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mx · 05-31-2006, 10:23 AM

If you're a WC noob you should spend a few nights reading this forum and the stickies over at XtremeSystems.com.

GPU block
There's no TEC block test so it's kinda hard to say which one is the best. I don't even know of any decent non TEC GPU block test so there's a lot of guestimating involved in this business!

I'd choose MCW60-T because it comes with an 188w peltier while maze4-1 only comes with an 80w peltier. You could buy a new TEC though, but I still prefer swiftechs diamond-pin matrix design over DDs maze design. MCW60-T does cost almost twice as much as maze4-1 though. If you choose the MCW60-T keep in mind that it's a 12-19V TEC. The sweet spot is between these values so you should get a PSU whats variable.

CPU block
There's no blocks on the market that can compete with Danger Dens maze4-1 CPU block, mainly because there is no other blocks on the market.

You could get a Swiftech MCW5002-T but that's not an alternative unless you can live with alu in your loop. MCW60 and Apogee are pretty much the same block so MCW60-Ts coldplate should fit on Apogee too. I'd choose the teoretical "Apogee-T" over maze4-1 because I prefer diamond-pin grid over maze.

Radiator
I haven't read any tests on the new GTs but I doubt that their much better than the old BIPs. I read somewhere that there's no point in getting a single pass rad (X-flow), I think I read it on ThermoChills site. I'd say you need at least a 3*120 rad, preferably a ThermoChill PA120.3. It's the best you can get! Here's a thread over at XS where marci shows just how good it is. CoolingWorks rads should be in the same class as ThermoChill but I haven't seen any tests. Cooltek/Swiftech MCR are kinda good too but a lot cheaper. I'm using a 6*120+ car rad to cool my peltier rig. You can get a decent car rad very cheap.

Pump
A common newbie misstake is to just look at the pumps max flow. Max flow is how many L/h the pump could manage with zero restriction. Hence you will never reach max flow in a real system with restriction. You need head (pressure height) to overcome the restriction from blocks and hoses in the loop. So the higher head the pump has the closer you'll get to max flow in a real loop. But you can't just buy a monster pump and expect low temps either because heat dump is another important factor. Fountain pumps and such use lots of watts and most of it ends up in the water, in a fountain it doesn't matter but in a computer every watt is important.
We want pumps with:
1. High head
2. "Enough" flow
3. Low heat dump
Max head and max flow are just the extreme points in the graph billbartuska posted, what really matters is how the graph looks between the extreme points.

And these are just the factors that determine how the pump performs, there's lots of other things to consider. Like sound level, size, looks, price, MTBF(Mean Time Before Failure), etc...

05-31-2006, 10:23 AM	#8
mx Cooling Neophyte Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Sweden Posts: 73	Re: Power Supply for Triple Peltier Setup If you're a WC noob you should spend a few nights reading this forum and the stickies over at XtremeSystems.com. GPU block There's no TEC block test so it's kinda hard to say which one is the best. I don't even know of any decent non TEC GPU block test so there's a lot of guestimating involved in this business! I'd choose MCW60-T because it comes with an 188w peltier while maze4-1 only comes with an 80w peltier. You could buy a new TEC though, but I still prefer swiftechs diamond-pin matrix design over DDs maze design. MCW60-T does cost almost twice as much as maze4-1 though. If you choose the MCW60-T keep in mind that it's a 12-19V TEC. The sweet spot is between these values so you should get a PSU whats variable. CPU block There's no blocks on the market that can compete with Danger Dens maze4-1 CPU block, mainly because there is no other blocks on the market. You could get a Swiftech MCW5002-T but that's not an alternative unless you can live with alu in your loop. MCW60 and Apogee are pretty much the same block so MCW60-Ts coldplate should fit on Apogee too. I'd choose the teoretical "Apogee-T" over maze4-1 because I prefer diamond-pin grid over maze. Radiator I haven't read any tests on the new GTs but I doubt that their much better than the old BIPs. I read somewhere that there's no point in getting a single pass rad (X-flow), I think I read it on ThermoChills site. I'd say you need at least a 3120 rad, preferably a ThermoChill PA120.3. It's the best you can get! Here's a thread over at XS where marci shows just how good it is. CoolingWorks rads should be in the same class as ThermoChill but I haven't seen any tests. Cooltek/Swiftech MCR are kinda good too but a lot cheaper. I'm using a 6120+ car rad to cool my peltier rig. You can get a decent car rad very cheap. Pump A common newbie misstake is to just look at the pumps max flow. Max flow is how many L/h the pump could manage with zero restriction. Hence you will never reach max flow in a real system with restriction. You need head (pressure height) to overcome the restriction from blocks and hoses in the loop. So the higher head the pump has the closer you'll get to max flow in a real loop. But you can't just buy a monster pump and expect low temps either because heat dump is another important factor. Fountain pumps and such use lots of watts and most of it ends up in the water, in a fountain it doesn't matter but in a computer every watt is important. We want pumps with: 1. High head 2. "Enough" flow 3. Low heat dump Max head and max flow are just the extreme points in the graph billbartuska posted, what really matters is how the graph looks between the extreme points. And these are just the factors that determine how the pump performs, there's lots of other things to consider. Like sound level, size, looks, price, MTBF(Mean Time Before Failure), etc...