To someone familiar with TECs (Peltiers)

[azconnie]

Perhaps my last question was too specific, or just oddly worded.

The short version is I have a Q9450. I have been reading forums for an hour, and all 4 cores are mid 50s (core temp).

I'm getting a Cooler Master Hyper TX3.

Can I take a 50, or 62watt Peltier, slather it with AS5, plug it into the + & - connectors of a 3pin fan connector, and wedge it between the CPU and the TX3 and effectively dump atleast 10C?

I don't wan't sub room temp, just sub 50 gaming.

Thank-you in advance.

 

[jimmysmitty]

Well along with not being easy, the problem with your idea is that:

1: The heatsink you are describing wont be able to fit it. Its made to sit a certain height away and the Peltier will probably put too much since most are around 1/4-1/2 inch thick.

2. Peltier coolers require a lot of power to use so plugging it into your PSU might not work out if your PSU cannot supply the power needed. In fact some of the TEC based coolers have a external power supply that needs to be plugged into a wall socket.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103056

That one is just an example, its a 200w+ TEC cooler and it not only has a power plug for the mobo but also for the 12v. Yikes.

In the end check out Xtreme Systems and maybe there is a better way. I am not too sure if a TEC cooler will give you a 100% gurante of sub 50c under load.

 

[ainarssems]

Short answer is no!

Peltier power is rated by output power. Efficency factor is 1:1. That means at optimal settings 62W peltier would take 31W of heat from one side 31W of electrical power and output 62W of heat on the other side. Since CPU will output more power then that Tec will only be additional resistance for CPU and extra heat for heatsink to get rid off which will give the opposite effect- hotter CPU.

I was playing around with it back in Athlon XP days. I used 260W TEC and watercooled it, that allowed me to run heavily overclocked and overvoltad Athlon XP 3200+ at sub zero without load and 8-10C at load. I think i got it from 2.2GHz to 3.2Ghz or thereabouts. Also it needs fine tuning for voltage and current runnig through it.

You have to finetune it so that power will be half of rated power or else it will not be working to full potential

 

[azconnie]

Ok, so adding a peltier won't act like a catalyst and accelerate the heat removal from the CPU.

The general effect I was going for is that while heat conducts, cold doesn't, or at least not as well, and based on that I am guessing that a portion of the copper contact will be warm, despite the other side of the same piece being cool*. Based on this, I generally accept that a standard heat sink is good at dispersing heat, but based on the rate of conduction has a hard time reducing the core back down after the load drops.

I know that the Hyper 3 has heat pipes, and they conduct the heat away quickly, but I was hoping to accelerate it. My general theory was a 50watt peltier would mean the HSF would disperse 145 watts of heat, while the CPUs heat production was effectively dropped to a net 70 watts.

This is why I ask before trying these insane theories of mine.



*Heat a piece of metal, and blow on one side until cool, then feel the other side.

Thanks for your input.