Radiator and water cooling plate are two different concepts.
Let’s talk about the radiator first. Generally, if heat is exchanged through liquid circulation, it is called a radiator. Many are also called heat exchangers, which means heat exchangers, such as fin radiators in cars. ; If it is a device that directly contacts electronic components to dissipate heat, this type of radiator is generally translated as cooler, such as CPU cooler, computer radiator. At the same time, some people also call heat sinks radiators. Strictly speaking, the heat sink does not have a fan, it is just a hardware product. The heat sink is a combination of the heat sink and the fan.
Let’s talk about the water-cooled plate. It is called cold plate in foreign countries, and the literal translation is called cold plate. In China, it is often translated as water cooling plate, or liquid cooling plate. This is a component that uses liquid cooling to exchange heat. The principle is that in metal A flow channel is formed in the plate, and the electronic components are installed on the surface of the plate (thermal conductive medium is coated in the middle). The coolant enters from the inlet of the plate and comes out from the outlet to take away the heat emitted by the components. Common processes for forming water-cooled plate flow channels include: friction welding, vacuum brazing, buried copper pipes, deep hole drilling, etc.
If the radiator is understood as a heat exchanger, then the radiator + water cooling plate + water pump + pipeline form a complete liquid cooling system. The water-cooling plate is responsible for absorbing the heat from the heating element and transferring it to the flowing liquid. The radiator is responsible for absorbing the heat in the liquid being added with the fins, and then through heat exchange between the outside air and the surface of the fins to achieve the purpose of cooling the components. .
I hope the above answers will be helpful to you, thank you!