Product:	Cooler Master HHC-001 CPU Cooler
Price:	$65 (CAN) / $40 (U.S)
Supplied By:	Coolermaster
Author:	BigDaddy
Date:	April 6th, 2002
Rating:

Heat Pipe Technology: What exactly is a heat pipe and how does it make a heat sink fan more efficient? Well, the answer isn't rocket science, but it is close. Close in the sense that heat pipe technology was first put to use in aerospace applications. More recently, heat pipes have been used in laptops, where space is at a premium and large heat sinks are impractical or impossible to work with. So, what makes a heat pipe work?

 

Image courtesy of Thermacore International, Inc.

 

Heat pipes have a small amount of liquid in them, and have an internal porous lining which can be likened to a wick. At the evaporator, liquid is vaporized from the wick, and works its way toward the condenser. When the heat is extracted from the vapor, it condenses back into a liquid state, and works its way down the wick back to the evaporator.

Click image for larger view

Click image for larger view

 

You can see the two heat pipes are positioned closely together at the base of the heat sink. As they work up to the top of the heat sink and fan, they are spread out to opposite ends of the heat sink to maximize on heat dispersal.

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Cooler Master HHC-001 copper base

 

Also evident is CoolerMaster's patented spring clip. Instead of a small notch to insert a Phillips head screwdriver in to act as a lever, the clip incorporates a large thumb pad for easy clip installation. The contact area of the heatsink is smooth, with only minor scratches I can only assume resulted from the packaging process. Lapping could improve the overall surface contact, but it is not required. It was interesting to note that the portion of the heatsink which sits above the socket and does not come in contact with the processor had better finish, with almost mirror-like reflection, than did the "business end" of the heatsink.