Extreme Cooling for Benching

Tuppy_Glossop · 9 Jul 2012 at 10:06

I have a great 2500k chip which achieved 5GHz with 1.38v and 5.41GHz with 1.512v. These were lightning quick Super Pi benchmarks because I have some mid-range air cooling. I have also paid Intel's insurance against overclocking damage so I am toying with the idea of pushing this chip to its upper limits.

Extreme cooling is a dark art to me. I have seen pics of liquid nitrogen being used, I have read about the use of dry ice on top of coolers, and I have heard about people using buckets of salt/ice/water with radiators.

Does anyone know of any good online resources for extreme cooling with 'how to' guides etc ? Also any tips, tricks, and suggestions are most welcome.

8 Pack · 9 Jul 2012 at 11:34

Yes.

Kingpincooling.com and his forum for LN2 and Dry Ice.

Little Devil makes very good phase change equipment.

Just because your CPU does 5.41 bench stable dont be confident it will do amazing things on the cold. Some dont and some are heavy cold bugged and hate it. Just so you know its luck that SB will clock in the cold.

Tuppy_Glossop · 9 Jul 2012 at 12:38

Thanks for the info, 8Pack. I suppose it depends on the cost of the cooling then. I'd hate to spend a fortune only to find it has cold bugs. Maybe I can do a test run on the cheap (block of dry ice on top of existing cooler ?) to find out whether it will be worth investing...

kitfit1 · 9 Jul 2012 at 22:00

If you want to use Dry Ice or LN2 you will need a pot. You can't just put a block of Dry Ice on top of an existing Cooler.
As a rule most Intel chips have a cold bug around -110c, so you have to boot below -110c and change your clock via hardware switching.
Current AMD chips though have no cold bug that i've found yet.
A single stage phase unit capable of holding the load from an 8 threaded cpu will set you back at least £500. A 2 stage Cascade will cost at least £1000-£1300.
A pot for LN2 or Dry Ice can be £150-£300 depending on mass and material.
As you can see, the cheapest option is a pot. But a pot needs to be fed LN2 or Dry Ice.
An SS or Cascade just needs electricity. You pays your money and makes your choice.

Tuppy_Glossop · 10 Jul 2012 at 09:36

More great info, thanks. It might be a bit excessive to invest two or three hundred just for a potential handful of high bench scores. I'll have to find something else to do with my idle hands

Tea_Bag · 10 Jul 2012 at 11:09

I thought the multi on your motherboard is limited to x52?

if you're not using it, you could probably sell it on for a decent amount.

Tuppy_Glossop · 10 Jul 2012 at 13:33

Nope, the multi isn't mobo limited to 52. I have had it at 54 (see the SB 5GHz thread). I am using it for dev work, business management, music, films, etc. Just not for extreme benching

Freddie1980 · 10 Jul 2012 at 13:41

There was one guy on Youtube who came up with a cheap and dirty way of getting sub dew point temps buy putting his watercooling radiator into a bucket of ice, water and salt, I can't remember what his CPU was running at but he got it down to single numbers. No good for 24/7 use but a great way of getting cool temps for benchmark runs without costing the earth.

andybird123 · 10 Jul 2012 at 13:48

you can also get a water chiller that will do sub ambient temps which then just needs to be plugged in and not constantly topped up with ice (and you save money on not needing rads in the loop either which offsets the cost of the chiller somewhat)

if you are doing sub ambient you start needing to cover motherboards in goop to stop condensation damaging anything

if you do the radiator ice bath method, make sure you dunk the rad AFTER starting up the PC, ice forming inside the rad would be baaaad

minty · 10 Jul 2012 at 13:52

Ive got a decent 2500k too, ive put 1.53 volts through it for a 5.6 ghz clock but there is the risk of damaging the chip when pushing extreme volts through. Also i would be gutted if i damaged the chip and got a replacement which didnt clock anywhere near as well. Also as others have said even with extreme cooling a higher clock isnt guaranteed so i wouldnt want to go and spend a fortune and it not make any difference. I understand its tempting to try and push the chip further and further but in the end i decided that running at 5ghz 24/7 at fairly low volts is a smarter choice for me than having a bench slightly better than someone elses.