Recommend me a TEC

[Sam__]

Always been interested in using TECs but after i built my chiller i didnt think i needed one.

Now looking at them again. I was wondering if you could recommend me a TEC for low-mid end graphics cards. How much wattage would i need for nvidia 7 series cads? something like 7900GS.

this 12710 any good? i'll be running off 12v.

I'll be running the gpus at quite high voltages 1.6-1.7v sometimes for benching. so they could end up outputting quite a lot of heat. Is it still worth using a TEC?

cooling it isnt an issue as ill be using the chiller which is an air con mod with a 25l res but obviosly i dont wanna be dumping too much heat if i can help it.

[zipdogso]

Interesting....you have a chiller already running...not a TEC chiller I take it.

The problem is I am not savvy with GPU heat outputs you probably have a much better idea than me.

Where did you intend to mount the TEC ? On your chiller or on the GPU ?

On the GPU causes problems....TECs need to both surfaces completely covered and most GPUs are smaller than a TEC you might use on them. So you need to place a copper plate between the GPU and the TEC which when you have to accomodate cooling for the TEC as well causes space problems.

The 12710 you mentioned has a Qmax of around 90w at full power so ran at 12v like I suspect you will you would only get about 70w cooling.

Another consideration for you is that whatever the TEC cools by it will have double that coming off the hotside as heat, which you will need to cool.

If your looking for a TEC to add to your chiller get the biggest one you can taking in to consideration powering and hotside cooling, you have a nice size res there but multiple GPUs may chuck out some serious heat.

[flak-spammer]

I read somewhere that the TDP of a 7900GS is about 20w so the 12710 should be okay but if you plan on doing massive voltmodding and overclocking then I'd say no.

[Sam__]

Originally Posted by zipdogso

Interesting....you have a chiller already running...not a TEC chiller I take it.

The problem is I am not savvy with GPU heat outputs you probably have a much better idea than me.

Where did you intend to mount the TEC ? On your chiller or on the GPU ?

On the GPU causes problems....TECs need to both surfaces completely covered and most GPUs are smaller than a TEC you might use on them. So you need to place a copper plate between the GPU and the TEC which when you have to accomodate cooling for the TEC as well causes space problems.

The 12710 you mentioned has a Qmax of around 90w at full power so ran at 12v like I suspect you will you would only get about 70w cooling.

Another consideration for you is that whatever the TEC cools by it will have double that coming off the hotside as heat, which you will need to cool.

If your looking for a TEC to add to your chiller get the biggest one you can taking in to consideration powering and hotside cooling, you have a nice size res there but multiple GPUs may chuck out some serious heat.

I have a modded air con chiller.

I would like to mount it on the gpu.

I should be able to get hold of a cold plate. I hear TECs like pressure, would it be an issue if i just used the standard mounting hardware?

The ammount of heat coming off isnt really much of an issue, as long as it gets me enough time to run a few benchmarks im happy.

Originally Posted by flak-spammer

I read somewhere that the TDP of a 7900GS is about 20w so the 12710 should be okay but if you plan on doing massive voltmodding and overclocking then I'd say no.

20w doesnt sound like much. so with vmods and an heavy OC could it hit 60-70w?

this is purely for benchmarking so yes i do plan on pushing high voltages and overclocks .

[flak-spammer]

If this is just for benching then I'd suggest going with a 172Qmax TEC or a 226Qmax. You'll have more room then, because I suspect when you start overvolting you'll find the heat dump goes up exponentially.

[Sam__]

Originally Posted by flak-spammer

If this is just for benching then I'd suggest going with a 172Qmax TEC or a 226Qmax. You'll have more room then, because I suspect when you start overvolting you'll find the heat dump goes up exponentially.

ok, do you know the product numbers of them?

what about this? claims to be 320w, should pull around 240w off 12v. how much cooling would that give?

[zipdogso]

Originally Posted by Sam__

ok, do you know the product numbers of them?

what about this? claims to be 320w, should pull around 240w off 12v. how much cooling would that give?

So long as you use a good TIM and correct compression of 150-300 p.s.i. that will do about 210w max but of course having to use a copper plate between the GPU and TEC will increase the heat transfer inefficiencies so you will probably be looking under 200w at 12v.

[Sam__]

Originally Posted by zipdogso

So long as you use a good TIM and correct compression of 150-300 p.s.i. that will do about 210w max but of course having to use a copper plate between the GPU and TEC will increase the heat transfer inefficiencies so you will probably be looking under 200w at 12v.

what would be the easiest way of going about getting 150-300psi?

[zipdogso]

Originally Posted by Sam__

what would be the easiest way of going about getting 150-300psi?

See here :-
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...80&postcount=4

[Sam__]

so would that require two plates either side of the tec then?

[flak-spammer]

Yes it does require two plates...usually copper because the less thermal resistance the better. They should also be pretty thick (10 mm pops into my head) to keep them from rapidly changing temperatures (from idle to load and vice versa).

[zipdogso]

Originally Posted by Sam__

so would that require two plates either side of the tec then?

It depends if your waterblock is strong enough to be the other side if not then yes you will probably need another copper plate and that will also reduce your potential cooling.

You cant really use anything thinner than 3 mm for 150-300 psi. 5mm is better for the coldplate (next to the GPU). The hotplate is better thicker up to 10mm if you have the space and you might not...

[Sam__]

Originally Posted by zipdogso

It depends if your waterblock is strong enough to be the other side if not then yes you will probably need another copper plate and that will also reduce your potential cooling.

You cant really use anything thinner than 3 mm for 150-300 psi. 5mm is better for the coldplate (next to the GPU). The hotplate is better thicker up to 10mm if you have the space and you might not...

space is not an issue at all.

the only problem is manufacturing the hot-cold plate clamp.

[zipdogso]

Originally Posted by Sam__

space is not an issue at all.

the only problem is manufacturing the hot-cold plate clamp.

Why ?

Just drill m3 or m4 holes and bolt them together at 150-300 psi torque then find a way to fix that unit to the GPU. Makes life easier really if you have 2 plates.