[8-Ball]

Ok, so I haven't been around fo a long time, but I did do some calculations on heat pipes a while back.

Anyway, if you break a heat pipe up into a series of thermal restrictions, you get the following

1. Conduction from outside of heat pipe across copper wall
2. Vaporisation of heat transfer media
3. Transport of vapour throughout heat pipe
4. Condensation of heat transfer media
5. Conduction from inside heat pipe across copper wall.

The beauty of a heatpipe is that it can move heat from a small heat source and transfer it to a large heat dissipating area.

However, the first 2 stages listed above are not improved if the size of the heatpipe and the attached cooling area is increased. They are determined by the size of the heat source. The 1st stage is relatively small due to the copper walls being thin. The problem is the 2nd stage. While doing calculations on a waterblock incorporating a thermabase, I discovered that this step was limiting and for most processors, was already MORE of a restriction than some high performance waterblocks.

In other words, heat pipes will not rival watercooling for performance applications, but may offer some benefits for silent applications as with zalman.

The value of watercooling a heatpipe is negligable.

I hope this makes sense.

8-ball