What are three common techniques used for CPU cooling?

1. Air Cooling: This is the most common and affordable method. It uses a heatsink, often made of aluminum or copper, to draw heat away from the CPU. A fan mounted on the heatsink moves air across its fins, dissipating the heat into the surrounding environment. Air cooling is generally quiet and efficient, particularly for stock CPUs or those with moderate overclocking.

2. Liquid Cooling (AIO or Custom Loops): This method utilizes a closed-loop system with a pump, radiator, and tubes filled with a coolant, usually water-based or glycol-based. The pump circulates the coolant, absorbing heat from the CPU's heat sink. The coolant then flows through the radiator, where heat is transferred to the air and dissipated. Liquid cooling offers significantly better heat dissipation than air cooling, allowing for more efficient cooling of high-performance CPUs, overclocking, and quieter operation.

3. Vapor Chamber Cooling: This technique uses a sealed chamber filled with a volatile liquid. When heat is applied to the chamber, the liquid evaporates, absorbing the heat. The vapor then condenses on a cooler surface, releasing the heat. This process is incredibly efficient, making vapor chambers ideal for high-heat applications like gaming consoles and high-performance PCs. However, vapor chamber cooling tends to be more expensive than air or liquid cooling and less common.

While these are the most common, there are less common techniques like phase-change cooling and thermoelectric cooling that you might encounter, though they are less prevalent for everyday CPUs.