Summary
Highlights
Computers generate heat, and effective cooling is crucial. Fans are commonly used to pull cool air through the system, passing it over hot components and expelling the heated air. Proper airflow management, avoiding obstructions from wires and components, is vital for efficient cooling.
Some adapter cards, particularly high-end video or graphics cards, have their own fans for localized cooling of very warm components. Case fans come in standard sizes (e.g., 80mm, 120mm, 200mm) and are often variable speed, accelerating as the computer heats up. Noise levels are a consideration for different fan types and manufacturers.
Passive cooling, or fanless systems, are used in environments requiring quiet operation, like video servers or set-top boxes. This often involves heat sinks, which spread heat from a component over a larger surface area through fins, allowing air to dissipate the heat. Heat sinks can become very hot, so caution is advised when touching them after the system has been running.
Thermal paste (also known as thermal grease or conductive grease) is applied between a hot component and a heat sink to create a good thermal connection, facilitating heat transfer. A pea-sized amount is typically sufficient. Thermal pads offer an alternative, being less messy and preventing leakage, though slightly less effective than thermal paste. Both are single-use components.
Multiple cooling methods can be combined, such as a CPU with thermal paste/pad, a heat sink, and a fan on top. For more extensive cooling, a larger, sideways-mounted fan can be used with a heat sink. For high-performance needs, like gaming or overclocking, liquid cooling is an effective solution. Liquid cooling systems typically involve a heat sink on the processor, pipes carrying coolant to radiators with fans, which then cool the liquid before it returns to the CPU.