Peltier/Water Overclocking
I'm kind of curious about the temperatures I'm getting. The best temperature I got with my 226 W peltier is 20 degrees Celsius on a 1.8A Pentium 4 at 1.47 volts on the core. The case temperature is around 29 to 30 C. Before I was getting 22 C on the CPU and around 35 to 38 C for the case temperature.
I'm using a Maze3 waterblock with a 500GPH CPUfx pump/resoiver and Black Ice Extreme Radiator w/86 cfm fan.
As for powering the peltier, I decided to let it use the 12 Volt rail on my Antec TruePower 380 Watt PSU. It does 12 Volts at 18 Amps which gives me 216 Watts of power to the peltier (pretty close to 226 Watt). This 380W power supply is only powering the peltier. I have a 431 Watt Enermax PSU that is powering the water pump, motherboard, P4 CPU, RAM, Video card, HDD, basically almost the whole system. I think it is enough.
I think temperatures of 20 degrees Celcius is kind of high for a Pentium 4 1.8A with a v core of 1.47 volts don't you think? I am using the ABIT IT7 Max-2 Version 2 and I hear that the BIOS actually reports temperatures 6 to 10 degrees Celcius higher. Even if that were so, are my temperatures still good? Are they good if the motherboard is reporting accurate temperatures?
It seems like I'm not able to overclock my 1.8A B0 processor very much. The most we can post at is 2.8GHz at 156MHz FSB with a 1.85 Volt vcore (The motherboard undervolts that to 1.80 volts - this motherboard undervolts everything and I'm using Samsung PC3200) however I think the Northbridge is the limitation since it inflicts physical pain to my fingers within a second of touching it. We tried putting an 80mm fan close to the northbridge (without the fan we were limited to 2.7XGHz) but I want something better since the northbridge is still pretty hot. I read many reviews online and they said the northbridge doesn't get very hot though :confused:. Perhaps it is my bad case temperatures.
Any comments/suggestions/ideas? I want at least 2.8GHz stable if that's possible.
*edit* Update: My 5V rail on the Enermax 431W is 5.12 Volts and the 12V rail is 11.79 V.
Re: Peltier/Water Overclocking
Quote:
Originally posted by jagojago12
I'm kind of curious about the temperatures I'm getting. The best temperature I got with my 226 W peltier is 20 degrees Celsius on a 1.8A Pentium 4 at 1.47 volts on the core. The case temperature is around 29 to 30 C. Before I was getting 22 C on the CPU and around 35 to 38 C for the case temperature.
I'm using a Maze3 waterblock with a 500GPH CPUfx pump/resoiver and Black Ice Extreme Radiator w/86 cfm fan.
As for powering the peltier, I decided to let it use the 12 Volt rail on my Antec TruePower 380 Watt PSU. It does 12 Volts at 18 Amps which gives me 216 Watts of power to the peltier (pretty close to 226 Watt). This 380W power supply is only powering the peltier. I have a 431 Watt Enermax PSU that is powering the water pump, motherboard, P4 CPU, RAM, Video card, HDD, basically almost the whole system. I think it is enough.
I think temperatures of 20 degrees Celcius is kind of high for a Pentium 4 1.8A with a v core of 1.47 volts don't you think? I am using the ABIT IT7 Max-2 Version 2 and I hear that the BIOS actually reports temperatures 6 to 10 degrees Celcius higher. Even if that were so, are my temperatures still good? Are they good if the motherboard is reporting accurate temperatures?
It seems like I'm not able to overclock my 1.8A B0 processor very much. The most we can post at is 2.8GHz at 156MHz FSB with a 1.85 Volt vcore (The motherboard undervolts that to 1.80 volts - this motherboard undervolts everything and I'm using Samsung PC3200) however I think the Northbridge is the limitation since it inflicts physical pain to my fingers within a second of touching it. We tried putting an 80mm fan close to the northbridge (without the fan we were limited to 2.7XGHz) but I want something better since the northbridge is still pretty hot. I read many reviews online and they said the northbridge doesn't get very hot though :confused:. Perhaps it is my bad case temperatures.
Any comments/suggestions/ideas? I want at least 2.8GHz stable if that's possible.
*edit* Update: My 5V rail on the Enermax 431W is 5.12 Volts and the 12V rail is 11.79 V.
Make sure your clamped the peltier with ALOT of pressure. How were your temps with just watercooling, no peltier?
IMHO, watercooling the NB is overkill(except if you own a nforce 2 mobo) and just adds more heat to the water loop. AS3 and a smaller CPU HSF is sufficient.
Also, those case temps are HIGH. I never go over 24C. That could be part of the problem.
Also, when powering the TEC with your 380 watt PSU. Did you simply just plug in the power cord and connect the TEC, and bam it worked. I've got afew 400 watt PSU's lying around. Hmmm
Re: Re: Peltier/Water Overclocking
Quote:
Originally posted by Pyro
IMHO, watercooling the NB is overkill(except if you own a nforce 2 mobo) and just adds more heat to the water loop. AS3 and a smaller CPU HSF is sufficient.
Also, those case temps are HIGH. I never go over 24C. That could be part of the problem.
What i concluded from jago's description is major northbridge overheating, and it seems like something more than what a dinky heatsink and a fan can cover. And plus, like you said, if the addition of a NB waterblock adds heat to the cycle, that must mean that the NB is pretty damn hot, especially as described by jago.
Plus, about his case temps...they seem perfectly normal to me. 29-30C is actually an ideal case temp, taking into consideration that his ambient temps might not be as low as yours. Obviously if his ambient temps were 15C, 29-30C would seem high...but if his ambient temps are around 25-30C, 29-30C case temps are perfectly fine, and shouldn't be a factor affecting his CPU temps.
Once again Jago, i advise that you get more accurate readings via the use of a external temperature probe...it's the most precise way to measure your temps; motherboard diode's just aren't as accurate as we want them to be :(
Re: Re: Re: Peltier/Water Overclocking
[QUOTE]Originally posted by tYteaZzAzN
[B]
"What i concluded from jago's description is major northbridge overheating, and it seems like something more than what a dinky heatsink and a fan can cover."
He just may be to the limits of his CPU. A 1ghz overclock is quite impressive. Yes is NB is very HOT. The addition of AS3 alone compared to that thermal tape junk could easily drop the temps 6-10C + coupled with a fan and a better heatsink = sufficient.
And plus, like you said, if the addition of a NB waterblock adds heat to the cycle, that must mean that the NB is pretty damn hot, especially as described by jago.
It would add heat either way. It doesn't have to be "pretty damn hot". Its just more heat output.
"Plus, about his case temps...they seem perfectly normal to me. 29-30C is actually an ideal case temp, taking into consideration that his ambient temps might not be as low as yours. Obviously if his ambient temps were 15C, 29-30C would seem high...but if his ambient temps are around 25-30C, 29-30C case temps are perfectly fine, and shouldn't be a factor affecting his CPU temps."
I was refering to his "Before I was getting 22 C on the CPU and around 35 to 38 C for the case temperature." statement. That seems like quite a difference to me.
Re: Peltier/Water Overclocking
[QUOTE]Originally posted by jagojago12
As for powering the peltier, I decided to let it use the 12 Volt rail on my Antec TruePower 380 Watt PSU.
Wooo :eek: your Antec 380 Truepower has 18A Max on the +12v. I would not recommend running the PSU's Max Amp rate on any volt line unless you increase the gauge of your wires or add multiple wires. The resistance of the relatively small leads on a 226 Watt TEC is substantial. The leads of the TEC should be cut as short as possible, an inch is reasonable, and the leads from the from the power supply to the TEC should be thick copper wire. (12 or 14 Gauge) I know alot of people who have toasted there PSU's and molex connectors.
Click here for pics: Results of 226w peltier and an ANTEC psu. Scroll down to the 3rd picture.
The best temperature I got with my 226 W peltier is 20 degrees Celsius on a 1.8A Pentium 4 at 1.47 volts on the core. The case temperature is around 29 to 30 C. Before I was getting 22 C on the CPU and around 35 to 38 C for the case temperature.
Alright, I'm assuming you meant 32C instead of 22C. I didn't notice that earliar.
About the NB watercooling or heatsink option. Try adding some AS3 you have lying around the house, lap the NB heatsink alittle, and apply a fan that will fit. If this still doesn't work, go the waterblock route. But in most cases, the AS3/HSF option is sufficient.
Re: Re: Peltier/Water Overclocking
Quote:
Originally posted by Pyro
Make sure your clamped the peltier with ALOT of pressure. How were your temps with just watercooling, no peltier?
IMHO, watercooling the NB is overkill(except if you own a nforce 2 mobo) and just adds more heat to the water loop. AS3 and a smaller CPU HSF is sufficient.
Also, those case temps are HIGH. I never go over 24C. That could be part of the problem.
Also, when powering the TEC with your 380 watt PSU. Did you simply just plug in the power cord and connect the TEC, and bam it worked. I've got afew 400 watt PSU's lying around. Hmmm
Hmm, when I clamped the peltier, I didn't give it ALOT of pressure. How much is too much? I didn't make it loose, but then again I didn't make the pressure VERY high as you said. I clamped it on there hard enough for my fingers to not strain very hard, since I wasn't sure if a peltier could survive from so much pressure. As for my temperatures with just watercooling, I haven't tested it with that yet. I went straight to a peltier/watercooling setup.
The room I tested in was fairly hot, and I will try to do it in a colder room temp either Saturday or Friday of this week.
What do you suggest is better for the Northbridge cooling? Currently we are just taking a generic 80mm fan (I'm guessing 28 to 30 cfm) that is placed about 1.5 inches away from the Northbridge (it is resting on the video card). I'm not sure if that will cool as well as having a weaker fan, but having less distance for the air to travel. I have the fan from a blue orb that will fit on the Northbridge that runs at about 15 cfm, will that be better you think?
Oh yeah, and the way I'm powering the Peltier is by taking a jumper to the Antec TruePower 380 on the ATX12V P1 connector by shorting the green and one of the black ground wires. The first time I powered up the peltier it had melted my molex wire :eek: so I went to a higher guage wire (the standard 4-pin molex power connector type wire - not sure how many guages that is). It does run warm though.
Re: Re: Re: Re: Peltier/Water Overclocking
Quote:
He just may be to the limits of his CPU. A 1ghz overclock is quite impressive. Yes is NB is very HOT. The addition of AS3 alone compared to that thermal tape junk could easily drop the temps 6-10C + coupled with a fan and a better heatsink = sufficient.
I would be satisfied with 2.8GHz but the problem is that 2.8GHz is very unstable. The computer crashes at 2.8GHz within a couple of minutes if I look at the temperatures in the BIOS (everything in the BIOS just corrupts).
Re: Re: Peltier/Water Overclocking
[QUOTE]Originally posted by Pyro
Quote:
Originally posted by jagojago12
The best temperature I got with my 226 W peltier is 20 degrees Celsius on a 1.8A Pentium 4 at 1.47 volts on the core. The case temperature is around 29 to 30 C. Before I was getting 22 C on the CPU and around 35 to 38 C for the case temperature.
Alright, I'm assuming you meant 32C instead of 22C. I didn't notice that earliar.
Nope, I was getting 22 degrees C on the CPU when the case temperatures were around 35 to 38 C. The CPU temperatures dropped to 20 C when my case temp was around 29 to 30 C.
*edit* If I am going for the chipset waterblock route, I will NEED it by Saturday at the very, very, very latest. Preferably Friday or much earlier. I checked dangerden.com for their waterblocks and they have Overnight shipping, but they day they take 3 to 5 days to ship. If anyone has a chipset waterblock, and are willing to do FAST shipping, I may be interested. If not, I will be limited to just air cooling the Northbridge.
Re: Re: Re: Peltier/Water Overclocking
Quote:
Originally posted by jagojago12
Nope, I was getting 22 degrees C on the CPU when the case temperatures were around 35 to 38 C. The CPU temperatures dropped to 20 C when my case temp was around 29 to 30 C.
Thats what I had thought at first, though I wasn't for sure. Nice drop in case temps. What did you do?
Re: Re: Re: Re: Peltier/Water Overclocking
Quote:
Originally posted by Pyro
Thats what I had thought at first, though I wasn't for sure. Nice drop in case temps. What did you do?
I wasn't there for the actual testing that time (I left the rig at a friend's house) but I think he said his room was colder during that time of the day. When I was tehre, the room temperature was in the 30's :(.
Quick question: Am I supposed to put thermal paste the and top and bottom of the peltier? Right now I have AS3 on top of the P4 CPU's heatspreader only. I'm wondering if I should spread AS3 on the top and bottom of the cold plate/waterblock so the peltier can transfer it's cold and hot side temperatures faster, or is that not a concern. Also, after reading some of those overclocking forums posts, some people say I need to put a load on the 5V rail to actually get the 12V rail working consistently. When I bought the Antec TruePower, it says that it has dedicated circuitry for each rail, so it can achieve max power output (or something like that) reliably. Does this hold true?
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Peltier/Water Overclocking
Yes, always apply AS3 on both sides of the TEC. So it would be like this:
waterblock-->AS3-->peltier-->AS3-->coldplate-->AS3-->CPU
Also, after reading some of those overclocking forums posts, some people say I need to put a load on the 5V rail to actually get the 12V rail working consistently. When I bought the Antec TruePower, it says that it has dedicated circuitry for each rail, so it can achieve max power output (or something like that) reliably. Does this hold true?
I too have read about loading the 5v rail. I'm not quite sure. I'd post at oc-forums and see what they have to say. I'll do some research myself and see what I can come up with then post it here.
