Water chilling, is it worth it?

[Defcon3X]

I was thinking about buying one of those mini feezers and using it as a waterchiller. Since it will add about $150 to the cost of my cooling system if i choose to do it, I was wondering if it was really worth it, i would be using TECs waterblocks to cool the processors and graphics card. Would the cost to have a waterchiller set up be worth it for the performance you are getting? Thanks

[nealric]

I do it.
Its got a lot of plusses and minuses.
It wont cost you $150 if you shop around. Look at goodwill or pawn shops. I got a floor model from frys for $65.

Combined with TECs, that should get ultra low temps.
+BUT+

The biggest problem with fridges is that many cant handle the heatload. Your temps may rise over time. Mine do and I can only run my rig 8 hours at a time. For me, its not a problem, for others that would be a disaster.

[Maximus Nickus]

You really need to decide and weigh up the Pros and Cons, there is a strong case for each but only you can decide if thats the way you wish to go.

As for the problem of a Heatload I have to ask if you are using a Fan to help dissipate the Heatload? In many cases the simple addition of a few 120mm fans will make a world of difference, and 24/7 running can become possible. The Compressors are not meant to run 24/7 so adding a fan to take away the load can help a lot.

Good Luck with your decision,
M_N

[nealric]

Ive got a house fan on the back of the compressor. Its got internal condensing coils, so I cant do anything about those.

[Defcon3X]

Well, my idea was to have 2 heater cores inside of the freezer and have it chill them. What temps could i expect with a TEC and a chilled water system?

[Defcon3X]

bounce!

[Warlord2]

I really couldnt tell you what temps to expect, it really depends on how powerfull the compressor is and if it can take the heatload. If it cant take the heatload of the pelts and the cpu/gfx card then you will constantly get rising temps. I would first just try pelts and play with them a little, for cpu temps with just a 226watt pelt and a heatercore you can get as low as 10c and for the gfx card you can get that way below zero with just a heatercore and a small peltier.

[TheMightyBuck]

well, how powerful is the freezer? how effecient are the heatercores? can the freezer pump outthe heat that the cpu makes? think about this... you put a hot plate of food in yer fridge, and it cools off in a few hours. the food contained heat, but did not produce it. if you put heatercores inside it, they will contain heat, and bring a whole hell of a lot of NEW heat inside it. the only way to know for sure is to make a testbed, and think about the whole situation. basically, you're putting a heater inside of a freezer. if the freezer can't get rid of the heat faster than yer pc producees it, then the inside of the freezer will be a heat collection box.... and no heat will excape your cooling loop, ,except through yer tubing and waterblock. now that's a sticky situation.

good luck.

so basically, chill the water, not the heatercores.

[Defcon3X]

Yeah, i do understand that, but, if i do chill the water and not the heatercore then wont I be in the same situation except with water? I wont be able to use a heatercore on the water because that would raise the water temp to ambiant. With that, the water would only be cooled by the freezer/refrigerator. So, it sounds like the heat collection box situation would happen either way, that is, if the compressor isnt powerfull enough.