Is it recommended to use a processor's serial heatsink?

When it comes to making a good investment in a computer, many users don't worry too much about its cooling and how the heat generated by the processor dissipates, in most cases leaving it with the serial heatsink to save costs. This may be a solution to muddle through, but it's not a highly recommended option in the long run.

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The classic serial processor heatsink

The heatsinks that come with the purchase of an Intel processor are of a very low quality that hardly has what it takes to dissipate heat and for the processor to function properly. But when using cheap materials , they are noisy and do not dissipate all the heat they should, especially in summer, where temperatures are usually 12 to 15 degrees above normal or more.

This is where we enter dangerous terrain, if the temperatures rise too high, the processor may have thermal throttling , this would give us a blue screen and the computer would shutdown or restart without warning as protection.

While AMD has done much better with its new heatsinks for AMD Ryzen 3, 5 and 7, although it does not allow high-performance overclocking, it does dissipate quite well at factory frequencies. We have already seen many users with an AMD Ryzen 5 1600 with a frequency of 3.7 GHz with the heatsink as standard and acceptable temperatures.

Comparison of an i5 with a serial heatsink

The guys at Linus Tech Tips made a comparison of a fourth-generation i5 in various frequencies and situations in 2015. In the graph we can see an example of an i5-4690K processor with a serial heatsink at stock speed, reaching 76 degrees with the processor at full power, and which clearly touches the operating temperature limit of this processor, but in conditions normal should reach 90 degrees (they would have a very good CPU, come on Intel gave it its best chips).

While we see that with a Cooler Master Hyper T4 it reaches 63 degrees and that with a compact double radiator cooling (240 mm of surface) it stays at a fantastic 47 degrees. In this graph you can see that there is a different one up to -25 ºC using good refrigeration. If you continue watching the video, you can see a low efficiency when a slight overclock at +4 GHz is applied…

Buy a heatsink? The option we recommend

Currently there is a wide variety of third-party heatsinks that can cost between 30 euros to 60 euros. For example, the Arctic Freezer 33 Plus or any heatsink from the Austrian brand Noctua are adapted for both Intel and AMD platforms (in noctua they are finished in SE-AM4). And is that another benefit of buying a mid-range heatsink, is that it allows us a greater margin to perform overclocking and a greater longevity for our beloved processor. Although if you have space in your chassis and your pocket allows it, we recommend a Water Cooler .

Liquid cooling important for overclocking

We believe that opting for liquid cooling would only be recommended in case you want to overclock your processor very generously or you already know why it needs to dissipate a lot of heat (case of the Intel i9: Skylake-X). As we have seen in the graph, the temperatures that can be achieved with liquid cooling are even lower than air cooling, but it is also a more expensive cooling system. Currently you can get a basic liquid cooling kit for about 60 and you can see up to 130 euros easily. Are you still having doubts? You can expand more information in our air and liquid cooling guide.

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I hope this article has been useful to you and if you ask everything you need to know. Thanks for reading!

Via Linus Tech Tips (Youtube)