Intel’s release of it’s Core i7-980x Extreme 6-Core will surely “heat up” the cpu market. It’s hot at 130W and it’s fast. You can check out a review of Gulftown at Hot Hardware here. But what about cooling it?
Cooling 130W CPU is like any other hot semicondutor. You have to ask yourself the basic questions:
- What maximum heat sink height can you have?
- What maximum heat sink length can you have?
- What maximum heat sink width can you have?
- What is your component length?
- What is your component width?
- What is your available airflow velocity?
- What is the power dissipation?
Having that data you can begin to figure out how to specify the right heat sink. A small system (like a 1u rack mount server) requires a different approach than a cabinet or deskside type of chassis.
In the case of Intel they’ve chosen to suggest their new cooler which is really a fin based heat sink, heat pipe and fan. Put those three together and you have a cooling system. We’ve done a little article on how these gigantic cooling systems work here at heatsinks.wordpress.com; just click to our article here.
