220-801 · Question #688
Besides the CPU, which of the following components might have their own heatsink?
The correct answer is C. Graphics card. Graphics cards (GPUs) generate significant amounts of heat during rendering and almost always include a dedicated heatsink and cooling solution beyond what the CPU uses.
Question
Besides the CPU, which of the following components might have their own heatsink?
Options
- AAudio card
- BRAID controller
- CGraphics card
- DHard drive
How the community answered
(27 responses)- A4% (1)
- C93% (25)
- D4% (1)
Why each option
Graphics cards (GPUs) generate significant amounts of heat during rendering and almost always include a dedicated heatsink and cooling solution beyond what the CPU uses.
Audio cards operate at very low power levels and generate minimal heat, making a dedicated heatsink unnecessary.
While some high-end RAID controllers may have small heatsinks, this is not a common or standard feature compared to the universal heatsink requirement of graphics cards.
Modern discrete graphics cards contain a GPU chip that can consume 100-400+ watts of power under load, producing heat levels that require a dedicated cooling solution. GPU manufacturers universally attach heatsinks - often with heat pipes and cooling fans - directly to the graphics card PCB. This is necessary because the GPU's thermal output would overwhelm passive board cooling and the heat cannot be managed by the system's CPU cooler.
Hard drives dissipate heat through their metal chassis and do not use heatsinks, as their heat output is low enough to be managed by case airflow.
Concept tested: GPU thermal management and heatsink requirements
Source: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/drivers/display/wddm-in-windows-8
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