I just had a sick idea. What if I sandwich a peltier cooler between my Xeon X5460 and a low-profile heatpipe? Will that work?
Technically you could use the CPU as the hot side and the cooler as the cold side, not sure about CPU temperatures tho.
You can but it'll end up something like this.
It's pretty tricky and on top of that you have to be cautious about your temps on both sides. Gets too hot you risk heat damage, gets too cold you worry about condensation. IMO not really worth it, but if you have a spare system to screw around with might as well do it. FOR SCIENCE!
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It might work but you'll need a lot of power to cool down a CPU and you'll still need to cool the other side of the peltier plate anyway. I think it's way too much to not get that many advantages over a simple air cooler.
@Big_Al_Tech Peltier plate is different than a condensation cooler used for refrigerators and stuff.
Yes but peltier can drop temperatures enough to cause condensation. Just need proper insulation.
If you do that get a powerpc G5 machine and overclock it. Install linux and if it works you'll have a sick video editing machine.
.......... That gives me an idea....
Yeah, but what you've shown is not a peltier cooler in my opinion because I can see a pump there. Anyway I hope you don't get wrong my attitude to being precise (:
Oooh okay, couldn't tell that actually. Might be a better idea a peltier water cooling.
That's a water chiller, not a condenser. That setup uses two TECs cooling water blocks to chill the liquid which is stored in that reservoir.
@CantorNikolaos
Honestly this is the best way to incorporate TEC into PC cooling with modern requirements. Direct-contact TEC cooling requires 300W+ multi-stage TEC plates and by that point the amount of metal you need to strap to the other side of the TEC to keep it running cool is insane. Water chiller is easier and has better results.
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people have tried, you need an extra 300+ watts to power the tec module
you will condense water all over the place if you dont use a temp monitor and control logic board.
you can make a multi stage water cooler more easily id wager.
watercool > tec > watercooler > cpu cool
this will give you below ambient temps.
I was originally thinking of setting toe peltier plate directly on the Xeon processor, with the cold side on the CPU and the hot side contacting a CPU cooler. asically, it would be sandwiched between the CPU and the heatsink. The processor has a 120W TDP, so I figured that would warm things up enough that I wouldn't have to deal with condensation. MY understanding of Peltier coolers is limited, but I thought that if the cold side is not as cold, since it is absorbing heat from the processor, it might moderate the heat on the hot side. That would hopefully moderate things enough for a CPU cooler to take care of the heat load. That was my idea. I hope something like that can be done, IRL.
If the cold side gets warm, the hot side gets hotter. The balance of a TEC is that both sides maintain polarity. Pulling heat away faster than it builds up keeps the TEC from destroying itself, and allows the cooling effect to continue.
Just thinking about this:
a) Are you trying to do something with the heat coming from the CPU?
b) Are you trying to cool the CPU?
For option b), it is not worth the effort. Removing 80W worth of heat using peltier elements is inefficent as hell. So you would be better off using the heat to light up some LEDs which could be used to indicate temperature.
A TEC is an inefficient heat pump
it is Not a cooler.
it's simply moves temperature from one side of the plate to the other
so not only does your cooling need to be able to cool your existing load. the CPU.
it also needs to accommodate another 250 Watts worth of heat generated by the Tec module
you will never get away with this without hardcore liquid cooling
http://www.digitalstorm.com/cryo-tec.asp
Go look up and read some of the features of this system
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Basically to make this all work. You need to know the following
1) TEC use aux psu
2) How to solder or connect the psu to the controller
3) How to make or buy a controller and connect it
4) How to insulate the socket w/ Vaseline
5) How to insulate the mobo w/ eraser and liquid electrical tape
6) How to insulate the block w/ foam and liquid electrical tape
7) HAVE A LOT OF RADS
*Warning: My setup has 5x triple radiators all with 1850rpm Gentle Typhoons and the water still gets hot (I have a quad tec direct die block)
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notice the lack of mobo. :)
on thread, stay away from peltiers.
It has been done it does work is a massive waste of power you might as well just go buy one of those condenser pump Sub-Zero things
Well you can still keep a motherboard there... if you don't mind smothering it with Vaseline or some other water repellent.
if taken peltier out of direct contact, as they did, there is no need for vaseline - all you need to do is coat pipes with something like styrofoam... then just pump some alcohol so it doesn't freeze. Still a waste of power.
So, I guess that's a bad idea or an expensive and experimental one. I did briefly think about using thermostatic switching to turn on and off the peltier to avoid temperature extremes and condensation. I also briefly thought about something like a potentiometer supplying regulated power to the cooler, or both of the aforementioned. Even though it sounded cool to start with, I think I'm going to try other things. If a peltier cooler was not energised, would it act as an insulator, since it is ceramic?
If I had time and money to experiment and develop something, I would try this. for now, I think I'll wait.