Keeping the temperature within the safe threshold is crucial for a CPU.
It ensures maximum performance and extended life span of the silicone.
In that venture, the air cooling technique has been around forever.
But what is it?
And how is it done?
Well, in this article, we will delve into the nitty-gritty of this technology.
So, saddle up!
What is CPU Air Cooling?
Air coolers have been invented to alleviate this procedure.
And its the core element when CPU air cooling is brought into the discussion.
So, what is it?
You see, when the heat gets in the way, the CPU starts to choke while processing data.
Its known as Thermal Throttling.
The air cooler, however,lowers the CPU temperatureand makes sure the CPU reaches its highest potential.
That said, what exactly is inside this contraption that does all the magic?
Well, lets take a closer look at the CPU air cooler in the later section.
This could be the whole story, but sadly its not.
When peeping at the inside, the air cooling technology is far more advanced than it looks.
Heat Sink
Looking down on an air cooler, the heavy metal portion is known as the heat sink.
As the name suggests, it sinks heat across the metal.
Well see details on how it works later in this article.
Anyway, the heat sink is not just one element but a combination of several parts.
Cold Plate directs to the bottom of the heat sink, where a metal square is found.
It is also known as a coolers base plate.
It directly touches the IHS of the CPU.
Thermal paste is applied between the two surfaces.
Physically, the cold plate surface is machined flat, smooth, and as even as it can be.
This base plate is primarily made out of copper or aluminum due to its high thermal conductivity rating.
These metals facilitate faster heat transfer in a given time and surface area.
Speaking of surface area, the cold plate covers the entire IHS by design.
This way, heat can be transferred to the heat sink with maximum efficiency.
Through the base plate, some hollow cylindrical metal tubes from both sides go upward.
Both ends of these tubes are sealed perfectly.
These are known as the heat pipes of an air cooler.
Each tube contains a fair amount of liquid.
The liquid material, however, is called coolant.
It can be a composition ofAmmoniumandEthanolorDistilled Water.
Heat pipes are typically made of copper.
The wall of each tube either has sintered copper dust or copper mesh weave.
This helps the evaporated liquid inside the heat pipe to condense.
These are arranged in different numbers, sizes, and intervals.
Not every heat sink has a similar fin array.
Rectangular, curvy, round, or wavy are some of the common patterns.
Dissimilarities are often observed due to how coolers are designed.
The basic function of the fin stack of any heat sink is to disperse heat to the surrounding air.
This increases the cooling capacity of a heat sink and the cooler as well.
Fan
Just like the heat sink, the fan is another crucial component of the CPU air cooler.
Its function is simple; drive away heat from the fins.
Nevertheless, an air cooler will still work without a fan, but dreadfully.
Though, low TDP processors will fair a lot better.
How Does An Air Cooler Act On A CPU?
So far, weve looked at the internal parts of an air cooler.
But how does an air cooler chill down a processor?
At first, the heat from the silicone cores transfers to the CPUs IHS.
The thermal compound between the IHS and the cooler passes the heat to the cold plate.
This is where the phase change of the liquid takes place.
When the liquid engrosses enough energy in the form of heat, it turns into gas.
Just when the fin stack receives heat, it instantaneously spreads it across the large surface of each layer.
And finally, the fans push the heat into the ambient.
It then trickles down with capillary action to the cold plate again and absorbs heat.
This entire process continues in a loop as long as the CPU operates.
With all this being said, an air coolers heat conductive capability is measured by the below equation.
Conductive heat transfer valueq = kAdT/s
Where,
k= Thermal conductivity of the material.
A= Heat transfer area.
dT= Temperature difference across the material.
So thats how air cooling is done on a CPU.
Different manufacturers innovate and improve their cooler designs, retaining the same principle.
And for your convenience, weve compiled a list containing thebest airflow PC casesyou can buy right now!
Have a nice day!
