Product type
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Fan. Classic fan — a motor with blades that provides air flow; it also includes multi-fan kits. Anyway, you should not confuse such devices with coolers (see below) — fans do not have heatsinks. Almost all solutions of this type are designed for enclosures (see "Intended use"), only a few models are designed for "blowing" hard drives or chipsets.
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Radiator. Thermally conductive material construction with a special ribbed shape. This shape provides a large area of contact with air, as a result — good heat transfer. Radiators do not consume energy and operate absolutely silently, but they are not very efficient. Therefore, they are extremely rare in their pure form, and such models are intended either for low-power PC components with low heat dissipation (energy-efficient processors, hard drives, etc.), or for assembling an active cooler (see below) from a separately purchased fan and radiator (this option is found among solutions for video cards).
—
Active cooler. A device in the form of a radiator with a fan installed on it; however, in many models, the heatsink does not directly contact the cooled component, but is connected to it using heat pipes, while air is blown sideways (the so-called tower layout, especially popular in systems for the CPU; for more details, see "Blowing the air flow") . Anyway, such designs are, on the one hand, relati
...vely simple and inexpensive, and, on the other hand, quite effective, which makes them an extremely popular type of Cooling system. In particular, it is in this format that most solutions for CPUs are produced (see "Intended use"), and in general coolers can be used for almost any component of the system, except for the case.
— Water cooling. Water cooling systems consist of three main parts: a water block in direct contact with the cooled component (usually a processor), an external cooler, and a pump (separate or built into the cooler). These components are connected by hoses through which water (or other similar coolant) circulates — it provides heat transfer. And the cooling block is usually a cooler — a system of fans and heatsinks that dissipates heat energy into the surrounding air. Water systems are noticeably more efficient than active coolers (see above), they are suitable even for very powerful and "hot" CPUs, which traditional coolers can hardly cope with. On the other hand, this type of cooling is quite bulky and difficult to install, and it is not cheap.
— A set of LSS. Kit for self-assembly of liquid (water) cooling system. The difference between such solutions and conventional water cooling (see above) lies in the fact that in this case the entire system is supplied as a set of parts, from which the user must assemble the finished coolant himself (whereas in traditional water systems, the matter is usually limited to connecting hoses and filling coolant). Such a format significantly expands the user's options in terms of installation: you can independently choose individual layout nuances, replace some regular parts, supplement the design with third-party elements, etc. On the other hand, the installation itself turns out to be much more complex than traditional water systems. Therefore, very few LSS kits are produced, and they are designed mainly for enthusiast modders who like to experiment with the design and construction of their PCs.
— backplate. A solid metal plate used as a fastener for the cooling system. Serves to prevent the motherboard or video card from bending when deploying a heat dissipation system, and also provides passive cooling for the rear side of those modules with which it is adjacent.
- Water block VRM. A water block that provides efficient cooling of the elements of the VRM (Voltage Regulator Module) CPU power subsystem.
- CPU waterblock. Heat exchanger made of copper or nickel, designed to remove heat from the CPU through the coolant. Used in computer water cooling systems. Most often, processor water blocks are supplied with mounts for certain processor platforms.
- GPU water block. Liquid cooling blocks for the most efficient heat removal from the video card. Similar solutions are produced for a specific group of video cards on a single GPU. GPU water blocks consist of two main parts: the upper one, where a copper alloy heat sink is located, a plastic overlay with liquid channels and a casing to stiffen the structure, as well as a metal plate at the bottom of the block on the reverse side of the printed circuit board.
— A set of fasteners. A set of fasteners for mounting cooling systems on computer motherboard elements. Issued for specific socket versions.Bearing
The type of bearing used in the cooling fan(s).
The bearing is the piece between the rotating axle of the fan and the fixed base that supports the axle and reduces friction. The following types of bearings are found in modern fans:
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Sliding. The action of these bearings is based on direct contact between two solid surfaces, carefully polished to reduce friction. Such devices are simple, reliable and durable, but their efficiency is rather low — rolling, and even more so the hydrodynamic and magnetic principle of operation (see below), provide much less friction.
—
Rolling. They are also called "ball bearings", since the "intermediaries" between the axis of rotation and the fixed base are balls (less often — cylindrical rollers) fixed in a special ring. When the axis rotates, such balls roll between it and the base, due to which the friction force is very low — noticeably lower than in plain bearings. On the other hand, the design turns out to be more expensive and complex, and in terms of reliability it is somewhat inferior to both the same plain bearings and more advanced hydrodynamic devices (see below). Therefore, although rolling bearings are quite widespread nowadays, however, in general, they are much less common than the mentioned varieties.
—
Hydrodynamic. Bearings of this type are filled with a special liquid; wh
...en rotated, it creates a layer on which the moving part of the bearing slides. In this way, direct contact between hard surfaces is avoided and friction is significantly reduced compared to previous types. Also, these bearings are quiet and very reliable. Of their shortcomings, a relatively high cost can be noted, but in fact this moment often turns out to be invisible against the background of the price of the entire system. Therefore, this option is extremely popular nowadays, it can be found in cooling systems of all levels — from low-cost to advanced.
— Magnetic centering. Bearings based on the principle of magnetic levitation: the rotating axis is "suspended" in a magnetic field. Thus, it is possible (as in hydrodynamic ones) to avoid contact between solid surfaces and further reduce friction. Considered the most advanced type of bearings, they are reliable and quiet, but expensive.Min. RPM
The lowest speed at which the cooling fan is capable of operating. Specified only for models with speed control (see below).
The lower the minimum speed (with the same maximum) — the wider the speed control range and the more you can slow down the fan when high performance is not needed (such a slowdown allows you to reduce energy consumption and noise level). On the other hand, an extensive range affects the cost accordingly.
Max. RPM
The highest speed at which the cooling system fan is capable of operating; for models without a speed controller (see below), this item indicates the nominal rotation speed. In the "slowest" modern fans, the maximum speed
does not exceed 1000 rpm, in the "fastest" it can be up
to 2500 rpm and even
more.
Note that this parameter is closely related to the fan diameter (see above): the smaller the diameter, the higher the speed must be to achieve the desired airflow values. In this case, the rotation speed directly affects the level of noise and vibration. Therefore, it is believed that the required volume of air is best provided by large and relatively "slow" fans; and it makes sense to use "fast" small models where compactness is crucial. If we compare the speed of models of the same size, then higher speeds have a positive effect on performance, but increase not only the noise level, but also the price and power consumption.
Max. air flow
The maximum airflow that a cooling fan can create; measured in CFM — cubic feet per minute.
The higher the CFM number, the more efficient the fan. On the other hand, high performance requires either a large diameter (which affects the size and cost) or high speed (which increases the noise and vibration levels). Therefore, when choosing, it makes sense not to chase the maximum air flow, but to use special formulas that allow you to calculate the required number of CFM depending on the type and power of the cooled component and other parameters. Such formulas can be found in special sources. As for specific numbers, in the most modest systems, the performance
does not exceed 30 CFM, and in the most powerful systems it can be up to 80 CFM and even
more.
It is also worth considering that the actual value of the air flow at the highest speed is usually lower than the claimed maximum; see Static Pressure for details.
MTBF
The total time that a cooling fan is guaranteed to run before it fails. Note that when this time is exhausted, the device will not necessarily break — many modern fans have a significant margin of safety and are able to work for some more period. At the same time, it is worth evaluating the overall durability of the cooling system according to this parameter.
Air flow direction
The direction in which the active cooler (see "Type") airflow exits.
This parameter is relevant primarily for models used with processors, but the options can be as follows:
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Sideways (scattering). Operation format typical for coolers of the so-called tower design. In these models, the fan is mounted perpendicular to the substrate in contact with the processor, due to which the airflow moves parallel to the motherboard. This ensures maximum efficiency: the heated air does not return to the processor and other system components, but is dissipated in the case (and almost immediately goes outside if the computer has at least one case fan). The main disadvantage of this option is the large height of the structure, which can make it difficult to place it in some system units. However, in most cases this point is not fundamental — especially when it comes to a powerful cooling system designed for an advanced system with a performant "hot" processor. So, it is side dissipation that is the most popular option nowadays — especially in coolers with a maximum TDP of 150 W and higher (although more modest models often use this layout).
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Down (to the motherboard). This format of operation allows you to "lay" the fan with a heatsink flat on the motherboard, significantly reducing the height of the entire cooler (compared to models using side blowing). On the other hand, this form
...at of work is not very efficient — after all, before dissipating through the case, hot air again blows over the board with the processor. So nowadays, this option is relatively rare, and mainly in low-power coolers with an acceptable TDP of up to 150 W. And you should pay attention to such models mainly when there is little space in the case and a small cooler height is more important than high efficiency.Lighting
The presence
of its own illumination in the design of the cooling system.
The backlight serves a purely aesthetic function — it gives the device a stylish appearance that blends well with other components in the original design. Thanks to this, such cooling systems are especially appreciated by gamers and fans of external PC modding — especially since the lighting can be different, and the most advanced models even provide backlight synchronization with other components (see below). On the other hand, this function does not affect the efficiency and performance, and the overall cost is inevitably affected, sometimes quite noticeably. Therefore, if the appearance does not play a fundamental role for you, the best choice, most likely, will be
a cooling system without backlight.
Lighting colour
The colour of the backlight installed in the cooling system.
See above for more details on the backlight itself. Also note here that in the illumination of modern cooling systems there is both one colour (most often
red or
blue, less often
green,
yellow,
white or
purple), and multi-colour systems such as
RGB and
ARGB. The choice of a single-colour backlight depends mainly on aesthetic preferences, but the last two varieties should be touched upon separately.
The basic principle of operation of both RGB and ARGB systems is the same: the design provides for a set of LEDs of three basic colours — red (Red), green (Green) and blue (Blue), and by changing the number and brightness of the included LEDs, you can not only intensity, but and tint of light. The difference between these options differs in functionality: RGB systems support a limited set of colours (usually up to one and a half dozen, or even less), while ARGB allows you to choose almost any shade from the entire available colour range. At the same time, both of them can support backlight synchronization (see below); in general, this function is not required for RGB and ARGB systems, but it is used almost e
...xclusively in them.