So you're an avid overclocker who is constantly trying to get up some awesome scores to show off. You cant afford to spend $500+ for a vapor compression (phase change) setup, or $1000+ for a multi compressor cascade, and you aren't quite extreme enough to try out Ln2 (liquid nitrogen).
Well, if this describes you then fear not, you DO have an alternative. Dry ice cooling is the way to go for anyone looking to get some very nice temps and not break the bank.
Dry ice reaches a temp of -80C and will definitely out perform any Mach II or Vapochill that you throw at your CPU. Dry ice is pretty cheap, going for around $2.30CND a pound here in my town. In this post I'll be walking you through the steps to a sucessful dry ice encounter.
Most people look at dry ice as a terrifying method of cooling which can only lead to disaster. If you feel this way, hopefully this post will change your mind.
Ok, so you want to dry ice cool your CPU, what do you need?
1. A copper container with a solid copper baseplate of approx. 1/4" in thickness. The container should be anywhere from 10-14" in height with the walls of the container also around 1/4" thick, and with the total container being around 3 1/2" or so in width.
2. 20lbs. of dry ice (this will get you through a nice day of benching)
3. Plenty of neoprane
4. di-electric grease
5. liquid eletrical tape
6. You do need a liquid for good heat transfer. As was stated, water is no good since it freezes solid below 0 deg C
- Acetone is available at paint stores, Home Depot, etc. Lowest temperature is -78C
- Methanol (wood alcohol) is also available in the same places. It will give lower temperatures (-90C) and is slightly less flammable and has a higher vapor pressure.
- Ethanol or ethyl alcohol (vodka) will work but freezing might be a problem since getting >80% alcohol is difficult unless you distill it yourself or have a liquor license. Anyway, there are better uses for it.
- Ethyl ether is harder to get but is used commertially for anesthesia for animals. lower temps still (-100c) but it is highly flammable and has a low vapor pressure. I don't recommend using it outside of a laboratory.
-isopropanol (rubbing alcohol) is the least flammable, lowest vapor pressure and gives low temps but has a tendency to get very thick as the dry ice mixture gets cold. It is also the easiest to obtain from your drug store. I would say it is the safest of the above solvents for this purpose.
With all of these solvents good ventilation is required. Safety goggles should be worn since splashes of sub freezing liquid can freeze your eyeball in seconds.
Now once you have all of these items, you will need to start at the bare minimum by placing the di-electric grease in your socket so that it is completely sealed. Next you should cut a peice of neoprane to go behind the motherboard directly below the cpu, along with a gasket cut from the neoprane to go around the CPU socket.
Next you should seal off the neoprane with your liquid electrical tape to ensure that the socket is sealed completely with the neoprane.
Now that you have done this, your socket should be sealed off. Next will be to coat the dry ice container in neoprane. I recommend wrapping at least 1" of neoprane around the container. This will help prevent too much condensation building up on the container.
Once you have everything insulated and installed on the CPU you should begin to pour in the "liquid for heat transfer, one of the ones listed". Fill the container around 1/2 full with the acetone, and begin placing your dry ice in the container. The liquid will be spitting out of the container, so have a peice of plastic wrap cut to go over your motherboard would be a great idea.
Once you have the dry ice in the container, go ahead and fire the system up and go check your CPU temps. The CPU temps should get down to around -65C or so.
Make sure to keep checking to insure that you have plenty of ice left in the container, and make sure that the condensation isn't getting out of hand..
I will be updating this over time, feel free to post your opinion and questions and we'll all try to answer them.
Well, if this describes you then fear not, you DO have an alternative. Dry ice cooling is the way to go for anyone looking to get some very nice temps and not break the bank.
Dry ice reaches a temp of -80C and will definitely out perform any Mach II or Vapochill that you throw at your CPU. Dry ice is pretty cheap, going for around $2.30CND a pound here in my town. In this post I'll be walking you through the steps to a sucessful dry ice encounter.
Most people look at dry ice as a terrifying method of cooling which can only lead to disaster. If you feel this way, hopefully this post will change your mind.
Ok, so you want to dry ice cool your CPU, what do you need?
1. A copper container with a solid copper baseplate of approx. 1/4" in thickness. The container should be anywhere from 10-14" in height with the walls of the container also around 1/4" thick, and with the total container being around 3 1/2" or so in width.
2. 20lbs. of dry ice (this will get you through a nice day of benching)
3. Plenty of neoprane
4. di-electric grease
5. liquid eletrical tape
6. You do need a liquid for good heat transfer. As was stated, water is no good since it freezes solid below 0 deg C
- Acetone is available at paint stores, Home Depot, etc. Lowest temperature is -78C
- Methanol (wood alcohol) is also available in the same places. It will give lower temperatures (-90C) and is slightly less flammable and has a higher vapor pressure.
- Ethanol or ethyl alcohol (vodka) will work but freezing might be a problem since getting >80% alcohol is difficult unless you distill it yourself or have a liquor license. Anyway, there are better uses for it.
- Ethyl ether is harder to get but is used commertially for anesthesia for animals. lower temps still (-100c) but it is highly flammable and has a low vapor pressure. I don't recommend using it outside of a laboratory.
-isopropanol (rubbing alcohol) is the least flammable, lowest vapor pressure and gives low temps but has a tendency to get very thick as the dry ice mixture gets cold. It is also the easiest to obtain from your drug store. I would say it is the safest of the above solvents for this purpose.
With all of these solvents good ventilation is required. Safety goggles should be worn since splashes of sub freezing liquid can freeze your eyeball in seconds.
Now once you have all of these items, you will need to start at the bare minimum by placing the di-electric grease in your socket so that it is completely sealed. Next you should cut a peice of neoprane to go behind the motherboard directly below the cpu, along with a gasket cut from the neoprane to go around the CPU socket.
Next you should seal off the neoprane with your liquid electrical tape to ensure that the socket is sealed completely with the neoprane.
Now that you have done this, your socket should be sealed off. Next will be to coat the dry ice container in neoprane. I recommend wrapping at least 1" of neoprane around the container. This will help prevent too much condensation building up on the container.
Once you have everything insulated and installed on the CPU you should begin to pour in the "liquid for heat transfer, one of the ones listed". Fill the container around 1/2 full with the acetone, and begin placing your dry ice in the container. The liquid will be spitting out of the container, so have a peice of plastic wrap cut to go over your motherboard would be a great idea.
Once you have the dry ice in the container, go ahead and fire the system up and go check your CPU temps. The CPU temps should get down to around -65C or so.
Make sure to keep checking to insure that you have plenty of ice left in the container, and make sure that the condensation isn't getting out of hand..
I will be updating this over time, feel free to post your opinion and questions and we'll all try to answer them.
Last edited:
