Converting CPU heat to Tons

How to calculate cooling capacity from watts to tons?

I've been toying with a ground based heatpump type of watercooling for cpu's. The principals are well established and readily available online. (1,000 feet of buried slinky loop pipe in an 80 foot long trench per ton of unit capacity.)

I'm building a system which contains 4 AMD 1700+ processors.
Per AMD:
The 1700+ Model 8 Throroughbred produces 44.9 watts of heat in normal operation, the maximum is 49.4 watts.

From Trane.com (manufacturer of central heating and air systems):
Ton - A unit of measurement used for determining cooling capacity. One ton is the equivalent of 12,000 BTUs per hour.




The big question:

How do I determine/calculate the heat output of 4 AMD 1700+ processors in Tons?
4 processors @ a maximum of 49.4 watts each =197.6 watts total
197.6 watts = X Tons
Solve for X and show your work


Thank you for your assistance.

Original post has been updated to show the watts of heat produced by an AMD XP 1700+.

how can heat be measured in tons? heat is a form of energy not matter. tell me the logic behind this problem

While you are correct that tons are a measurement of weight, they are also a measurement of heat.

Air conditioner capacity is measured in Tons.

eaglescouter said:

While you are correct that tons are a measurement of weight, they are also a measurement of heat.

Air conditioner capacity is measured in Tons.

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ok I get it now

I've never seen an A/C rated in "tons". But be that as it may, 1 ton is 12000 BTU/h (the cooling capacity of 1 ton of ice). Converting that to W, 1 ton = 3516 W. So apparently you'll need at least 0.056 tons of cooling capacity.

I just saw a HUGE A/C unit at work that said 6-tons on the side, I thought "no way, maybe it weighs 2-tons, max!!" Thanks, now I am really impressed by this A/C unit. I wonder how much it cost??

TheGhengisKhan said:

I just saw a HUGE A/C unit at work that said 6-tons on the side, I thought "no way, maybe it weighs 2-tons, max!!"

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lol that reminds me a when i saw a 1/4 ton pickup truck and said 'BS! that truck has to weigh more then 500 pounds' hehe

that's an intresting idea for a cooling setup. the only problem i can think of is if you get a leak then you'll have to dig up all the tubing.... also cleaning it would be a real PITA, especially if it gets clogged somehow.

if you follow through with it let me know how it turns out, i might try something similar when we move (i'll be bored, out of work and have more tools then one person should have available too me for a few weeks )

If you play with phase change at all you will notice that they are rated as X-ton compressors. Maybe that was the origonation of that unit.

I wonder if it is the quantized measurement of the compressors ability to put force on the refridgerant, or if it is just a measurement that has the same name as a weight measurement but alternate application...

holy crap. i have been working on that same idea for about the past year now. the only hold up i have is finding out what kind of surface area i need in my underground loop to absorb the heat of the main rig in my sig. i have not found anything yet. but, i have not been looking to hard or often.

The conversion is available here:
http://www.convert-me.com/en/convert/energy

If God had intended for us to use the metric system, he would have given us ten fingers and ten toes. Hey, wait a minute..............

Why don't we just give up those moronic English units already?

Well us ENGLSIH have already (except for the mile but miles are great much better than kilometers)

Lynx said:

Well us ENGLSIH have already (except for the mile but miles are great much better than kilometers)

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But they are longer...?

Okay.. time for me to get my happy lil arse OUT of the deep end of the pool. Someone throw me a liferaft or something.