Since87:
I have a nice PID controller that I believe MAY be able to do the temperature control with some accessory parts. I don't at the moment have an adjustable voltage PSU that could power the 2 226W peltiers though. On the other hand smaller peltiers may be fine for keeping CPU at 30-36C (mobo temperatures near socket approximately).
I am torn on the clampmeter. If I could get decent data without a huge time expense then I think it would be a huge benefit to the 3-5 of us really interested in real CPU temperatures. But the SocketA is on its last legs now, and I have concerns that by the time I am measuring real input power from my Tbred that people will only care about A64s and Prescotts. This brings up a question for you though Sean. With my motherboard modifications I could run the MAX6655 on an Athlon64 or Prescott
provided I could solder wires to the diode pins. I fear this is way out of my league, but I recall your mentioning that you had some skilled women at work who could solder miniscule parts for cookies. Assuming I could find a spare motherboard and CPU for the testbed (I am the only person on earth that hacks up new equipment for testing and uses old gear for gaming and daily work), do you think they could handle soldering wires in such tight quarters?
Also I am wondering if my money and time might not be better spent on finishing die simulator (I need to insulate it, buy two DMMs, and fire it up). I could then just measure deltaT across the waterblock on die sim and on real CPU and get an estimate of power for real CPUs that way. Should be ok with these new 100W+ chips
Bill: Thanks for the offer. I'll decide upon whether to send it back based upon how this thread goes today.