Information on Phase Change Cooling

[AceFactor]

Hey guys, i've just been surfing the net, and have decided its time for me to make a record with my setup

I've decided that i will need to overclock wildly, and for that i believe i will need a few new cooling systems. . .

I have been looking at Phase Change cooling. . .and i think it could be a possible solution, i just need some info about what's involved, the parts i need, what i can cool with it, and what its gonna cost

Thanks in Advance

-Adam

 

[ShadowFlare]

Hey guys, i've just been surfing the net, and have decided its time for me to make a record with my setup

I've decided that i will need to overclock wildly, and for that i believe i will need a few new cooling systems. . .

I have been looking at Phase Change cooling. . .and i think it could be a possible solution, i just need some info about what's involved, the parts i need, what i can cool with it, and what its gonna cost

Thanks in Advance

-Adam

Well, I do remember seeing a few months ago a review of a phase change cooling kit that costed around $800. They cooled a 3.2 GHz Pentium 4 overclocked to 4.8 GHz to a full load temperature of -15 C. I've heard that phase change cooling shortens the life of your components, though.

 

[djbbenn]

Well phase change is a a extreme way of cooling. Like your talking sub-zero temps. Most phase change units cost a lot of money. Probably more than you system cost you in some cases. There are some less extreme phase change units around though. Its probably not the kind of cooling you want to start out with. A good water system might be a better choice for your situation, and if you get really hardcore about it, maybe consider a phase change unit. Thats my point of veiw, but your probably better off talking to Steven B, as he has a phase change unit.

-Dan

 

[turbopsi]

And if anything, phase change increases the lifespan of components. There are some phase change guides at pimprig.com and xtremesystems.org. Give those a try if you want to build one yourself.

 

[AMDCam]

How cheap are you talking? Like under $500 for a phase-change system? Plus, can you get GPU/GPU RAM adapters for phase-change? It'd be awesome to see a massively overclocked 7800GTX.

 

[Steven B]

You can get em for about 500 from chilly1 on xtremesystems.org, he has a 1 year warranty. i took my 561 (3.6ghz) to 5.3ghz at -33 loaded with a 24 sec superpi.

I will be reivewing Chilly1's 600 dollar unit very shortly, a couple nice suprises in there as well.

 

[Anarion]

You can get em for about 500 from chilly1 on xtremesystems.org, he has a 1 year warranty. i took my 561 (3.6ghz) to 5.3ghz at -33 loaded with a 24 sec superpi.

I will be reivewing Chilly1's 600 dollar unit very shortly, a couple nice suprises in there as well.

nice .

 

[AceFactor]

OK guys, say like djbbenn said i should start with a water cooling kit instead. .which one should i get, how much would it cost, how effctive would it be, what could i cool with it tc.

Thanks

-Adam

 

[AMDCam]

Well between air and water, I say both cool about the same, water maybe a little cooler. The best part of water is it's not bulky (except for the huge radiators) and it's silent, but it has to be maintained and is WAAAAY more expensive than air cooling ($2 fan+free heatsink with processor compared to $200 radiator (don't know the price of the rest)+cables+mounting "caps" on CPU, GPU, RAM, etc.+reservoir+liquid add-ins+water). Water is probably more efficient than air too, but for extreme overclocking, go phase-change or liquid nitrogen or something. If you get a really good heatsink and a good fan (around $60 altogether) for the CPU, you can make nice overclocks with air (mine's air-cooled and look what I got, plus people with mobile processors get unbelievable speeds for air). So for moderate overclocking (noticably faster though) on a budget, go with air I say, but for extreme overclocking and a high budget, stay away from water and go higher.

 

[wazzledoozle]

I dont think negative temps would be very good for a cpu, the surface of the cpu isnt designed to withstand such extreme temps. Because the AXP is open-die, I wouldnt think its a good idea.

 

[AMDCam]

Yeah, but even some manufacturers and reviewers say it "prolongs lifespan". It's not a mechanical thing, so nothing could freeze together, so I would think they're right. Unless the core cracks or something.

 

[thedivinehairband]

I do quite alright with air-cooling. Ok my case has so many fans that it sounds as if it might take off when I turn them all up to full but even when i keep them all quiet my CPU temp is quite reasonable even under heavy load.
I run folding@home client all the time at around 70% usage so my CPU is always working and the max CPU temp i get now is just 41degC using my Asus Star Ice Cooler with an extra 80mm fan on the back.
Maybe I'll post some pics of my fan configuration in the case gallery. When I get my camera back.

 

[intel igent]

water is great! ive got idle and load temps of 28c and 35c, this is with a p4 3.0e@3.45ghz.

my presscot aint so hot anymore

 

[djbbenn]

Phase change is not a a everyday solution. There are some more practicle ones out there, that can be used everyday. But unless you doing some hardcore overclocking, don't even bother with it. It will probably cause you more harm than good. A good water kit will get you a sweet overclock. I tend to agree with Wazz about it not being good on the CPU. Its the kind of thing you use just to plain overclock the hell out of it because you don't mind if you kill the hardware anyways.

A good water system will be my recommendation, and if your still nuts about going higher, then consider a phase change cooler. But thats me...

-Dan

 

[Steven B]

Phase change is not a a everyday solution. There are some more practicle ones out there, that can be used everyday. But unless you doing some hardcore overclocking, don't even bother with it. It will probably cause you more harm than good. A good water kit will get you a sweet overclock. I tend to agree with Wazz about it not being good on the CPU. Its the kind of thing you use just to plain overclock the hell out of it because you don't mind if you kill the hardware anyways.

A good water system will be my recommendation, and if your still nuts about going higher, then consider a phase change cooler. But thats me...

-Dan

UmmMMMMMM yeah, the xtremefrostbyte is a 24/7 360 days a year built unit, its been int eh works for a final product for over 2 years and they finally came up with easy insulation technique, all you do extra for 24/7 use is use dielectric grease so the pins dont have corrosion issues, ive been runing my comp for 3 weeks strait at -42c idle and -36c load. I dont knwo why i do it, but its fun.... Plus i overclock alot.

The reason youve seen people not run it 24/7 is because some units are heavily filled with gas and the compressor is being overworked. The xtremefrostbyte's are tweaked so they do not overload the compressor.

Water a good alternative, just keep away from cheap kits liek the ACW-1