This is used to remove heat from the CPU, where the fins spread out, expanding the surface area for heat to dissipate with the air, which is moved around with the Fan on top.
Intel Stock coolers are the MOST COMMON types of coolers out there, this is because users with no such knowledge do not know much about computers, or probably do not mind. Computer enthusiasts though, like myself do get itchy and picky about everything inside our PCs, even the heatsink.
Intel Stock coolers end up noisy, and clogged with dust, causing multiple problems such as higher temperatures and heat dump.
Most enthusiasts will recommend a new heatsink, especially when your current stock one is either noisy, clogged or both.
There are different form factors of Heatsinks, the most popular are:
In a tower heat sink, the metal rods are placed erect, perpendicular to the base, or the CPU. This is currently the most efficient way to cool a CPU with air. The horizontal lines are the fins, usually made of Aluminium, radiate the heat to the air.
Tower heatsinks can work both passively and with one or more fans (2 is usually the most, more than that is a waste of power and money).
Here is an example of a very efficient and cheap cooler, the Coolermaster Hyper TX3.
As you could see from the previous pictures, the heatsink has a fan attached on one face of the heatsink, where it is able to blow sufficient air through the aluminium fins. The orange, shiny rods which go through the multiple fins and up through the final fin at the top, ending with an angled/blunt point. These are metal rods made of Copper, copper is the most conductive metal which is money-wise (silver is best, but that would destroy your wallet).
Compatibility is also an issue with heatsinks. Different series of CPU's have different pin counts, sizes and obviously differ in speed. This leads to different sockets for motherboards.
So far the most common types of CPU socket holes for:
LGA775 - Pentium 4, Celeron, Core2 Duo, Core2 Quad, Core2 Extreme
LGA1156 - Pentium, Intel Core i5 7**, Intel Core i7 8**
LGA1366 - Intel Core i7 9**
LGA1155 - Intel Core i3 21**, Intel Core i5 24**, 25**, Intel Core i7 26**
LGA1155 is based on the new Sandy Bridge CPU architecture, it is quite new and prices are still quite high. It is a great leap from the previous LGA1366 technology, offering similar performance for cheaper.
AM2/AM2+
AM3 - AMD Phenom x6, AMD Phenom x4, AMD Athlon
Aircooling Heatsinks are attached with brackets, which will fit at the back and the front of the motherboard, here is a bracket for the back of an Intel P45chip/ LGA775 motherboard.
Your type of motherboard will depend, doing some research on your motherboard will allow you to fit in a fresh new heatsink.
**NOTE**
If you have a pre-built computer from companies such as DELL, do not open up the PC case, as it will void the warranty. This is why building PCs is great, you can modify, change and tamper with your very own PC anytime, if you know what to do.
The heatsink will have a bracket, or adapter which will comfortably seat the heatsink on top of the heatsink, while holding it firmly in place usually with screws that go through the holes on the motherboard, which are laid out like so:
This is an image of a Heatsink bracket on a 1366 motherboard, the yellow circles surround the Heatsink holes, where the brackets are to be placed on.
Before you buy a Heatsink you must always check for compatibility with your motherboard. Own research is always useful. One way you can check is to look for what type of CPU you have, which can be verified by downloading a program called CPU-Z
After installing the program and running it, it will show you what model of a CPU you have, and it will also show you what type, if it is Intel it will say for example: "LGA1156" which you will find if you search around its user friendly platform.
Heatsinks are quite cheap around, if you find the right ones which will be useful. Other Computer shops trick their customers into thinking that something does not work when there is too much noise, or when the heatsink; clogged with dust overheats and causes the PC to shut down, they will say 'your hardware is faulty'.
Defend yourself from tricks and learn to D.I.Y
The Coolermaster Hyper Tx3 can be bought for around $30.
A great shop is PCCG, whom have great customer service and offer great prices. They sell this for $25
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