Phase / TEC Cost Poll [Archive] - Overclockers Forums

nikhsub1

11-06-05, 03:14 PM

Brought to you by: jcw122

So how much did you spend on your Phase / TEC setup? Let me add that it would be very beneficial to explain why you chose the setup you did and the pros and cons of said setup.

jcw122

11-06-05, 03:27 PM

Thanks again Nikhsub!

Cap'n Pedro

11-06-05, 04:08 PM

My planned cooling setup will cost about $300. That's fans, WC setup, coldplates, pelts and controllers for them. Not a bad price for the setup, IMO. But we'll see about performance :D.

Revivalist

11-06-05, 11:57 PM

I already have a water-cooled setup but I am about to setup a TEC (including a Meanwell SP480-15, 320W TEC, etc.) . . .

Should I include the cost of my watercooling in the poll or just the additional equipment for using a TEC?

xTrEmEoVrClOcKr

11-06-05, 11:59 PM

Id say around $600 for me.

matttheniceguy

11-07-05, 12:02 AM

My home made phase change will probably come in right around $400-$500, including all the parts (all new) and quite a few tools and fans and dozens of trips to the hardware/HVAC store for little things you don't think about.

You can get units from Chilly1, PC_ice and others that cost about the same as this and will be much quieter, colder and more efficient, but it is just fun to build it yourself.

jcw122

11-07-05, 12:02 AM

JustChill

11-07-05, 12:22 AM

I am in process of building a whole water/tec system but the cooling alone with psu for pelt eill run about 550....Absolute Zero will be born!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Gautam

11-07-05, 12:57 AM

My waterchilled setup cost a hair under $200. That's including everything necessary for cooling. Though, come to think of it, the insulation might put it slightly above that bracket.

Revivalist

11-07-05, 01:49 AM

I am in process of building a whole water/tec system but the cooling alone with psu for pelt eill run about 550....Absolute Zero will be born!!!!!!!!!!!!!Ok, being a physics major, I gotta tease you . . .

"Absolute zero" = 0 Kelvin = - 273.15C !!!!!!! You'll need some liquid helium to even get close to that! :p

But 0 Celcius is a great goal. I'm shooting for the same myself on my CPU. . . . What parts did you decide to go with? . . .

I'm personally gonna leave the GPU on just water and go for a Maze 4 CPU pelt block, a 320W 50x50 peltier, a Meanwell SP480-15, a power relay, and of course for insulation, I'll need some "grease, gunk, and chunks" (aka, dielectric grease, conformal coating, and neoprene pads). All together it'll run $290. . . . Is that what I should put the in poll?

Cap'n Pedro

11-07-05, 11:04 AM

For me, a 350W pelt on the CPU, a NB block and a 110W pelt on the GPU. And of course all the trimming, insulation, rad etc.

LabRat23

11-07-05, 02:28 PM

Revivalist, take it easy on the colors pls.

I cant really say how much I have spent on phase change cooling but its probably in the 700 to 1000 bracket. That is for one system, 10lbs of r404a, a bunch of tools I probably didnt need, and a second system that I am building but haven't completed yet.

The first system without the refrigerant (could have used propane for free) would be around $250 total cost.

jcw122

11-07-05, 03:36 PM

WHo voted for $0-$200 phase change (only one vote)...I'd like to know about this LOL.

Gautam

11-07-05, 04:49 PM

C'est moi.
My waterchilled setup cost a hair under $200. That's including everything necessary for cooling. Though, come to think of it, the insulation might put it slightly above that bracket.

Cost-effective, but big and ugly.

speed bump

11-07-05, 04:59 PM

So does that mean you actually made it work Guatam?

I don't know how much mine is going to end up being right now my solid state is under $200 still.

Gautam

11-07-05, 05:01 PM

Oh it worked all right...cooled my X800XT PE down real well...too bad it wasn't actually inside a functioning computer. :rolleyes:

speed bump

11-07-05, 05:04 PM

I know that feeling my first experiance with pelts cooled fine but I screwed mounting and killed a resistor that was in the way and now I have a nice x600xt paperweight.

fuzzba11

11-07-05, 06:12 PM

C'est moi.

Cost-effective, but big and ugly.
I did something cost effective and ugly, used a 126W pelt powered by a spare 300W PSU in my 5 1/4" bays. The CPU was a 1 GHz AMD Thunderbird clocked to 1.5 GHz, cooled by a Maze 2 w/ coldplate. No radiator, just a bong made with parts from Home Depot.

It worked really well, until one sunny day; the tubing at the top of my bong was in direct sunlight, and got kinked while I was in class. My waterflow ground to a halt, and by the time I got back to my dorm room my reservoir water was as hot as bathwater! That was goodbye to my 1.3 GHz Tbird. My good buddy ppohio sent me the aforementioned 1 GHz monster as a temporary replacement, but I managed to crush the core after a few weeks of overclocking (easy to do with a heavy coldplate/waterblock combo on an exposed AMD core).

turd

11-10-05, 08:08 AM

Mach 1, $375 from the forums
Regas and tune about $200
Modding the evap head and new kits to use(trial, destroy) $100
Parts for new case I have yet to construct (15 months later) $50
Plus a few boxes of seal string, dielectric grease $30
About $755 or so far.

The reason I picked this setup was that It just seemed like the next step. Having gone as far as I could on water and air I decided to jump in to phase. I was attracted to the ability to use it as a base and change out cases and stuff as time moved on. I also wanted something that was pretty basic so I went with the Mach1. I pretty much like everything about it, now that I have mastered it. But the learning curve, for me was steep. I run it in conjunction with water.

jcw122

11-10-05, 02:36 PM

turd

11-10-05, 06:53 PM

Wow that sounds like alot!

I'm sure I'm not alone here for those kind of figures. It cost close to $50 just to one-way ship one of those things. And I got mine a while back before (seems like) most everyone was making them and selling/using them. I did not add in the cost of , misc screws and bolts, qtips, alcohol and about two boxes of surgical gloves; because I got tired of trying to scrub the seal string from the pores of my skin.

That don't count the fried boards and CPU's before I finally got the hang of phase change. I'm also sure I'm not alone in having stories of lost hardware.

It ain't cheap!

edit: sp

torin3

11-10-05, 08:13 PM

That don't count the fried boards and CPU's before I finally got the hang of phase change. I'm also sure I'm not alone in having stories of lost hardware.

It ain't cheep!

Ain't that the truth. I've lost a motherboard, an AthlonXP and an Athlon 64 3700+ to various peltier problems. The motherboard and the XP were due to a power outage that shut of the motherboard and the fans but left the peltier on. Fried that chip but good and vapor-locked my watercooling.

The 64 was due to condensation due to a pinhole in my conformal coating.

Probably lost close to a half a grand of equipment that way :bang head :bang head

jcw122

11-10-05, 09:18 PM

Ain't that the truth. I've lost a motherboard, an AthlonXP and an Athlon 64 3700+ to various peltier problems. The motherboard and the XP were due to a power outage that shut of the motherboard and the fans but left the peltier on. Fried that chip but good and vapor-locked my watercooling.

The 64 was due to condensation due to a pinhole in my conformal coating.

Probably lost close to a half a grand of equipment that way :bang head :bang head

:eh?: Wow that sucks guys. Hmm...starting to really think twice about Phase Change...the cost of tools and risks of killing stuff is looking like just too much.

torin3

11-10-05, 09:34 PM

:eh?: Wow that sucks guys. Hmm...starting to really think twice about Phase Change...the cost of tools and risks of killing stuff is looking like just too much.

Well, if you already have watercooling, you can probably add in a pelt and pelt-compatible water block for about $150-200 total. Try it on an older system for about 2-3 months and then take it apart and make sure you don't have any problem developing. Then you can sell it off and start trying for phase-change. Work your way up.

I'll probably get back into it in a year or so when the cost of me screwing up won't be quite so bad.

I've got enough metalworking and torch skills that once I get the gauges and vacuum pump, I should be good to go.

Don't let yourself get scared off, but do be aware of the possible pitfalls.

jcw122

11-10-05, 10:34 PM

Well, if you already have watercooling, you can probably add in a pelt and pelt-compatible water block for about $150-200 total. Try it on an older system for about 2-3 months and then take it apart and make sure you don't have any problem developing. Then you can sell it off and start trying for phase-change. Work your way up.

I'll probably get back into it in a year or so when the cost of me screwing up won't be quite so bad.

I've got enough metalworking and torch skills that once I get the gauges and vacuum pump, I should be good to go.

Don't let yourself get scared off, but do be aware of the possible pitfalls.

I'm not interested in pelts cause I don't have WCing, which I don't wanna invest in anyway cause of the fair cost ($200), plus a PSU and what not.

I was really considering homemade phase change cause I know it can be built (parts only) for $100...but for tools and stuff it's like "$250-$300" added to that $100. I'm also 16, and I don't wanna break something on my rig, so yeah.