But you may not know what a heatsink is. You may have only heard about its existence and nothing more.

The first thing that will be described here is the CPU heatsink and its role in the CPU.

This article will first describe what a CPU heatsink is, and what it should do. Then we will get into what a CPU heatsink review should contain so that you can be sure you don't get ripped off.

If you just want to read reviews, check out this site for CPU heatsink reviews.

The heatsink is a component designed to lower the temperature of an electronic device by dissipating heat into the surrounding air.

All modern CPUs require a heat sink. Some also require a fan. A heat sink without a fan is called a passive heat sink; a heat sink with a fan is called an active heat sink.

Heat sinks are generally made of an aluminum alloy and often have fins. If you attempt to operate a CPU without heatsink at all, recent AMD CPUs will usually be permanently damaged within seconds, unless special protection circuitry is available on the motherboard.

P4 CPUs will run excessively slow without cooler.

Now, let's see what this heatsink looks like. To make it simple, a heatsink is nothing else then a strangely formed piece of metal. And in order to get rid of heat this object should have one of the three abilities - radiation, conduction, or ,convection.

First of all comes the radiation. It, as the name suggests, means that the heat is simply radiated away from the object, through electromagnetic radiation (photon transport). This effect is not bound to gas or other substances surrounding the heatsink. Radiation will even take place in a vacuum.

How well an object can radiate heat depends on the material and the color and we all know that black is the best choice.

The second ability is the conduction. It is the exchange of kinetic energy between molecules. Less energetic (lower temperature) particles gain kinetic energy by colliding with more energetic particles (through physical contact).

Since direct contact is required, a heatsink (surrounded by air) cannot get rid of heat using conduction. However, conduction is the effect that's responsible for the heat transfer from the CPU to the heatsink.

The convection is heat transfer by movement of a heated substance (gas or liquid). This means that the heat is transferred to the molecules of the gas (or liquid) surrounding the hot object, and then transported away through movement of molecules.

If the gas or liquid around the object is forced into movement (e.g. by a fan blowing air across a heatsink), then we're dealing with forced convection. The forced convection is the effect that's mainly responsible for the cooling capabilities of a fan-heatsink combo.

When a CPU cooler cools a CPU, most heat is dissipated by forced convection and only in very, very small part by radiation.

There are a few points which have to be "filled" by the author of the review. This is important so that the readers can get the fullest information on the product they are interested in. These points are the features, or the brief information about the manufacturer and the writer's opinion about the particular CPU heatsink.

Here's what should be in a CPU heatsink review...

The dimensions, the rated speed, the rated power, the noise level, the air flow, the life hours Ball, the connector, the thermal resistance and thermal type, and the clip model.

Another important thing you should check in a CPU heatsink review is whether there is a fan or not. It is necessary to be pointed out because as it was mentioned before, there are CPU heatsinks that have a fan and others that don't. If it is not pointed out in a CPU heatsink review you can get mislead. That is why you should be careful.

And if the author of the CPU heatsink review has added his opinion, or the opinion of other users of the particular heatsink, you will get a better idea of the product.

Also, be careful a CPU heatsink reveiw was written by an ubiased author, and not a manufacturer. A CPU heatsink review of this nature can be misleading...

The last thing that can be said about CPU heatsink reviews is that the more pictures it has, the better. Thus the information given is much easier to understand.

Finally, we have reached the end of this article. Hopefully it has helped you make your decision and find useful information about the CPU heatsinks.