The present invention represents a significant advancement in the field of cooling systems for computer hardware. In one embodiment, a system for cooling a heat-generating electronic device is provided. The system is mountable to a first side of a circuit board. The system includes a first set of fins, a fan operable to force air through the first set of fins, and a first heat pipe to conduct heat from the heat-generating electronic device to the first set of fins. One advantage of the disclosed cooling system is that it more equally distributes heat across the fins and more equally distributes airflow across surfaces of the fins. Thus, the design increases the effective area of the fin surfaces used in for transferring heat from the heat-generating electronic device to the air, resulting in a more efficient cooling system.