Peltiers, worth the effort?

[playgroundtwister]

I'm about to do the wire trick to solve the cold boot problem that I'm having with my current rig. As it stands right now, my PIII 1000E@1240 / 1.9V is idling at 42C which is being cooled by Swiftech MCX370 / Delta 7K combo and 4 case fans. After the wire trick, it would take the core voltage to around 2.05V hence the added heat.

My question is, do you think it's worth it to put all that silicone, grease, neoprene pads, more silicone and pelts to that motherboard/cpu adding the risk of ruining a perfectly running combo. All of this just to get the extra 100-200 MHz. I don't care about the time, I got plenty of that, but for the money that would be involved, that's where I'm having second thoughts. Worth it?

Pelt users, feel free to put your experiences.

 

[phamtastik]

I don't think its worth it...
I had a peltier setup and water cooling. It was a nice setup but the work involved was too much and I ruined the mobo and cpu the first time because of condensation.

BTW, I am always constantly upgrading and it was too much of a hassle for me.
I went Vapochill

 

[playgroundtwister]

<< I ruined the mobo and cpu the first time because of condensation >>



Did you happen to fill every gap, middle part of the socket, backside of socket with silicone and neoprene patch?

 

[JokerF15]

If you think you know what you're doing, and you're fairly confident at it, it can be worth your time and money. The oc ability of your chip is not guaranteed to go up w/a peltier. Maybe you should tryi watercooling first then add a peltier if needed.

-JokerF15

 

[playgroundtwister]

If I had the extra cash for water cooling, I think I'm better off just buying a newer mobo and a faster proc

 

[Jerboy]

Don't even bother with Peltiers on air cooled system. Peltier cell itself generates alot of heat, sometimes more than the CPU. The heatsink has to be able to take away the heat of both added together and this is simply too much for little rectangular heatisnk that sits on motherboard.

 

[FalseChristian]

Absolutely!!! Much better than air cooling!

 

[Plester]

like JokerF15 said, start w/ water-cooling if you want o get into the more involved cooling setups, just build in enough robustness (1/2" gear as opposed to 3/8", etc. ) so that the system can handle the heat of pelts.

i stopped at water cooling and don't use it anymore, but had a blast doing it and it dealt w/ hi-heat t-birds better that any air could have, but it is time consuming and you have to stay on top of things, much more so when you add pelts to the mix. i must say i am ultimately happier w/ my cool running tualatin and a couple of low speed fans now tho.

 

[MJSTech]

I think pelts are worth it. I have an 86w on my slot 1 p3 700e which is overclocked to 1120mhz at 1.75v with an alpha p3125 HS and 2 40.1 cfm fans. The cpu runs at -10c idle and 10c at full load.
I did have to get the pelt/kit, new hs (to remove the heat), better fans, and add a second psu. but it was worth it.

 

[playgroundtwister]

Nice setup there MJS. How long you had that cpu pelted and no problems yet with moisture/condensation?

 

[JokerF15]

Pelts with low heat producing cpu's liek the tulituan or p3's or northwoods (mayb) are awesome. You don't need a powerful peltier and it isn't too much trouble setting up. once you get to 156watters then you get into a lot of detail work, trouble, configuring, etc...

lots of work.

You can build a cheap ghetto watercoolign system for under 75 bux easily. Lower just depends on what you can get and where and what skills you have.


ex:

Waterblock (30 bux if you buy, cheaper if u can make w/drill press)
Pump (20 bux max morelike 15 buy local look at aquariam shops or pet shops)
Reservoir (tupperware? buckets? you get hte point. VERY CHEAP. Specially if you have stuff laying around)
Tubing + Hose clamps (5 bux max for everthing. Home depot? or some hardware store)
Heatercore/Radiator (Goto a local junk yard. Ask for old toyota heatercores. Look for small ones. You can usually find one for under 15. 10 bux is usually a goodprice. You might have to adjust the barbs..ie make them smaller or watever.)

If you take some time and effort you can put together a cheap but decently good watercooling system.

-JokerF15

 

[playgroundtwister]

That's what I was thinking of using, 80-86 watt. Could get everything for $30.

As far as water cooling is concerned, no dice. Too much modding would be involved.

The only thing that bothers me about pelts is the amount of silicone and grease that have to be applied and the risk of condensation. And with the summer season approaching, I don't think my 42C idle would hold. Oh well.......

Thanks people.