know how cramped everything is and how the wires are moderatle messy.
So even with rather well spaced fins dust will build up. you have to maintain your computer. I would suggest dusting it once every 3 to 6 months especailly if you don't have a filter on the intakes.
and maybe every once ina while take out your heatsink and clean it with isopropyl alcohol.
what you are saying is true. eventually something will fill those gaps and hamper preformance.
but dust will accumulate anywhere.
I know my sister's dell, which she baught becaus eof the low noise, had dust accumulated so much that is was forcing the cpu to have to thermal throttle itself. behold the culprite was the heatsink design. it has little arc type thisng to inhance airflow from the side. well with a low cfm fan dust starts to build up. I had to take 2 bottles of compressed air just to clean the friggen thing out. Not to mention if you've every dealt with a dell you know how cramped everything is and how the wires are moderatle messy.
So even with rather well spaced fins dust will build up. you have to maintain your computer. I would suggest dusting it once every 3 to 6 months especailly if you don't have a filter on the intakes.
and maybe every once ina while take out your heatsink and clean it with isopropyl alcohol.
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Alistair
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Re: Skived/Thin-fin heatsinks... and dust...
if you buy a new car, you make sure to change the oil, right?scalar wrote:how well will it perform a year from now, when dust has filled in all those little rough spots and created a thin insulating barrier between the airflow and the heatsink? Are you going to go in and brush all that dust out of those deep, tiny crevices by hand, to keep it running efficiently?
if you buy a new hi-fi, you don't eat your dinner on it, do you?
so yes you've got to keep your pc free of dust!
its fine equipment, care for it as you would anything else you spend top dollar for.
and get some compressed air designed for the purpose and give it a few shots once in a while.
a.
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Ralf Hutter
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