In the common digital circuit design, we rarely consider the heat dissipation of integrated circuits, because the power consumption of low-speed chips is generally small, under normal natural heat dissipation conditions, the temperature rise of chips will not be too large. As chip speeds increase, individual chips consume more power. Intel's Pentium CPU, for example, can consume up to 25W. When the heat dissipation of natural conditions can no longer control the temperature rise of the chip under the required index, it is necessary to use appropriate heat dissipation measures to speed up the heat release of the chip surface, so that the chip works within the normal temperature range.

Under normal conditions, heat is transferred in three ways: conduction, convection and radiation. Conduction refers to the transfer of heat between objects in direct contact from the side with high temperature and the side with low temperature. Convection is the transfer of heat through the flow of fluid, while radiation, without any media, is the heat source that releases heat directly into the surrounding space.

In practical application, the measures of heat dissipation include radiator and fan or both. Radiators transmit the chip's heat to radiators by coming into close contact with the chip's surface. Radiators are usually good conductors of heat with lots of blades. The use of fans is also divided into two forms, one is installed directly on the surface of the radiator, the other is installed on the chassis and rack, improve the air flow rate throughout the space. Similar to ohm's law, the most basic formula for calculating heat dissipation:
Temperature difference = thermal resistance × power consumption