The heat dissipation method refers to the main way in which the heat sink emits heat. In thermodynamics, heat dissipation is heat transfer, and there are three main ways of heat transfer: heat conduction, heat convection, and heat radiation. When the substance itself or when it comes into contact with matter, the transfer of energy is called heat conduction, which is the most common form of heat transfer. High-power heat pipe radiators, for example, the way in which the CPU heat sink base is in direct contact with the CPU to remove heat is heat conduction. Heat convection refers to the heat transfer mode of the flowing fluid (gas or liquid) to the tropics. In the heat dissipation system of the computer case, the "forced heat convection" heat dissipation method that drives the gas flow is more common. Thermal radiation refers to the transfer of heat by ray radiation, the most common of which is solar radiation. These three heat dissipation methods are not isolated. In the daily heat transfer, these three heat dissipation methods are simultaneous and work together.

In fact, any type of heat sink basically uses the above three heat transfer methods at the same time, but the focus is different. For example, an ordinary CPU air-cooled heat sink, the CPU heat sink is in direct contact with the CPU surface, and the heat of the CPU surface is transferred to the CPU heat sink through heat conduction; the heat-dissipating fan generates airflow to remove the heat of the CPU heat sink surface through heat convection; The flow of air also carries away the heat from the air around the CPU heat sink through heat convection until it is outside the chassis; at the same time, all parts with high temperatures radiate heat to the low temperature parts.

The heat dissipation efficiency of the heat sink is related to the thermal conductivity of the heat sink material, the heat capacity of the heat sink material and the heat sink medium, and the effective heat dissipation area of the heat sink.

According to the way the heat is removed from the heat sink, the heat sink can be divided into active heat dissipation and passive heat dissipation. The former is usually an air-cooled heat sink, and the latter is usually a heat sink. Further subdivided heat dissipation methods can be divided into air cooling, heat pipe, liquid cooling, semiconductor refrigeration, compressor refrigeration and so on.

Air-cooled heat is the most common and very simple, using a fan to remove the heat absorbed by the heat sink. It has the advantages of relatively low price and simple installation, but it is highly dependent on the environment. For example, when the temperature rises and overclocking, its heat dissipation performance will be greatly affected.

A heat pipe is a heat transfer element with extremely high thermal conductivity, which transfers heat by evaporation and condensation of liquid in a fully enclosed vacuum tube. It utilizes a fluid principle such as a sucking action to effect a refrigeration similar to that of a refrigerator compressor. It has extremely high thermal conductivity, good isothermality, heat transfer area on both sides of cold and heat, arbitrarily changeable, long-distance heat transfer, temperature control, etc., and heat exchangers composed of heat pipes have heat transfer efficiency. High, compact structure, small fluid resistance and other advantages. Due to its special heat transfer characteristics, it can control the wall temperature and avoid dew point corrosion.

Liquid cooling is the use of liquid to force the circulation to take away the heat of the radiator under the driving of the pump. Compared with air cooling, it has the advantages of quietness, stable temperature stability and low dependence on the environment. However, the price of heat pipes and liquid cooling is relatively high, and the installation is relatively troublesome.

When purchasing a radiator, you can purchase it according to your actual needs and economic conditions. The principle is enough.