Misinformation in the threads?

[Hikakiller]

So, I'm new to actually participating in the Tom's Hardware community, and I love it, but I've noticed that there's a lot of misinformation. Some of the threads that professionals don't look at or comment in end up quite oddly bound. Some articles I've seen are ones stating that the new skylake processors will have less cores, (instead of 2-4, it would be 1-2) and some other articles state that the Hyper 212 Evo's heatpipes have refrigerant in them (Maybe they have some type of liquid, the tops seem crimped) and the like.

Is there any way I can help, other than to comment and hope the OP listens to me (who I hope is correct)? I don't want to comment multiple times, or act obnoxious, but sometimes these posts are just plain wrong.

 

[Vitric9]

Lets hope that we can provide what knowledge or links to knowledge the best we can , the OP will be the one who decides what they read and what they do not. That is the beauty of an open internet, we can choose to take it or leave it weather it is bad news or good news , bad advice , good advice...

okay so i had a video or clip in my mind but i cannot remember what channel or what 'youtuber' said it. But it would have summed up what i'm trying to say rather well.

 

[USAFRet]

We can't be everywhere...

If you see some incorrect info, chime in with a comment.
"Hey, I don't think that's right, blah, blah..."

 

[QSV]

There is a lot of misinformation going on here. Even from people who have many badges.
If you know they are wrong, just correct them and if you want to react to their flames, just do it with facts, but dont get sucked into a war with them.

 

[Saberus]

IFAIK the only reason there would be fewer cores is for the same reason as the current gen5 chips: a select number of them are using a reduced core count to put in a slightly beefier iGP. It won't be all of them, or it could be none of them done this way. It makes no sense now that almost everything is starting to be coded to optimize multi-core processing, not just the OS.

Most heat pipes are water or methanol filled if I'm not mistaken. Fluorocarbon refrigerants need phase change to work, that's just not happening in a heatpipe with no compressor. Some air conditioners, mostly really old, use water or antifreeze as a coolant, but not refrigerant. Some of these are called swamp coolers.

Unless someone's giving heinously bad advice that could cause harm to another's person or property, I wouldn't worry about it too much, just post the facts. Charlatans will be revealed eventually.

 

[Hikakiller]

IFAIK the only reason there would be fewer cores is for the same reason as the current gen5 chips: a select number of them are using a reduced core count to put in a slightly beefier iGP. It won't be all of them, or it could be none of them done this way. It makes no sense now that almost everything is starting to be coded to optimize multi-core processing, not just the OS.

Most heat pipes are water or methanol filled if I'm not mistaken. Fluorocarbon refrigerants need phase change to work, that's just not happening in a heatpipe with no compressor. Some air conditioners, mostly really old, use water or antifreeze as a coolant, but not refrigerant. Some of these are called swamp coolers.

Unless someone's giving heinously bad advice that could cause harm to another's person or property, I wouldn't worry about it too much. Charlatans will be revealed eventually.

It's not so much a single person i was worried about, but the entire thread would turn in that direction and it was horrifying

 

[InvalidError]

Heat pipes in the Hyper 212 and other heatsinks DO contain a phase-change liquid of some sort that does perform a very similar heat transfer function to the refrigerant in compressor-based cooling loops. The difference is that instead of choosing a refrigerant that has a wide working temperature range (below 0C at the evaporator, 40C or more on the condenser), the working fluid in heat pipes evaporates and condenses at temperatures just above ambient. The CPU boils off the liquid, the liquid moves elsewhere in the pipe by natural convection, condenses and flows back to the CPU.

 

[synphul]

It's totally up to the op, some people truly want help (most I would say), some simply can't be bothered and just want an easy answer, others just want to hear what they want to hear. Everyone is different. As far as seeing incorrect information, my approach is to try and clarify things and back it up with reputable links as best I can.

For instance, the 212 evo having refrigerant in the cooling pipes. It does have a liquid solution though it's not what I would consider a refrigerant. It doesn't use active phase change cooling, rather the heat is transferred within the heatpipes which are sintered through capillary action. That's how most heatpipes work in coolers that use them. Another thing to keep in mind is there are a lot of people from various regions posting on these forums, not everyone speaks english as a native language. They may say 'refrigerant' and mean 'coolant' or a liquid 'solution' and it may just come across as being incorrect while the intention is spot on.

Here's a sample of a zalman cooler with a heatpipe opened up to show the internals and explain how it works. With slight differences, the basic concept can be applied to other coolers.
http://www.frostytech.com/articleview.cfm?articleID=2616

More of a basic overview including pc coolers using heatpipes can be found on wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heat_pipe

You also have to consider the source of information, is it some random blog? Or is a tech site known for testing various things like tom's, anandtech, bit-tech, etc. As an enthusiast, if I personally see a claim made or information that seems unlikely I go looking for other sources to confirm or refute it. Including sources can be a good way to show people that you're trying to help. Let them see for themselves (if they're truly looking for correct info a quick read of a source won't be an inconvenience). I don't ever expect people to take my word for it at face value, anyone can say something like 'intel cpu's are just fine running at 105c'. Obviously that's a statement that doesn't jive with what the vast majority agree on, so while skeptical of such a comment I would ask someone to show how they came about this information. Is there a site someplace that's tested and confirmed this, statements from intel's engineering dept, anything like that.

In the end, many of the people here are trying to help and it goes to the old saying that you can lead a horse to water but can't make them drink. But at least you've tried to give people the most accurate info you can, it's likely more knowledge than they had but it's up to them to follow the advice or not.

Just as an update because this is a perfect example. InvalidError mentioned it's a phase change liquid in the coolers. In a sense it is. Then I came along and said it's not active phase change, when my meaning was it doesn't use a gas compressed via a compressor with a condensor and evaporator and pressure switches similar to an air conditioning setup. There are some 'active' coolers like peltiers which can chill a heat source to below ambient. Heatpipes use natural physics to do something similar but cannot chill anything to below ambient. At face value it appears we have opposing views/facts but in reality they're very close to one another. It doesn't mean either of us gave misinformation, just variation in wording is all.

 

[g-unit1111]

There is a lot of misinformation going on here. Even from people who have many badges.
If you know they are wrong, just correct them and if you want to react to their flames, just do it with facts, but dont get sucked into a war with them.

The badge system is a very hotly debated topic among us moderators. On this site, pretty much anybody can get a badge for saying anything, and anyone can select or deselect best answers. And that means that we get people all the time who literally think this site is a game and game the system by creating multiple accounts so they can rack up best answers.

But the truth is - this site isn't a game. These are real people spending their real, hard earned dollars on real PCs and components to use for gaming or generating income. These are real people coming to us with real life PC problems that need solving with prudent information. This is a very diverse international community with members all over the world. Threads from this site turn up in Google searches, and as a result a lot of this board's policies, such as anti piracy are actually the result of Google's policies and not necessarily those of this website or its' parent company.

That creates a lot of headache for us moderators. It's why we get on people when we see "some random guy on YouTube" as a source of information with not much else posted in the thread. That's not a source. There are some people that really want to help others, as people have pointed out in this thread. And there's those that just want to rack up as many points and badges as they can. It's like they said in Scarface - "The guys that last in this business are the ones that fly straight. Low key, quiet. But the guys who want it all - chicas, champagne, flash... they don't last."