GPU Cooling

[ookabooka]

Is it worth cooling the GPU, Can you overclock it much more when it runs cooler? Currently I have the thermaltake setup on my TI4200. And I was thinking of going with a 226 watt peltier running at 5 volts. With that efficiency I might be able to stay with air cooling? If I have to go to water to do that, thats fine. Correct me if I am wrong, but running a 226 at 5 is better than a 80 or so at 12? Same cooling with less heat? Thanks for any info. . .

Edit: currently my GPU is running at 310MHZ at about 40-50 C

 

[[EG]~NaTz~]

well u can aircool an 80 wat pelt i dont think u can air cool anyhigher. if u run the 226 at 5v it will be around an 80? there fore if it was thhe same wattage it would give off same heat... the wattage rating on a pelt is how much and can dissipate.

 

[Since87]

I ran some numbers on my spreadsheet for four different pelts. (Using the specs found on the Danger Den pelt page.)

I made the following assumptions:
GPU power consumption = 35W
Case Air Temperature = 25C
C/W of the Fan/Heatsink = 0.3C/W

None of these assumptions is probably particularly accurate, but they are close enough to generate ballpark performance comparisons.

The results are below:

Pelt Qmax V-operating Current Coldplate temp
80W 12V 5.6A 13.8C
120W 12V 3.5A 15.3C
172W 12V 5.0A 13.0C
226W 5V 7.1A 18.5C


I would say the 120W or 172W pelt running at 12V would be the best way to go.

If you've got a high wattage PSU with current to spare, then you can power the 172W pelt off the system PSU. And, you will get the best temperature while consuming less power than the 80W pelt would.

If you want to minimize the burden on the PSU, the 120W pelt gets you substantial cooling with only 3.5A current draw.