System Hardware Component: Cooling system in a Computer
Cooling System
As we all know that the electronic things produce heat because of power consumption. Similarly in the computer system, the CPU, VGA card and all the other electronic chips produce heat and as a result it effects the speed and performance of the system. If the heat is not removed then there are chances of the processor and other components to be damaged permanently. So in order to keep the internal temperature of the system low, the cooling system is provided and fixed to it. All computer systems today come with some cooling systems to reduce and remove heat.
There are basically two types of cooling systems used in the computer system and they are:
- Case Cooling
- CPU Cooling
Case Cooling
Case cooling uses air cooling system for the removal of heat from inside the case of the system. Air cooling is so common and cheap method of cooling. Air cooling contains different kinds of air fans in order to pull the cool air in and push the hot air out . Sometimes, large blocks of metal called heat sinks are attached to a heat-producing component like CPU, VGA card in order to dissipate the heat more rapidly which is also known as passive cooling.
Most PCs have a combination of these fans for cooling:
Front Intake Fan: This fan is used to bring fresh, cool air into the computer for cooling purposes. It is attached in the front of the case.
Rear and Top Exhaust Fans: These fans are used to take hot air out of the case. Rear fan is attached at the back and top fan is attached at the top of the case.
Power Supply Exhaust Fan: This fan is usually found at the back of the power supply and is used to cool the power supply and take the hot air out of the case and power supply unit.
CPU Cooling
The CPU produces the heat most as compared to the other components and there should be a proper measure for cooling the CPU in order to prevent it from damage. The two most common method for CPU Cooling are: air cooling and liquid cooling.
Air Cooling
The parts inside most computers are cooled by air moving through the case. Similarly for the CPU cooling, the heat sink with a fan fixed to it is attached to the flat area of the CPU in order to cover maximum surface area. The heat sink basically consists of the Aluminum fins spread in the rows and a fan is attached at the top or side of the metal fins. The fan push the air to the heat sink and the hot air in the sink expands and comes out of the sink and then it is pushed to outside of the case through case cooling system. As a result, the temperature of the CPU doesn’t exceed.
The following figure shows the CPU Air cooling system.
Liquid Cooling
Liquid cooling is also one of the method to cool processors, but it is normally used in a special system because it takes a large space. Liquid cooling uses a special water block to conduct heat away from the processor (as well as from the chipset). Water is circulated through this block to a radiator through the pump, where it is cooled. The radiator is provided with a fan attached to it.
One main advantage of the liquid cooling is that it doesn’t produce noise and it is so quiet but its disadvantage is that these are so expensive as compared to the air cooling systems.
The following figure shows the CPU liquid Cooling system.
This was all about the cooling system of the computer through which the temperature of the system remains low.
Thanks for reading…!!!
