If there is a product that is selling like hot cakes and millions of units per month, it is undoubtedly Raspberry Pi, also in any of its versions. But if what we need is power in this device, we’ll find that opting for the latest and most powerful model is a bit of a hassle due to the temperatures. Therefore, there are many accessories that alleviate this problem, but as a user you will think, is this better for my Raspberry Pi a fan or one sink? Let’s see.
Playing with a component of this size and price means for the manufacturer to cut as much as possible within safe margins. And although any task involves temperatures above 60º C or 70º C, in summer these figures are higher and produce Thermal limitationsomething we do not want and therefore many users question what to choose.
Raspberry Pi, better a heatsink or a fan?
Well, it’s a decision that’s marked by another key thing, because while there are loose, unitary heatsinks and fans to include in your Raspberry Pi, most prefer other types of systems that help also other functions such as protecting the system against dust. or beatings.
Logically we are talking about the cases, which on many occasions already include a fan, a heatsink or even both. It all really depends on the performance expectation we expect i.e. using the USB port compulsively increases the temperature of the SoC and so a small VRAM type heatsink for PC GPUs almost solves nothing.
For this reason, we are going to be stricter when recommending between the fan and the heatsink. It’s not the most practical, perhaps not the best aesthetically speaking, but we’re going to solve the temperature problem once and for all, that’s ultimately what we want.
Blink Blink ICE TOWER or GeeekPI ICE TOWER
We are going to kill two birds with one stone and although we are referring to this specific heatsink, we really want to refer to the concept of it and not so much to the model. If you want to be calm with your Raspberry Pi even in summer, know how to get all the juice out of it and even overclock it to gain in performance, you need a tower cooler with heat pipes and a fan, like the one your PC could have but in mini format.
These types of heatsinks will fall between 30º C and 40º C the temperature of the same, they contribute a bit of noise as is logical, but they achieve all the objectives that we had set ourselves and there is no better way to achieve them at the present time, because even passive boxes fail to keep the SoC below the 40º C at full capacitywhat this type of heatsinks does.
Its installation is simple and as soon as we include a good thermal paste we will improve even more, so there is no need to choose between a fan or a heatsink for your Raspberry Pi, the better combine the two and forget about any present or future discomfort.
