The CH5-5K12 QuickSpecs For: Intel PIII and AMD K6-2/3 Dimensions: 54x61x50 mm (2) "U" shaped heatpipes (24) 0.25mm aluminum fins 3mm thick copper base 50x50x10mm fan, 35db, 11.4 cfm Fan 12V, 0.15A Ball Bearing Patent Pending design Cost: about $35

High Tech Parts:

First of all this heatsink uses heatpipes. Heatpipes are pretty much what they sound like. In this case a copper tube of about 1/4" diameter is lined with a coating of sintered metal power. The tubes contain a small amount of working fluid which is used in the cooling process. Since the heatpipe tube is hermetically sealed any increases in temperature easily cause the working fluid to boil and change from a liquid state into a vapor.

The working fluid will move to cooler regions in the heatpipe since a pressure gradient is created by the change in temperatures. The fluid then condenses releasing its stored heat which is then transferred to the surrounding environment via the heatsink. The condensed fluid returns to the heat source via capillary action and the process begins all over again.

All this condensing and movement effectively moves heat away and towards the cooler end of the heatpipes. The process involves no electricity, and while the heatpipes cannot actually cool anything off (they just move heat from one location to another) by themselves, they can make the cooling process easier and more effective.

How? Well for instance just about every single laptop computer on the market comes with heatpipes installed. The heatpipes move the heat generated by the Pentium III processors a few millimeters to one side where a larger finned heatsink and fan can physically be placed. In some configurations the heatpipes actually move the heat from the processor and transfer it a larger metal plate which may be part of the notebooks' metal frame. This effectively turns the entire computer chassis into a giant heatsink of sorts. Notebooks using processors like Transmeta's Crusoe don't need this extra equipment, but any Intel chip would pretty much burn up without it.