Millions of computations could be made by the Processor of a computer each second. The CPU starts to produce heat as it keeps working quickly. The CPU could boil and ultimately kill itself if this heat is not controlled.

Luckily, Processors come with a heat sink that distributes the processor's heat and prevents burning. The heat sink is connected to the CPU with a thermal substance that pulls heat away from the processor and towards the heat sink. The heat sink is composed of metal, such as a zinc or copper combination. If the CPU demands it, heat shields can be as large as several times the size of the chip or as small as scarcely concealing it.

The majority of heat sinks also have "fins," which are tiny pieces of metal attached to the heat sink's base. By dispersing the heat over a much wider region, these extra bits of metal help to do so. In order to keep the heat sink from becoming too heated, a fan is frequently used to chill the air around it. A heat sink and fan, or HSF combo, is the technical name for this arrangement. Although heat sinks are used in almost all computer Cores, they are also now frequently found in the video card processors, or GPUs.