Ever wondered why your computer’s CPU has that gigantic heatsink contraption on it?

Many people often comment on how large modern-day CPU heatsinks are and why they are needed. Well, this video will show you why.

EDIT: After watching this and several other videos from the same people, I tend to believe that this video is fake. It seems odd that there is a hole in the board/table underneath the CPU and I don’t believe that a CPU would have that kind of force to make a hole. Also, the claim of getting 3.81GHz on a Duron without phase-change cooling is dubious at best. However, it’s still a fun video – nothing like French guys talking about “extreme” stuff in English. 😉

The hosts of the video (I guess you can call them that) have overclocked the CPU significantly, which causes the chip to run much hotter than normal. You’ll notice that the fan on the heatsink is not on, but still, the passive heatsink was enough to keep the machine in “OK” condition. However, once the heatsink is removed, the temperature of the silicon die rises so quickly, you get the results shown in the video. I must say that I was surprised by just how violent the result was, especially underneath the chip!

This demonstrates is why it’s important to open your machines at least once a year and use some canned air to carefully blow dust out of all of the heatsinks, nooks, and crannies to ensure you get good cooling. While you’re in there, also make sure that every fan is spinning and all cables are seated properly.