Help with Understanding Peltiers??

[equilibrium]

Ok, Ive just built my own water cooling setup in my lian-li pc75b case thanks to the help of phil (case looks great!). Ive just come across peltiers whilest browsing the internet but wasnt quit sure how they work. So i was wondering wether anyone could help me out and explain what exactly they do, how to fit them anything really . Links would be great too! Would really appreciate the help.



Computer consists of:



Msi k8n Diamond

Amd Fx-55

Akasa Power Plus 650w Psu

2 xfx 7800`s in Sli

2 Wd Raptors in raid 0

2GB crucial ballistix pc4000

custom danger den water cooling kit cooling cpu



Cheers

 

[K404]

Peltiers then: make use of the Peltier effect. Also called thermo-electric coolers. A current is passed between 2 dissimilar metals, and one side gets very cold, and the other side gets very hot. The hot side needs to be well cooled, else the heat will kill the peltier. If the hot side is not cooled well enough, the cold side will not become as cold as it could be. A lot of people use them between CPU/GPU waterblocks and the core. The surrounding area (for a mid-high powered pelt) will need to be insulated- cold often means sub-zero.

Because of the nature of the peltier effect, a separate PSU is often needed to power the pelt and component life can be very random- if a pelt fails while you arent at the computer, bad things can happen.



Kenny

Despite the not amazingly good picture i`ve painted, they do have their uses... I`m kinda considering one for my GPU.

 

[equilibrium]

Hi Kenny thanks for the info. Sounds very technical and alot of hassle! Im just looking into getting my cpu that bit cooler. The m/b readout is 42c which i thought was quite high for what i have cooling it. I have a DD brass tdx cpu block, 120.3 thermochill rad, 3 120mm fans, DD dual floppy reservoir, DD d5 pump and using 1/2" tubing. My cpu was cooler before when i was using the koolance exos which had 3 80mm fans am i doing something wrong? Appreciate the advice

Cheers

 

[K404]

Motherboard temperature readouts are often inaccurate. They`ll be able to show you idle/load differences or relative temperature increases for a speed or voltage increase with accuracy, but dont trust it as an accurate temperature of what the temperatures actually are. The only way i`d really consider accurately measuring temperatures is to be a tested and caliberated physical probe between the block and core. A BIOS flash might also change the temperatures probes readouts, but not necessarily in a good way..might make yours "temperatures" worse!

example: under phase, my motherboard temp probe told me my CPU temperatures were the same as they were on air. Yea, right!!

Kenny

 

[equilibrium]

Probes

Hi again kenny thx for the help I have a probe from my coolermaster muskateer connected but on the bottom of the cpu water block as ive heard it isnt advised to place it between the core and block? The readout on my muskateer reads 30c do you think this is more accurate? Thanks again

 

[K404]

Well...short of removing the IHS and putting it straight onto the core, thats as close as you`ll get...the CPU temps will be slightly higher than that, but if the probe has been caliberated, that should be within a few degrees.

K

 

[equilibrium]

Thanks

Hi kenny,

Thanks for all the advice i appreciate it. Makes me feel a little better now knowing my cpu aint as hot as i thought! Well start looking into new things to do with my comp, modding etc.

Thx again

All the best

DAve

 

[K404]

nae bother Any advice you need, there`ll prob be someone here who can help

 

[stocky]

That all happened in a short space of time!

Peltiers take quite a bit of playing with, and bad things DO happen with them (from experience)

If you want some good cooling, I would highly recommend phase change

 

[Master_G]

I would usually recommend pelts only for experienced users, they are more hassle than phase change and give you worse temps, so i would usually advise people to stay clear if possible, ive seen too many stories of people forgetting to turn on their pumps or pelts when they turn on their computer and then they end up with a lot of broken hardware.

G

 

[equilibrium]

Thanks

Thanks for the info guys! Ive steered away from the peltier as i wouldnt class my self as very experienced! I have owned a vapochill ls which was fine but it was heavy and i found it a pain taking it apart all the time to do extra mods etc! So i sold it....

Im just looking for something that gives me good temps with ability to overclock So i was looking into extra performance from my setup!

Thanks

 

[maverik-sg1]

Kenny is the pelt man, nice read mate should have a title beginners 'guide to Pelts' - if you create a new thread I'll sticky it (just copy and paste mate)

Like you Equi mate I have pondered pelts but the dangers have kept me away as in a little knowledge is dangerous - never really had that level of confidence TBH.

Plus I heard the the PSU u need a 320w jobby well on top of me 850w unit I have now the lights in the house would go dim when I was using it (or should I say dimmer).