Is a chunky heatsink without fan totally OK, and can I bath my heatsink?

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I have a 6600k and wondered would it be OK to plonk a "Noctua NH-U12P" on top without any fans and no manually overclocking, just the bio's/Intel's own auto-overclocking features (not sure what they're called. Something to do with increasing speed if temps are cool)?

Also, would it be OK to rinse the Noctua in a deep bowl of water and let it dry, and am I right in thinking heatsinks for the old sockets like 1155/1150 etc are compatible with the newer 1151 cpus?

[Bad 💀 Motha]

Yes whatever is compatible with 1155/1150 should affix to 1151
But always check the Heatsink/Cooler specs.

I would not suggest running without any fan; you want ample cooling and active airflow.

And why would u need to "wash" the heatsink. Just blow it clear of dust.

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It's extremely mucky and full of tiny mites (plus the thermal paste), so was wondering if I could give it a quick rinse and dry. I would have to throw away the side fans as they can't be washed obviously.

I was hoping the huge heatsink, which is all metal, would be enough to cool the stock speeds and minor auto-overclocking of a 6600k

[rotNdude]

You need air flow on a heat sink like that. If there's no fan, the heat transfer will be minimal.

Yes you can wash a heat sink, but make sure you don't allow the water to leave mineral deposits. Use a blow dryer to remove all the water and don't bend the cooling fins.

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I'm not sure I can tell if mineral deposits have been left (it's just plain bath water)

For drying all I can do is leave the heatsink near an open window so hope that's good enough.

[Bad 💀 Motha]

If you have a ton of case airflow; perhaps but again why would you; it comes with a fan, use it.

Especially with that CPU. If it was a low-end, low-heat CPU like a Pentium or i3 class, then ok. Still a maybe. As with high loads the CPU will get very hot without any direct air on whatever cooler is installed; when it's a Heatsink cooler and not some sort of Liquid Cooler.

Cleaning it with water? For what... it shouldn't be dirty (as in gunked up) if any dirt, should just be dust, which you can blow off / wipe away.

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I wanted to remove the thermal paste aswell and thought a water rinse would be better than static created by toilet tissues, plus there are tiny moving dots (yikes!)

[Bad 💀 Motha]

Just use a paper towel or wet-wipe & 91% rubbing alcohol
No alcohol? Can get in a 2-pack @ walmart for like $5; plenty to go around with that.

Toilet tissue = NO