Hot Heatsink vs Warm Heatsink

[Aolish]

I sometimes hear that hot heatsinks means bad news while others say that a hotter heatsink means better thermal conductivity between the CPU and the heatsink. Which means the CPU itself will be cooler. Which is true? thx in advance for any info.

 

[rhino56]

well if you use artic silver 5 you dont have to worry about it. unless its not mounted right

 

[Rip the Jacker]

Warm = Above Cool and Below Hot
Hot = Above Warm

 

[theMan]

well, hot would be very good imho. i mean, if the cpu is giving of 100C of heat, and the heatsink is 100c, the cpu could be close to 0c right?

 

[Gamingphreek]

The hotter the HS is teh better. If it is cool then that is a major problem because that means, the heatsinks is a horrible heat conductor or you are making proper contact with what you are supposed to be cooling. The hotter it is the better conductor, the better the heat disipation.

-Kevin

 

[Nezsem]

Well, the heatsink being hotter makes mroe sense to me =/

 

[Greenman]

Originally posted by: theman
well, hot would be very good imho. i mean, if the cpu is giving of 100C of heat, and the heatsink is 100c, the cpu could be close to 0c right?

The cpu is the heat source, and it will always be hotter than the heatsink. So if the heatsink is 100C, the cpu will be hotter than 100C. How much hotter depends on the heatsink material.

 

[CrispyFried]

Are you guys sure about this?

After all if the hs is properly mounted and the hs is warm (not hot) it can also mean it is disapating heat properly.

Take a properly mounted hs and stick a crappy fan on it, it will be hot (ie poor cooling). Stick a good fan and it will be warm (ie good cooling).

Best way to tell is check the hs temp vs the cpu temp. They should be close.