What is a peltier ???Newbie cooling question!!!

[Paul.K]

Hi guys,

Could you please tell me what is a peltier. I know they are used for cooling. However thats about all i know. What are the dangers in using a peltier...
Thanks !!!

[cowanrg]

well, think of a very thin (1/2 cm) 2x2 inch piece of ceramic with 2 wires coming out of it.

when electricity goes through it, one side gets COLD and the other gets HOT.

so, the cold side goes up to a cold plate (thin piece of copper, used for chilling the CPU. the other side is cooled just as a chip is, with a heatsink and fan (or watercooled).

now for the pros and cons.

pros:

they get VERY cold on one side, and can almost ALWAYS cool a chip more than conventional methods.

they are fairly small and dont require much space usage.

easily powered with a decent PSU. (power supply)

cons:

they can get a little TOO cold... meaning condensation can form on your chip/mobo/etc. and as we all know, this is bad becuase condensation is water, and water kills electronics.

if you dont cool off the hot side, they can stop functioning, thus getting really hot, and NOT cooling, which can kill your chip. so they must be cooled appropriately.

they are inconsistent. if your computer is at full load, they will function great, but if your computer then goes to idle, they can get really cold really fast, creating condensation or frost. if your computer is then used when its at idle, the frost can melt, and well, you get the idea.

however, properly insulated or having your mobo prepared for condensation can ensure really great temps from a non-watercooled system (if you use a lower powered peltier.)

hope that helps.

[Slaught]

If you want more details take a look here, lots of useful articles:
Overclockers.com Peltier articles (http://www.overclockers.com/topiclist/index21.asp#PELTIERS)

[KeyboardCowboy]

IMHO pelts are not a good idea, personally i would not use one, because of the condensation issue, if i were you, a newbie to overclocking/cooling i would be using air cooling until i got a bit more knowledgable

[fatshlink]

no to mention ineffecient and power hungry. they almost always require a seperate power supply unless you have a verry good psu or a real small pelt. and they tend to generate about 3x as much heat as they pump. so one side will cold but the hot side will get real hot. so must have good way to get heat to outside of case. if heat is inside the case, then the rest of your components het hot then they become hot and creats a hole new problem. thats whi i dont use'em

hope that helped