Taking things to extremes
Oct 01 '00
Anyone who has read my processor reviews knows that I am into tweaking hardware. Whether it is the Pentium III 650 that I wrote a review about overclocking to 891MHz, or the Pentium III 750 that I am currently running in my primary machine at 1GHz.
However, even as much as I am into overclocking, I am about to enter an entirely new realm - the realm of supercooling. If you are not familiar with overclocking, you may want to read my review on the overclocking my Pentium III 650 to 891. I am assuming that readers of this article are aware of the basic mechanics of manipulating front side bus speeds on Intel processors, or Clock Multipliers on AMD processors to increase the maximum stable operating speed.
I am also assuming that you are aware of the importance of good cooling. However, no matter how high end your heat sink and fan are, the best you will cool a Pentium III to is about 20F above room temperature. The best you will cool an Athlon or Duron to is about 55F above room temperature. When a processor is run at ultra low temperatures, it can be run reliably at much higher speeds. Through use of a solid state thermo-electric heat pump called a Peltier device and a water cooling system, it is possible to run your processor at between -5C and -20C.
If anyone reading this is familiar with Kryotech, you know that the solution they sell that offers similar cooling performance retails for about $1,500 for just the case. What would it cost to build a similar cooling system yourself? Try about $200.
The basic design of a water cooled peltier device is pretty simple. Let the peltier cool your processor, then cool the hot side ( it transfers heat from one side of the peltier to the other creating a condition where one side is 80F below room temperature, and the other is 80F above room temperature) of the peliter with a water jacket ( basically a copper block with holes drilled in it to let water flow through the insides ). Obviously a pump needs to be added to the system to circulate water, and a radiator needs to be added to cool water. ( For some decent articles on the subject of watercooling, go to www.overclockers.com )
The lack of ability to insert pictures here makes it difficult to show pictures of the necessary case modifications, but they are not difficult to implement.
Oh, and by the way, the air cooled 1GHz processor that I was running is now capable of hitting 1125MHz in a super cooled system. Not bad for a $200 investment that can be taken forward as I upgrade processors and motherboards in the future.
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stevelarrison
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Member: Steve Larrison
Location: Scottsdale, Az. USA
Reviews written: 171
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Beer, the answer to, and the cause of all life's problems.
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