What next?

[MsNath]

Alas the weather is warming up and I will no longer be able to benefit from mother natures cold touch. So I need alternative cooling measures.

I purchased a PAL 6030. It works nicely and has dropped my CPU <under load > from 42c to 30c a good 12 degrees which is much more than I was expecting. However, this just isn’t cold enough. I’m not ready to go with water cooling yet but I am interested in trying out a peltier with this heat sink/fan combo.

What are your recommendations for building this set up? I have never worked with peltiers before so newbie instructions would be appreciated.

Should I use zero, one or two cold plates?

How do you wire up the peltiers? Can I wire them to an extra female plug and plug them into one of my male leads from the power supply?

 

[merthos]

I do have a little exp with peltiers on hsf combos.
They work ok as long as the hsf can keep up.
question is is your power supply enough to power everything and the peltier.....
and making sure you have a peltier rated high enough to achieve the temps you want.
ive just recently started playing with watercooling and peltiers
i also recently got a few 50 watt peltiers which im tryin to find a use for....lol
these puppies use a tremendous amount of power
just keep that in mind

 

[Ammethyl]

"I’m not ready to go with water cooling yet but I am interested in trying out a peltier with this heat sink/fan combo."
-I'm not extremely familiar with Pentium III heat generation (probably over 50 watt), the problem is that most of commercially available peltiers are rated +/-72 watt (sometimes 50 -bad, as it would heat up you CPU instead; sometime 120 -good it would bring everything down to minus something). (beware that this is the amount of power it can evacuate, not the peltier's consumption, which is usually less). The problem is that the peltier must be rated much higher than the CPU (in watt, I mean), at "least" twice --You don't want the peltier to just transfer exactly the same amount of heat the CPU is generating,but more...

Cold plates, something like one is almost necessary (since the peltier won't spread heat (cold) too much. But beware: adding a cold plate is adding a second interface, therefore, using some good quality, well applied thermal compound is of PRIMAL IMPORTANCE. (I personnaly don't see why you would want to put two cold plates...but )

Remember that most peltiers appreciate 16+ volt, and many many many amperes, so a second power supply might be considered. (by the way, as everybody now should already know: +12V -(-5V)= 17Volt. This an easy way to obtain 17 volt out of any power supply.)

Yes, I was about to forget: Peltier cooling present one specific difference with "global cooling" (air, or non-conductive fluid). The difference is: CONDENSATION is an ISSUE here. Since it's ONLY the peltier and the CPU that gets cold (sub-zero is quite possible), they get below the DEW POINT with the consequence you imagine... But usually, kits sold on the net offer some insolation solution, and some site explain in detail how you can avoid condensation on the CPU.

Hope this helps.

By the way. I , too, stopped considering seriousy the outside air intake... But I'm working on a project that would interest you, it's about as cheap as peltier, more reliable, probably less dangerous, cuts the noise from the fan, and offers all the advantages of global cooling:RAM, Motherboard, Chipset everything, except moving stuff, gets a cold. THE CHEAP FREEZER SOLUTION: lacquer on the motherboard (I will inform myself for that )=harmless condensation, sub-zero temperature for the whole board and CHEAP, CHEAP, CHEAP (75$, in quebec, for a used small freezer...). And you could use the most gigantic and powerfull and NOISY fan in the world: It will be in a fudging fridge!
I'll posst on this later


What are your recommendations for building this set up? I have never worked with peltiers before so newbie instructions would be appreciated.

Should I use zero, one or two cold plates?

How do you wire up the peltiers? Can I wire them to an extra female plug and plug them into one of my male leads from the power supply?[/quote]

 

[MsNath]

Ammethyl (Mar 01, 2001 11:02 a.m.):
By the way. I , too, stopped considering seriousy the outside air intake... But I'm working on a project that would interest you, it's about as cheap as peltier, more reliable, probably less dangerous, cuts the noise from the fan, and offers all the advantages of global cooling:RAM, Motherboard, Chipset everything, except moving stuff, gets a cold. THE CHEAP FREEZER SOLUTION: lacquer on the motherboard (I will inform myself for that )=harmless condensation, sub-zero temperature for the whole board and CHEAP, CHEAP, CHEAP (75$, in quebec, for a used small freezer...). And you could use the most gigantic and powerfull and NOISY fan in the world: It will be in a fudging fridge!
I'll posst on this later

[/quote]

Im very interested in your results. I too have played with this idea. The hardest part is figuring out how to get all the wiring outside of the fridge. And how to relocate your Drives. My experience is that you dont want to get your CDROMs or Writers cold! Though my HD seemed ok at subZero temps I felt uneasy about running it at cold temps for too long.

Here is an idea that might make things a bit easier. First ditch the case. Mount the motherboard on a test bench in the fridge. Build a small insulated box with one side<front> open. Place your power supply and drives in the box.
Cut a square hole in the front of the fridge and mount the open side of the box in square hole you have just cut out of the fridge.

The drives are now accessible without having to open the fridge. The insulated box should keep the heat out of the fridge and the open front should allow the heat from the drives to easily escape out the front and into the surrounding room.
Let the heat from the powersupply and drives keep themselves warm.

If you get this working please post pics and details.

 

[MsNath]

MsNath (Mar 01, 2001 04:57 p.m.):

Ammethyl (Mar 01, 2001 11:02 a.m.):
By the way. I , too, stopped considering seriousy the outside air intake... But I'm working on a project that would interest you, it's about as cheap as peltier, more reliable, probably less dangerous, cuts the noise from the fan, and offers all the advantages of global cooling:RAM, Motherboard, Chipset everything, except moving stuff, gets a cold. THE CHEAP FREEZER SOLUTION: lacquer on the motherboard (I will inform myself for that )=harmless condensation, sub-zero temperature for the whole board and CHEAP, CHEAP, CHEAP (75$, in quebec, for a used small freezer...). And you could use the most gigantic and powerfull and NOISY fan in the world: It will be in a fudging fridge!
I'll posst on this later

Im very interested in your results. I too have played with this idea. The hardest part is figuring out how to get all the wiring outside of the fridge. And how to relocate your Drives. My experience is that you dont want to get your CDROMs or Writers cold! Though my HD seemed ok at subZero temps I felt uneasy about running it at cold temps for too long.

Here is an idea that might make things a bit easier. First ditch the case. Mount the motherboard on a test bench in the fridge. Build a small insulated box with one side<front> open. Place your power supply and drives in the box.
Cut a square hole in the front of the fridge and mount the open side of the box in the square hole you have just cut out of the fridge.

The drives are now accessible without having to open the fridge. The insulated box should keep the heat out of the fridge and the open front should allow the heat from the drives to easily escape out the front and into the surrounding room.
Let the heat from the powersupply and drives keep themselves warm.

If you get this working please post pics and details.[/quote]

 

[dimmreaper]

Speaking from experience here-

Water cooling is very easy! And it less hassle than a peltier. With a peltier you will have to worry about condensation. You will need to seal the socket with dielectric grease. You will need to use lots of silicone.

It's not worth the hassle!

If you are really concerned about the difficulty of water-cooling buy a kit. The kits usually come with very easy to follow instructions. If you are concerned that no kit will meet your cooling needs, ask around the forum. A lot of us liquid cool, as such we can advise you on which components are best.

But hey- if you really want a peltier, don't let me stop you.

 

[Ammethyl]

Look Ms Nath, and everybody else interested in the fridge issue

I'm going to open a new thread in cooling, let your peltier thread disert about ...Peltiers.

See you in: The fridge connection

 

[Ammethyl]

Yes, I'm quoting myself! So, what then? Doesn't mean I'm full of myself...

Ammethyl (Mar 01, 2001 11:02 a.m.):
(...)
Cold plates, something like one is almost necessary (since the peltier won't spread heat (cold) too much. But beware: adding a cold plate is adding a second interface, therefore, using some good quality, well applied thermal compound is of PRIMAL IMPORTANCE. (I personnaly don't see why you would want to put two cold plates...but )
(...)

You see the bolded part? Well, I thought about it, and NOW I SEE why you would put two cold plates. No!, you wouldn't pile them one on each other... You would put one ON the peltier und one UNDER the peltier... Am I right? Sorry if I misunderstood (or may just under-thought)