Hey guys. This is a trick, which I've learned from a certified electrician (and the owner of a computer repair store.)

If you look at any big speakers, you will notice most have a heatsink that is external. (On the back of the unit.)

Don't touch the heatsink, want to know why? Any good pair of speakers will have a SHARP heatsink. (Aka: Its sharp because its roughed up. Not sanded smooth.) Want to know why? Simple.

A roughed up heatsink that is not sanded smooth, will disperse heat better. Don't ask me how, but I've been told this by a lot of people.

Now, how do you make your silky smooth heatsink, into a rough and tough bad boy? Well...

Try sanding it with heavy grit/heavy coarse sandpaper. Rough it up. Make it so it isnt pretty, and so it will look like it has slivers. (Or you could somehow grind/dremel it.)


There ya go!
-HDC

Yep. Rough heatsinks have more surface area. More surface area = more heat dissipation.

The only part you don't want to scour is the side that contacts the heat source. You actually want that to be as smooth as possible, for the best possible heat transfer.

Yes, so do not rough up the bottom. Rough up the top and sides.

Well that's interesting. That may have been common sense to some, but I never thought about doing that.

Hate to bump a dying thread, but as Palmer has said on MR, sanding heatsinks doesn't get you far. What little surface area sanding does add, is shadowed by the fact that it is harder for air to move over a rough surface. Heatsink + No air flow = Right back where you were.

To summarize my critique:

This is useful for heatsinks without a fan. If you have a fan, you are better off having a smooth heatsink, there is a reason PCs are made with smooth heatsinks.

In addition, the surface area you are adding is minuscule at best. A far better way would be to take a dremel and make a lot of thin, shallow cuts in the surface.

Whos willing to put some hardware on the line and test this?

How would you test it? We are looking at a MAYBE 5% difference either way.

Like I have said before, bad for heatsinks with fans, and thought not the best solution, good for ones without airflow over them.

I sanded my heatsink on my n64 portable, I couldn't tell the difference, but it may have helped.