Will there ever be an affordable phase change cooler?

[Smartazz]

Will there ever be a phase change cooler we can buy for under $350, or will they always be around $1000?

 

[thecoolnessrune]

Will there be one? yes

Will there be a good one? no

 

[Corporate Thug]

OCZ had plans for one but there has been a long period without any news/info

 

[TrevorRC]

Originally posted by: Corporate Thug
OCZ had plans for one but there has been a long period without any news/info

Performance was not nearly up to spec, lots of failures and so on.

I don't think it'll happen, simply because the performance won't be there... and if it is, you run into the issue of the electricity bill. Not quite the cost of a peltier, but damn close.
--Trevor

 

[Corporate Thug]

Originally posted by: TrevorRC

Originally posted by: Corporate Thug
OCZ had plans for one but there has been a long period without any news/info

Performance was not nearly up to spec, lots of failures and so on.

I don't think it'll happen, simply because the performance won't be there... and if it is, you run into the issue of the electricity bill. Not quite the cost of a peltier, but damn close.
--Trevor

so OCZ scraped it?

 

[boshuter]

Originally posted by: Corporate Thug

Originally posted by: TrevorRC

Originally posted by: Corporate Thug
OCZ had plans for one but there has been a long period without any news/info

Performance was not nearly up to spec, lots of failures and so on.

I don't think it'll happen, simply because the performance won't be there... and if it is, you run into the issue of the electricity bill. Not quite the cost of a peltier, but damn close.
--Trevor

so OCZ scraped it?

Officialy it's postponed by "a few months"... I think it's dead in the water. IMO that would have been a huge mistake for OCZ to put out a sub par unit like that. They should have just tried to match performance with Vapochill for a couple hundred less, that's completely doable. People now buy a Vapo and then have to mod it to get decent performance, what would have happend with a unit that couldn't even match it? Let Themaltake build a cheap one.... no one expects much from them anyway 😉

 

[Greenman]

The OCZ unit is going to ship with a free copy of Duke Nukem Forever.

 

[DerwenArtos12]

Originally posted by: Greenman
The OCZ unit is going to ship with a free copy of Duke Nukem Forever.

ROFLCOPTER!!!

 

[njswift10141980]

can someone explain what exactlly is a phase change cooler because I keep hearing about them but I don't know what it is.


Thanks

 

[A5]

Originally posted by: njswift10141980
can someone explain what exactlly is a phase change cooler because I keep hearing about them but I don't know what it is.


Thanks

You basically strap an A/C compressor to your CPU and let it go 😛

 

[Greenman]

It?s called phase change because the coolant changes from a liquid to a gas, releasing the heat it?s picked up. The coolant is then compressed into a liquid again for another trip over the heatsink. Your fridge is a phase change cooler, and the AC in your car.

 

[JEDIYoda]

Originally posted by: Corporate Thug
OCZ had plans for one but there has been a long period without any news/info

The word is OCZ had performance issues at the price point they wanted to sell it at!!

I understand OCZ has scrapped plans for an "affordable" phase change cooler!

 

[jonnyGURU]

I actually have one of the new MACS coolers. It has two sets of heatpipes, one for the hot side of the TEC and one for the cold side. The pipes run up into two sets of sinks that are side by side. There's a fan that blows across the cool side and onto the hot side. Actually kept a CPU under room temperature during Prime95.

Power supply housing is hot ass beejesus though, because all of the hot air gets sucked up into the PSU. 😀

 

[Smartazz]

Originally posted by: JEDIYoda

Originally posted by: Corporate Thug
OCZ had plans for one but there has been a long period without any news/info

The word is OCZ had performance issues at the price point they wanted to sell it at!!

I understand OCZ has scrapped plans for an "affordable" phase change cooler!

Are they really that expensive to make?

 

[JEDIYoda]

Originally posted by: Smartazz

Originally posted by: JEDIYoda

Originally posted by: Corporate Thug
OCZ had plans for one but there has been a long period without any news/info

The word is OCZ had performance issues at the price point they wanted to sell it at!!

I understand OCZ has scrapped plans for an "affordable" phase change cooler!

Are they really that expensive to make?

To make properly YES!!

 

[Smartazz]

Originally posted by: JEDIYoda

Originally posted by: Smartazz

Originally posted by: JEDIYoda

Originally posted by: Corporate Thug
OCZ had plans for one but there has been a long period without any news/info

The word is OCZ had performance issues at the price point they wanted to sell it at!!

I understand OCZ has scrapped plans for an "affordable" phase change cooler!

Are they really that expensive to make?

To make properly YES!!

Well freezers aren't that expensive, well not all of them, some freezers cost more than high end computers.

 

[jonnyGURU]

Originally posted by: Smartazz

Originally posted by: JEDIYoda

Originally posted by: Corporate Thug
OCZ had plans for one but there has been a long period without any news/info

The word is OCZ had performance issues at the price point they wanted to sell it at!!

I understand OCZ has scrapped plans for an "affordable" phase change cooler!

Are they really so expensive that OCZ can't make a 100% profit on it?

Fixed. 😉

 

[TrevorRC]

Originally posted by: Smartazz

Originally posted by: JEDIYoda

Originally posted by: Smartazz

Originally posted by: JEDIYoda

Originally posted by: Corporate Thug
OCZ had plans for one but there has been a long period without any news/info

The word is OCZ had performance issues at the price point they wanted to sell it at!!

I understand OCZ has scrapped plans for an "affordable" phase change cooler!

Are they really that expensive to make?

To make properly YES!!

Well freezers aren't that expensive, well not all of them, some freezers cost more than high end computers.

Stick your computer in a freezer...insulate/seal everything [so you don't get condensation]

See how long it works 'till your compressor fails. I doubt it'll last that long 😉 Freezers and fridges are made to keep cold items cold... not constantly fight against a several hundred watt heat dump.

And Yoda--they aren't really THAT expensive. If you do it yourself, it can actually be relatively cheap [Same way you look at a water-cooled system. It's a long-term buy, not a "use it for one year." thing. And, you can always sell it afterwards and recoup most of your costs.]. Check out the XS forum on it.
--Trevor

 

[jonnyGURU]

Originally posted by: TrevorRC

And Yoda--they aren't really THAT expensive. If you do it yourself, it can actually be relatively cheap [Same way you look at a water-cooled system. It's a long-term buy, not a "use it for one year." thing. And, you can always sell it afterwards and recoup most of your costs.]. Check out the XS forum on it.
--Trevor

You're absolutely correct, but I think he was just making the point that a peltier fridge/freezer/chiller/whatever doesn't cost so much, why should one for a CPU. I don't think he was implying putting a PC in a freezer. Simple search should turn up that that's a bad idea. 😉

The Nextherm case is a cool product too. Bottom of the case gets hot as a mother funky, though. Couple that with a Macs Kooler and you're turning the AC down in the house a couple ticks just to keep things comfy. 😉

 

[Smartazz]

Originally posted by: jonnyGURU

Originally posted by: TrevorRC

And Yoda--they aren't really THAT expensive. If you do it yourself, it can actually be relatively cheap [Same way you look at a water-cooled system. It's a long-term buy, not a "use it for one year." thing. And, you can always sell it afterwards and recoup most of your costs.]. Check out the XS forum on it.
--Trevor

You're absolutely correct, but I think he was just making the point that a peltier fridge/freezer/chiller/whatever doesn't cost so much, why should one for a CPU. I don't think he was implying putting a PC in a freezer. Simple search should turn up that that's a bad idea. 😉

The Nextherm case is a cool product too. Bottom of the case gets hot as a mother funky, though. Couple that with a Macs Kooler and you're turning the AC down in the house a couple ticks just to keep things comfy. 😉

It looks cool, I heard it doesn't work all that well.

 

[TrevorRC]

Originally posted by: jonnyGURU
You're absolutely correct, but I think he was just making the point that a peltier fridge/freezer/chiller/whatever doesn't cost so much, why should one for a CPU. I don't think he was implying putting a PC in a freezer. Simple search should turn up that that's a bad idea. 😉

The Nextherm case is a cool product too. Bottom of the case gets hot as a mother funky, though. Couple that with a Macs Kooler and you're turning the AC down in the house a couple ticks just to keep things comfy. 😉

They're actually a bit more expensive than I originally though [Peltiers, anyway.] The electrcity bill on running a 220W peltier 24/7 [320W Peltier @ 12V] is well over ~150/200 bucks a year, depending on how much energy is for you. Not counting inefficiencies in the PSU used to power it OR the pelt itself.

I looked at the Nextherm product, too. Seemed to me like a peltier stuck on the bottom of the case =/. Then again, I never dissected one. Any ideas?

--Trevor

 

[jonnyGURU]

Originally posted by: TrevorRC

Originally posted by: jonnyGURU
You're absolutely correct, but I think he was just making the point that a peltier fridge/freezer/chiller/whatever doesn't cost so much, why should one for a CPU. I don't think he was implying putting a PC in a freezer. Simple search should turn up that that's a bad idea. 😉

The Nextherm case is a cool product too. Bottom of the case gets hot as a mother funky, though. Couple that with a Macs Kooler and you're turning the AC down in the house a couple ticks just to keep things comfy. 😉

They're actually a bit more expensive than I originally though [Peltiers, anyway.] The electrcity bill on running a 220W peltier 24/7 [320W Peltier @ 12V] is well over ~150/200 bucks a year, depending on how much energy is for you. Not counting inefficiencies in the PSU used to power it OR the pelt itself.

I looked at the Nextherm product, too. Seemed to me like a peltier stuck on the bottom of the case =/. Then again, I never dissected one. Any ideas?

--Trevor

Nope. That's what it is. Hot side down, cold side up and a fan blowing in over the cold side. That's all it is.

 

[TrevorRC]

That's what I figured--sounded way too much like a pelt-based application for it to be anything else.

Still, talk about a waste--"keep the air in your PC cool"... that's fine an dandy, but it would be served better directly on the CPU. Then again, it'd probably fry because it couldn't handle the heat-dump..

 

[JEDIYoda]

And Yoda--they aren't really THAT expensive. If you do it yourself, it can actually be relatively cheap [Same way you look at a water-cooled system. It's a long-term buy, not a "use it for one year." thing. And, you can always sell it afterwards and recoup most of your costs.]. Check out the XS forum on it.

True but theres not a whole lot of people albeit there are people who would DIY it.
But then again the key words Trevor is --they aren't really THAT expensive. If you do it yourself...

But then again correct me if I was wrong...The OP did not mention anything about a DIY build!
But hey thats just me...