To prevent a CPU from overheating, a cooler is needed. The best cooler depends on the CPU and the amount of cooling needed. A heat sink is a common cooler, but a fan is often required as well. Liquid cooling is more effective but more expensive. Proper installation is important to avoid damaging the CPU.
The best cooler for the central processing unit (CPU) in your computer will depend on the CPU you have in your computer and how hot you tend to run it. Unless you’re using a liquid cooling system inside your computer, your CPU cooler will likely include a heat sink and fan to disperse the heat transferred to it. You should look for a cooler that provides the amount of cooling you need and hopefully isn’t too loud. The best CPU cooler for your needs should also be able to effectively hook up to your CPU without damaging the processor.
The CPU inside a computer works like the heart of a computer, regulating all other systems inside the machine. This typically produces heat, though, so some form of CPU cooler is needed to keep it from literally burning out. With previous generations of CPUs, a heat sink was often all that was needed to dissipate heat away from the CPU. Today, however, a CPU cooler usually requires a dedicated fan to further assist the heat sink in dispersing heat.
A heat sink is a fairly small device installed directly on the CPU. It usually has the appearance of a block of metal, with a thick flat base and the rest divided into individually cut plates or pins. As a CPU cooler, the heat sink works through heat transfer; it touches the CPU and the heat is transferred from the CPU to the heat sink. The design of the heat sink, with individual plates or studs, allows air to pass through and transfer heat from the heat sink to the air, which is then expelled from the computer tower by fans built into the tower.
Most CPUs today run hot, especially if they’ve been overclocked by a manufacturer or user to be more powerful, and a heat sink usually also uses a fan. Some systems use two fans, though often one is all that is needed. The fan on a CPU cooler should be powerful enough to effectively cool the CPU being used, or it could lead to poor performance and computer crashes. There are numerous websites for CPU cooler manufacturers and computer enthusiasts with reviews of different types of coolers and recommendations for different systems.
Different types of heat sinks can be attached in different ways, and you should be sure that any heat sink you purchase can be properly attached to your motherboard and CPU. Some heatsinks can also be a little too big and can damage the CPU during installation, so research user reviews to make sure you don’t have this problem. You may also want to consider a liquid-based computer and CPU cooler.
A liquid cooling system can often be a more expensive cooler, but it’s also usually more effective. As a conductor of heat, liquid is typically superior to air, so the liquid system is able to pull heat away from the CPU much more efficiently than a standard heat sink. These types of systems may not be necessary for most home computer users, but those using more powerful machines may want to look into them.
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