Matching CPU to Heatsink Cooler: Does It Matter?

By Tom Jaskulka

Back when I was given an opportunity to review SilverStone’s new Argon series of coolers, the system I was using at the time for testing CPU coolers was based on an AM3+ processor. The AR03 was recommended out of the two for my platform, due to it’s larger physical size than a Socket 1155 CPU – for which the smaller AR01 would be more appropriate.

This generated some questions for me – exactly how much of a difference does this make? How important is it to pick an appropriate cooler for your platform, and what exactly does that even mean? Ultimately they’re all just a chunk of metal that transfers some heat, right? I took the opportunity to compare the AR01 and AR03 Argon coolers from SilverStone on two different platforms to see some data. I had a theory, now it’s time to put it to the test!

I don’t foresee any fundamental scientific discoveries here (a lot of the following information will fall under the “common sense” category), but I was curious what the difference between these two coolers would be on different-sized CPUs. What follows is a short summary of what I found!

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