Just as I thought.. most HSF's are designed all wrong :)

[Rusty075]

Yes, the total heat removed (BTU's) will be same. Obviously the heatsink temps will just rise until equlibrium is reached. But I thought you were trying to say that the CPU temps would still be the same. Perhaps we've both been communicating poorly.

The point I was trying to make was that the airflow pattern does make a difference. By utilizing more of the surface area of the heatsink the on-die CPU temps are lowered, due the the reduced temperature differential. That's what I was refering to as efficiency, not the total BTU's transferred. I'm sorry if I confused you.