heatsink

A heat sink (also commonly spelled heatsink) is a passive heat exchanger that transfers the heat generated by an electronic or a mechanical device to a fluid medium, often air or a liquid coolant, where it is dissipated away from the device, thereby allowing regulation of the device's temperature at optimal levels. In computers, heat sinks are used to cool central processing units or graphics processors. Heat sinks are used with high-power semiconductor devices such as power transistors and optoelectronics such as lasers and light emitting diodes (LEDs), where the heat dissipation ability of the component itself is insufficient to moderate its temperature.
A heat sink is designed to maximize its surface area in contact with the cooling medium surrounding it, such as the air. Air velocity, choice of material, protrusion design and surface treatment are factors that affect the performance of a heat sink. Heat sink attachment methods and thermal interface materials also affect the die temperature of the integrated circuit. Thermal adhesive or thermal grease improve the heat sink's performance by filling air gaps between the heat sink and the heat spreader on the device. A heat sink is usually made out of copper and/or aluminium. Copper is used because it has many desirable properties for thermally efficient and durable heat exchangers. First and foremost, copper is an excellent conductor of heat. This means that copper's high thermal conductivity allows heat to pass through it quickly. Aluminum is used in applications where weight is a big concern.

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  1. bogart99

    Question Crucial P5 SSD

    Am wanting to install a heatsink on the topside, over the label, of a Crucial P5 NVMe SSD. The top is uneven due to components will adding a heatsink make much difference? Have chatted to Crucial waste of time guy had not a clue.
  2. A

    Samsung 980 PRO heatsink

    I purchased a Samsung 980 Pro drive and it has a branding label across the chips. The label is quite thin. The drive will go in a desktop chassis. Do I need to fit a heatsink on this drive and if so is it OK to stick it on the label?
  3. frankie carbone

    SSD M.2 1TB Samsung 980 PRO Heatsink NVMe PCIe 4.0

    hi can anybody confirm if i have to update SSD M.2 1TB Samsung 980 PRO Heatsink NVMe PCIe 4.0 to install into ps5 thanks
  4. pixel8

    Heatsink position

    Hi all... Part of my graphics card heatsink covers up/sits above my 2nd pcie port. My question is can i turn the heatsink round to give more space in order to access the port? My card is a geforce-gt-1030 (MSI NVIDIA GeForce GT 1030 Silent / Low Profile 2GB DDR4 Graphics Card - Novatech). The...
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