CPU Coolers
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CPU Air Coolers for Processors
Without CPU coolers, it doesn't work. In every computer, the heat from the central processing unit (CPU) must be dissipated, whether via water cooling or air cooling. The component responsible for this is the CPU cooler. While water coolers typically use a water block, there are various types of air coolers.
Customers can choose from a wide range of materials for CPU coolers, and will certainly find the right model for their budget, personal taste, and, of course, the appropriate processor socket. Most CPU coolers support Intel's LGA 775, 1155/56, 1366, 2011, or AMD's AM2(+), AM3(+), FM1/2, though some heatsinks are specialized for a specific brand. Some manufacturers include one or more matching fans with their CPU cooler models, while other brands omit fans for cost reasons.
In such cases, the buyer can decide whether to use silent or high-flow fans, or perhaps even forgo fans on the CPU cooler altogether and instead rely on semi-passive cooling via case fans.
CPU Coolers - Different Designs from Tower to Top-Blow
With various cooler designs and sizes, manufacturers address different requirements such as available space or the underlying airflow concept.
The main types of CPU coolers are:
- Top-Blow (also Top-Down or Top-Flow) with airflow directed from the case wall to the motherboard. Advantages: allows for a low profile, making it suitable for smaller cases; may actively cool motherboard components near the CPU (RAM, voltage regulators).
- Tower coolers that match the airflow concept from front to back and/or bottom to top. Particularly powerful, but also very large, are dual-tower coolers with two or even three fans in a sandwich configuration.
- Hybrids, or mixed forms, which combine the advantages of top-blow and tower heatsinks.
- Additionally, there are CPU coolers with elegant nickel plating or in various colors, coolers with different numbers and sizes of heat pipes, optimized for various fan formats, and even low-profile CPU coolers specifically designed for the Thin-Mini-ITX standard.