ADVANTAGES OF PASSIVE HEAT SINKS OVER ACTIVE HEAT SINKS
ADVANTAGES OF PASSIVE HEAT SINKS OVER ACTIVE HEAT SINKS
While it may seem that a active heat sink is “obviously” better than a passive one, it is not always this simple. An active heat sink does in theory cool better than a passive one is a typical system. However, many large hardware manufacture even top-rated companies used passive heat sink even on high end machine, because they have certain advantages over CPU fans:
- They are not prone to failure the way CPU fans are. Failed active heat sinks can mean very quick processor overheating, but if
- There no fan, there is nothing to stop working.
- They are usually larger or can be made larger than the heat sink that are used with fan.
- They are cheaper, some times by decent amount (think about how many other ways system manufacture are willing to cut corner to safe a few dollars on the cost of the system, and here there is no drawback if it is done properly.
- In addition, newer system using the ATX form factor motherboard and case already have a much larger power supply fan blowing over the processor. If a good sized passive heat sink is used, the power supply fan often provides enough air flow to ensure adequate cooling.