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Views: 24 Author: Site Editor Publish Time: 2022-08-10 Origin: Site
Heat sinks are essential components in various electronic devices and play an important role in helping to dissipate heat and excellent resistive components such as CPUs, IGBTs, etc.
When it comes to heat sink material, we generally think of aluminum and copper. Yes, aluminum and copper heat sinks are widespread, so which is better, aluminum or copper heat sinks? This is a question that many people have. Coolsolte, a CPU heatsink manufacturer, will discuss with you through this article which is better, aluminum or copper heatsinks, and compare the data between them.
For better copper and aluminum heat sinks, we will mainly look at the following three reference factors to compare them: thermal conductivity, weight, and cost.
Thermal Conductivity: The higher the thermal conductivity, the better the material's thermal performance.
As you can see in this table, copper has a higher thermal conductivity than aluminum. The thermal conductivity of aluminum is only 60% of that of copper. This is a point where copper has an advantage.
Material | Thermal Conductivity [BTU/(hr·ft⋅°F)] |
Aluminum | 136 |
Copper | 231 |
Weight: Heat sinks, as components used in electronic equipment components are looking for the lighter, the better in terms of weight.
As the table shows the density of the two metals, aluminum is much less dense at about 30% of copper. This means that aluminum is lighter, and aluminum radiators have an advantage in weight.
Material | Density - ρ - (kg/m3) |
Aluminum | 2712 |
Copper | 8940 |
Cost: Cost is an important indicator that cannot be ignored in any product, and radiators are naturally no exception.
We can see through the table data that aluminum is much cheaper than copper. It costs about a third as much. This is a significant cost saving.
Material | Price in USD per Metric Ton (20 April, 2018) |
Aluminum | $2,463.00 |
Copper | $6,939.00 |
Although comparing the three factors above, aluminum wins two and looks to be the better heat sink choice. Yes, if your electronic device is not very high for the pursuit of thermal performance, an aluminum heat sink is cheap, and lightweight is the best choice. Still, a copper heat sink also has its advantages, that is, more robust thermal performance, so a copper heat sink is a better choice for electronic products with higher thermal needs.
Whether copper radiator or aluminum radiator or, including the now very popular liquid water cooling or, are the advantages of each, each has its market, as consumers, we need to choose the right one according to their own needs, the most cost-effective is the best.
