How much heatsink do you really need?

Published: Monday, July 10, 2017

Hosts: Dennis Garcia and Darren McCain
Time: 39:34

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Originally recorded July 2017

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Show Notes

How much heatsink is enough for your system?
As a hardware enthusiasts we are often asked some interesting questions about building a computer. Sometimes the answers are pretty straightforward like how much memory do I need or will this processor work on this motherboard. Other questions are more opinion based like is AMD really better than Intel or should I get a NVIDIA card or stick with AMD. Dennis got an interesting question this past week about building a computer that was a little of both. “What heatsink should I get?”

In this episode the duo explore the world of cooling in an attempt to answer the question of “how much cooling do you really need?” To a hardware enthusiast the question is pretty easy to answer, we all have our preferences however to a novice there is no clear way to decide on a heatsink and if that heatsink will actually fit the build.

This is where things like TDP (Thermal Design Power) , Heat Capacity, Thermal Conductivity, Thermal Efficiency and a little math can help users decide on a product.

Episode 77 featured music:
Little People - Start Shootin' (http://www.littlepeoplemusic.com/)