How well would this passive cooler work in a 4u tower supermicro case compared to the 4u active cooler from supermicro? Can a passive cooler really handle an 85 watt 8-core xeon?

Question

How well would this passive cooler work in a 4u tower supermicro case compared to the 4u active cooler from supermicro?  Can a passive cooler really handle an 85 watt 8-core xeon?

Accepted Answer

Although the heat sink says "passive", it does rely on a large volume of airflow ducted from case fans. It's meant for a 2U server case with the proper baffles to direct air flow. This could work in a larger case but would require a custom fan/duct setup.

In other words, "passive" in this instance just means the fan isn't directly attached to the heat sink. It's not actually meant for truly passive CPU cooling.

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