Ultra ChillTec Thermo Electric CPU Cooler

Peltier  - Power Consumption Wattage Draw vs Cooling Potential

This next test attempts to show just how much of a benefit the peltier cooler is when coupled with the heat pipe cooler of the ChillTec TEC.  To test this, we simply ran our loaded tests with the system configured normally and then when the two prong power disconnected from the control module.

With the ChillTec TEC configured normally, our CPU ran at 40°C with a 100% load being applied to each core.  When we removed the peltier from the equation, the CPU temperature increased 3C to 43C which was still a very respectable result, demonstrating the effectiveness of the heat pipe design by itself.  What was even more dramatic was the power consumption comparison.  With the Peltier disconnected, we traded 58W of power savings for a small increase in CPU temperature.  With air cooling alone, the draw of the ChillTec TEC matched that of the stock AMD cooler while still reducing the CPU temperature under load by 19°C.  We have to wonder if the added cost of a 58W draw is really worth the 3°C improvement in the end.  Perhaps the benefits of the ChillTec TEC will become more evident in our overclocking segment.