A numerical study on the transient vapor flow and heat transfer is performed to investigate the ideal switching operation of heat source in a high temperature heat pipe. The cylindrical 2-dimensional compressible laminar vapor flow is assumed for the vapor space and the conjugate heat transfer for the heat pipe wall, wick and vapor space is calculated. The different boundary conditions such as constant heat flux, convective or radiative boundary at the outer wall are used respectively to compare the influence of boundary conditions on the transient operation. The transient temperature profile and the internal flow of the entire pipe for the switching operation are described as a result. The results show that the transient time is not significantly affected by the boundary conditions at the outer wall in present study. During the transition, two independent flows are observed temporarily on the right side and left side of the heat pipe. It is also found that the trend of temperature variation in the vapor region is different from the variation in the wick and wall region.