Copper vs Aluminum HS

[bob4432]

hypothetical - if i have a copper and aluminum hs unit and all things equal - same exact design, same testing conditions, etc - how much more effiecient is the copper unit compared to the aluminum?

i have seen this chart:http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/tables/thrcn.html and it looks like copper is ~85%+ better thermal conductor, but i am missing something or is it that easy, copper is that much better of a thermal conductor?

thanks in advance

 

[Zepper]

Not enough to justify the extra weight, cost and fragility.

.bh.

 

[bob4432]

Originally posted by: Zepper
Not enough to justify the extra weight, cost and fragility.

.bh.

if that wasn't and issue....strictly from a thermal conductivity standpoint

 

[SparkyJJO]

extra weight and cost I see, fragility though....?

 

[Howard]

You will rarely have to make a choice between two heatsinks of the same geometry but different material. In the cases where there are such heatsinks, the all-copper version performs only a few degrees better than all-aluminum or hybrid version, generally speaking.

 

[bob4432]

ok, thanks for the responses. one more situation - say the material is the same, airflow is the same but one heatsink has 50% more fins, will that make much of a difference?

my questions are because i am going to be modding the gpu cooling on my xbox360. the 360's are know to have a severe gpu cooling issue along with a really bad hs fixture method and i would like to fix it before it becomes an issue. the gpu is in a bad place and the hs is plain aluminum - here is a pic. you can't mount a fan on it because the dvd is directly over it. air is pulled through a shroud that is shared with the cpu cooler, but not seperated. i am going to seperate the airflow so the gpu will get more suction, change the attachment mechanism and thought while i was at it have a friend who has a cnc machine shop make a new hs out of copper, just using the same design. but this doesn't sound like it would do much good since the only change would be to use a different material, so then what about adding ~50% more fins? i am also looking at 1u server hs to see if they are similiar in size as they have a lot of fins and have it modded to fit....

 

[NatePo717]

It is possible to have too many fins. What your looking for is surface area. Longer fins, more fins, etc. If your really interested look around in your local library for heat transfer books. They are bound to have a section on fins.

 

[bob4432]

the a52 looks like it could be modded to work, but like NatePo717 pointed out, are there too many fins? how does one know?

 

[NatePo717]

Originally posted by: bob4432
the a52 looks like it could be modded to work, but like NatePo717 pointed out, are there too many fins? how does one know?

If you REALLY want to know there's a lot of complex equations for determining the most effective number of fins given a set fin thickness and base area. I would have to dig through my heat transfer book and notes to try to find it. I actually think I did a problem similar to this back when I took heat transfer.... if I could only remember how to do it >_<.

EDIT: I found it! I'd have to scan it cause it's like 3 pages of stuff...

Here they are.
Page 1
Page 2
Page 3
Page 4

Sorry about my hand writing.... If you need an explanation of the equations I can look into that too but not tonight. Takes too much thought.

 

[bob4432]

Originally posted by: NatePo717

Originally posted by: bob4432
the a52 looks like it could be modded to work, but like NatePo717 pointed out, are there too many fins? how does one know?

If you REALLY want to know there's a lot of complex equations for determining the most effective number of fins given a set fin thickness and base area. I would have to dig through my heat transfer book and notes to try to find it. I actually think I did a problem similar to this back when I took heat transfer.... if I could only remember how to do it >_<.

EDIT: I found it! I'd have to scan it cause it's like 3 pages of stuff...

Here they are.
Page 1
Page 2
Page 3
Page 4

Sorry about my hand writing.... If you need an explanation of the equations I can look into that too but not tonight. Takes too much thought.

thanks, i will look them over this weekend 🙂