Discussion of Results

Peltier based water-chillers are nothing new.  I built my first one about four years ago using two TECs sandwiched between two waterblocks.  One side produced chilled water for cooling a CPU and the other side dissipated the combined waste heat via a radiator.  The chiller was capable of subzero temperatures and obviously condensation and frost were potential problems!

 

CoolIt Systems Freezone Peltier CPU Cooler Review - Cases and Cooling 48

CoolIt Systems Freezone Peltier CPU Cooler Review - Cases and Cooling 49

(click to enlarge images)

 

Waterblock-Peltier combinations have also been around for a number of years but typically require a special power supply and require extra measures to protect against condensation, frost and ice.

 

CoolIt Systems Freezone Peltier CPU Cooler Review - Cases and Cooling 50

 

(TEC waterblock at -32°C)

 

However, CoolIt System’s Freezone CPU Cooler is new.  It’s the first commercially available, complete TEC based water-chiller system that I know of that is made exclusively for PC applications.  The Freezone is unique in that it uses six Peltier devices operating at reduced voltage for higher efficiency and less waste heat.  Because it uses so little power, it does not require a special, dedicated power supply, but instead runs happily on the modest power delivered thru a standard 4-pin Molex drive connector.  

 

Unfortunately, all this high-tech chilling goodness comes at a price.  Peltier chips are relatively expensive and when you use six of them the cost must go up.  The MSRP for the CoolIt Freezone CPU Cooler is $399.99 USD (our friends at CrazyPC have it in stock for $299.00 USD 🙂  This will undoubtedly deter a lot of enthusiasts from installing a Freezone in their system.  But if you need or just want a TEC based water-chiller that can provide sub-ambient cooling then the Freezone may be what you seek.  The Freezone offers excellent potential for overclockers who don’t mind a little fan noise.  And if you don’t have the luxury of air-conditioning in a hot climate, the Freezone can handle warm environments much better than a traditional HSF or water-cooling system can.  And then there will be the elite few who just want the Coolest cooling system around.

 

Now I know some readers are wondering just what the high price of admission really buys you compared to some of today’s top performing heatsink fan and water-cooling systems.  To help answer that question, here are the results from a popular HSF (Thermalright Ultra-120) and a water-cooling system (Koolance PC4-1025) tested on the same red-hot 955 heater.

 

CoolIt Systems Freezone Peltier CPU Cooler Review - Cases and Cooling 51

 

Thermalright Ultra-120 with Antec TriCool 3-speed fan

 

With relatively cool ambient temperatures, the Ultra-120 performs just as well as the Freezone with a medium speed fan and equivalent noise levels at a fraction of the cost.  At lower fan speeds, the Ultra-120 actually delivers better cooling performance with less noise than the Freezone.  However, when you raise the ambient air temperature, the results change dramatically.  If you raise the ambient air temperature 20°C, the CPU temperature under the Ultra-120 will increase at least 20°C, while the CPU being cooled by the Freezone will only increase a few degrees.

 

Next, we have the results from the Koolance PC4-1025 liquid cooling system taken during idle and full load conditions.  Four different fan speeds were used, ranging from a noisy ’10’ setting to a relatively quiet ‘1’ setting.

 

CoolIt Systems Freezone Peltier CPU Cooler Review - Cases and Cooling 52

 

We see the same basic pattern with the water-cooling system that we saw with the HSF.  At low ambient air temperatures performance is similar to that produced by the Freezone, but at higher ambient air temperatures, the Freezone CPU Cooler delivers superior cooling performance.

 

Again, this illustrates one of the key advantages of using the Freezone CPU Cooler.  Cooling performance is not dependant on the ambient air temperature.  Unlike conventional coolers that use forced air convection cooling (HSF or radiator), the Freezone with active TEC cooling performs extremely well, even with elevated air temperatures that would kill the performance of a HSF or water-cooling system.

 

Power consumption for the Freezone active TEC chiller module is a minimal 4 amps on the +12V rail so a large, dedicated power supply is definitely not needed (4.5A at a cold startup and 3.6A when all the TECs are hot).  I will caution potential users to make sure their motherboard can handle over 8 watts on the CPU fan header or just use a 4-pin to 3-pin adapter with remote tach sense lead to power the pump if you aren’t sure.

 

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