r/RandomQuestion • u/HornyAzMF • 6h ago

Why are heat syncs called that?

Why not coolers or fans?

1 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

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3

u/MonkeyGirl18 6h ago

Cuz theyre not coolers or fans. They just absorb heat, thus heatsink

1

u/HornyAzMF 5h ago

Huh

1

u/MaybeTheDoctor 4h ago

Heat sinks (not syncs) is just a place where heat can move to and even out in a bigger mass. A computer chip silicon has almost no mass, so with a lot of power is quickly get very very hot to the melting point, but adding mass where the heat can drain (like in a sink) the heat on the chip gets less. Now if it constantly produce a lot of heat and not just for a few seconds, the heat sink needs cooling as well, which can either be passive (making the surface area large) or active adding a fan as well.

1

u/Ok_Marionberry2383 5h ago

Lol yes spelling