Are TEC's worth it?

I would like to know what kind of temps I would get by using a 226w TEC on my maze 4 WB. Is the cost (TEC, Powersupply, Foam) worth the performance or might I be better setting up a chiller.

The TEC only costs about $30, another like $10-$20 for neoprene and greace, and than you cna buy a cheap PSU from ebay like i did for like $60-$70. Now what you will get is temps of about -5C-5C if your using chilled water. If your using normal water it will be about 10c-20C temps.

Well it depends...

If you have a tyan or biostar motherboard and a Pentium, it's in my opinion that it is not worth it.

BUT If you have a asus, abit, and up motherboard and a AMD that screems out "OVERCLOCK ME!" then yeah it is worth it.

i hope you get my point : )

lol - yeah, i agree - - i'm going waterchiller just because i want a beast of a machine ^_^ and i got the parts for free (well, all but the cpu block and the pump...) Oterwise, peltiers are fine, in my opinion - - but if u really want a mad experience, like -45*C, get a Direct-Die phase-change unit (or make one yourself if you're so inclined and have enough skill to do so) - i forgot who said it, but "Phase Change 0wns TEC's!"

Ok right now on my WC system I am getting 39c @ full load so @ full load w/ TEC I would be getting around 10C right?

for around $120.00 more ah it might be worth it.

the change of phases is wonderful. it truly is a war ship in the mighty fleet.

"Phase Change 0wns TEC's!"
Right, but it's also more expensive, and a good peltier setup can get close to the performance of a phase change system.
I've seen an old Gateway P2 350MHz with a peltier, but not a single computer that uses phase change stock cooling(perhaps the supercomputers do).
Of course, with the high price of phase change systems, you may as well get dual processors.

Well, nothing magic happens when you install a TEC. You won't reach "a whole new level" of overclocking with the addition of a TEC. A few % more, but thats it, best case scenario.

So? Is it worth it?

Well, if you like to go a little further and like the tinkering -It's worth it!

You can survive ending up with temps close to what you had with watercooling is not unusual, you just go out and buy another heatercore? Then it's worth it!

Do You get complaints about electricity bills? Well... it will suck some serious juice and it won't go un-noticed. Can you handle that? then.. It's worth it!

Example of going into the deep end of the pool:
Cathar and stergosaurius made a serious comparison. Cathar having ultra high end watercooling and sterg having Vapochill PE.
They recorded highest overclocking each with their own chip. They switched chip and again recorded highest overclocking.

In the end they discovered that the vapochill AT BEST had a 1% better overclock, on most tries they both equaled.

So, don't be dissapointed when you only find that all you get for investing maybe $100-150 more on TEC setup is just a measily 1% better overclock.

What is Ultra high end watercooling? Having Cascade SS block, dual bigass car heatercores, iwaki-pump, and serious tubing that you can stick your foot into. Mobile? Who cares, who have time for LAN when you can tinker with your rig all day long?...

nice story, it really hits home

What about people using peltiers on their radiators? I might be interested when I go to alcohol immersion.

Pelts on rads? thats weak.

i call shananigans

mrspec3 said:

My 2.4C ran fine at 3360Mhz with stock voltage on just chilled water but with the addition of my pelt made it to 3700Mhz. Up the voltage some more and I was over 3900Mhz......I think thats a pretty nice gain

Click to expand...

Yes, it was a nice gain, IF we could compare apples with apples + extra cooling.

What I'm saying is: OC you 2.4C as far as you dare with overvolting too, not stock volt comparison. What you'll end up with is maybe 3700-3800MHz?
Compare that with your overvolted overcooled 3900MHz.

3900 TEC / 3700 WATER = 5,4% difference
3900 TEC / 3800 WATER = 2,6% difference

Anyways, it all differs from chip to chip. Your particular chip might gain more on the little extra cooling.

Phase change is the way to go, and I dont know why everyone thinks they are so expensive, I got my compresser brand new for $10 on e bay, a condenser for $50 all the copper tubing and bits and peices for like $30 mill my own block and now putting it together. A freind charges it for a few beers and thats it.

Anyone can make a direct die phase change setup for under $200 easily! E Bay is the key!

-40 temps for around $100 U.S i think thats a good price?

Tecs are not worth it i dont think

Phase change is the way to go if you have the equipment to solder/braze/weld the parts together and charge the system yourself, or you can find someone to do all that for you, yuo just find the parts.

I would make a cheap water chiller and use that on your waterblock instead of buying all the TEC stuff. Cheap old water cooler to use as chiller is $50 or less. Foam $10, sorted!

I'm only going TEC as I got a Lot of the parts for free.

anything that you can justify the spending is worth it, but if you are going extreme, why not phase change, it doesn't get better than that for long use

Phase change in my opinion is Way different from a simple TEC. Building a phase change system involves A LOT of skill. 1. to build the thing 2. not to blow yourself up.

It does involve some skill yes, but with these forum guides and the helpfullness of the members, you sure do learn alot in a real hurry. You should check out www.phase-change.com and see Bowmans DIY phase change! Very easy to follow step by step setup

sorry I got a kick out of this

and I dont know why everyone thinks they are so expensive

Click to expand...

mill my own block

Click to expand...

Ok so i saved myself $10? Do you know how easy it is to make your own block? maybe you should read about it a bit more b4 you get a kick out of things the evap is one of the easiest parts of the setup. Im only milling my own as i want a custom dual layer block, you can put together a cylinder type for next to nuthing.

Here's another expensive system for ya

http://forum.oc-forums.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&postid=2161002#post2161002

I know its a chiller setup but he found the thing, so its FREE, a few little mods and he has a phase change direct die for VERY little $$, so look around for bargains ppl there out there