FrostyTech apparently requests the sacrifice of the occasional heat pipe based CPU cooler in the interests of curiosity, a benefit of which is that they have shared what they have learned.  It turns out there are a variety of wicks to be found inside; Metal Sintered Powder, Grooved and Metal Mesh (felt) with each wick type having its own benefits and drawbacks.  Some are cheaper to produce and work better in certain orientations, others are a little less discerning but cost more.  Check out the dissection by following the link.

“It’s impossible to tell what type of wick a heatpipe uses in your favourite heatsink just by looking at it from the outside. The heatpipe would need to be cut open to find out the answer to that question, and doing so obviously destroy the thermal solution in the process. Instead we offer a rare look at behind the scenes technology which greatly influences thermal performance of modern CPU heatsinks – the heatpipe wick structure.”

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