how many watts?

[Liss]

alright. i know nothing but tecs so..
help me out here..

i want a tec that will work fine with my 300watt psu i'm using now..
won't condense..
and will give me better preformace then my current wc..

[Warlord2]

the highest pelt I would go with that psu is a 80watt but thats not going to be enough for a proccessor. If you have 2 of those psu's you can hook them together and get yourself just about any watt pelt you want. Thats what Im going to do.

[Since87]

Because of the big difference in CPU power consumption when loaded vs idle, there is no way to guarantee that there won't be condensation at some point. (Unless you have an electronic controller adjusting the pelt voltage to maintain the correct temperature.)

I wouldn't recommend using a pelt tied to a fixed voltage without insulation under any circumstances.

However, you can get moderate cooling at fairly low power consumption using either:

A 226 Watt (15V) pelt powered at 5V.

or

A 172 Watt (24V) pelt powered at 12V.

Either of these will draw less power than an 80 Watt pelt running on 12V. If you can ensure that the CPU is always consuming 70 to 80 Watts, and that the relative humidity is less than 50%, you probably won't have any condensation. It's not easy to ensure either of these though.

(This is based on the pelts that Danger Den sells. Other pelts with the same Qmax might be different.)

I'd recommend going with the 226W pelt running at 5V. If you ever decide to go for more cooling, it is easier to find a 12V dedicated supply for the 226W pelt, than it is to find the 19V supply you'd want for the 172W pelt.

[Paxmax]

^BUMP^

Good post Since87 !

[Wicked Klown]

What kinda CPU are you wanting to pelt cool?

[Liss]

xp1800

[y0ungsta]

You are going to need a better power supply because cooling an 1800xp+ with a 80w pelt isn't enough. THat means that you have to get at least a 156w pelt or a 226w pelt with a dedicated power supply.

[Stalka]

im pretty new to TEC cooling also... i have a 300watt lying around and was think of TEC cooling, but i also dont want condesation. the relative humidity here is only 15%, what do ya think? specs in sig

[y0ungsta]

If you don't want condesation you have to insolate your mobo with the closed cell foams. You can get them at dangerden.com

[flapperhead]

your best bet is to get 2 decent 300 watt ps, diode isloate them and run them in parallel. a generic 300 watt psu would burn up trying to power the kind of tec you need to cool your cpu.

[Since87]

Originally posted by Stalka
im pretty new to TEC cooling also... i have a 300watt lying around and was think of TEC cooling, but i also dont want condesation. the relative humidity here is only 15%, what do ya think? specs in sig

Can you count on the humidity staying that low? What about if someone takes a long shower or cooks a big meal?

I would never recommend someone use a TEC without taking serious condensation precautions.

However, if 15% RH is the maximum your system will be exposed to, you can probably get away with using a 226 Watt TEC at 12V without condensation, as long as you fold to keep the load up.

If the 300W supply is rated for 22 Amps or more on the 12V rail, I would say it is worth a try using it.

I suggest you do a lot of studying up on the subject before buying a TEC though. There are serious risks involved. The Peltier Cooling articles on the front page of overclockers.com is a good place to start.

[aarion]

can anyone pls explain to me what's the use of the diode?
thank you.

[Since87]

Diodes only allow current to flow in one direction.

By connecting diodes to the outputs of two supplies and connecting the diodes so that power can flow from each supply to the load, you protect the supplies from damaging each other, and to a certain extent divide the current load between the supplies.

If you don't put a diode, resistor, or something even more sophisticated, between the two supplies and the load, one supply may have a load greater than it's current rating, while the other has no load at all.

[flapperhead]

diode isolation keeps the power supplies voltage from back flowing to one another, which can damage or burn up a supply