Heat sink material refers to the specific material used by the heat sink. The thermal conductivity of each material is different, from high to low, which are silver, copper, aluminum and steel. However, if silver is used as heat sink, it will be too expensive, so a better solution is to use copper. Although aluminum is much cheaper, its thermal conductivity is obviously not as good as copper (only about 50% of copper).
At present, the common materials of heat sink are copper and aluminum alloy, which have their own advantages and disadvantages. Copper has good thermal conductivity, but the price is expensive, the processing is difficult, the weight is too large (many pure copper radiators exceed the weight limit of CPU), the heat capacity is small, and it is easy to oxidize. However, pure aluminum is too soft to be used directly. Only the used aluminum alloy can provide enough hardness. The advantages of aluminum alloy are low price and light weight, but its thermal conductivity is much worse than that of copper. Some radiators have their own advantages. A copper plate is embedded in the base of the aluminum alloy radiator.
For ordinary users, the use of aluminum heat sink has been enough to meet the cooling needs.
In terms of heat sink materials, each material has different thermal conductivity, which is arranged from high to low, namely silver, copper, aluminum and steel. However, if silver is used as heat sink, it will be too expensive, so a better solution is to use copper. Although aluminum is much cheaper, its thermal conductivity is obviously not as good as copper (only about 50% of copper).
Heat sink plays an important role in the composition of radiator. In addition to the active cooling of fans, the evaluation of a radiator depends largely on the heat absorption ability and heat conduction ability of the radiator itself.