Heat Sink
pcA heat sink is a passive heat exchanger that transfers thermal energy from a higher temperature device to a lower temperature fluid medium.
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Heat sinks are essential in computers to dissipate the thermal energy produced by electronic components such as CPUs, GPUs, and chipsets, preventing them from overheating and potentially failing. A typical heat sink consists of a series of fins or pins connected to its base, which increases its surface area and allows for more efficient heat dissipation into the surrounding air.
examples
Aluminum heat sinks used in desktop CPUs with dimensions of 100 mm x 100 mm x 30 mm (3.94 in x 3.94 in x 1.18 in) and thermal resistance of 0.5 K/W.
Commonly used in mid-range desktop computers to manage the heat output from CPUs with a Thermal Design Power (TDP) up to 95 W.
Copper heat sinks utilized in high-performance graphic cards, with a fin stack height of 40 mm (1.57 in) and active cooling support via dual fans.
Applied in gaming and workstation PCs where the Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) have high power consumption exceeding 200 W.