£100 phase cooler

[Jumper118]

Well i got a vapochill XE-II off ebay for £100, this unit consists of a 1/6th hp compressor a small heat exchanger that is around the same size as a 120mm rad and mounting hardware for socket 478, 939 and 775. 

The cooler comes in a case which is only a bit bigger than you average full tower, however it only supports the normal size atx motherboards. It also have an LCD from panel which displays the temperature of the evaporator and also has a controller board that can automatically turn the motherboard on and off once the phase cooler has got down to temperature.

 

In the back of the case there were 3 50mm fractal design fans

 

This is the first test of the cooler in the case with no load. The guy who i bought it from replaced the normal fans with blue LED Xigmatek fans because he said they were quieter.

 

closer look at the condenser

 

The compressor is Danfoss 1/6th hp. its can be used with either R404a or r507 gas

 

As you can see it worked and after just a few mins it was making ice

 

With no load the evap temp can get down as far as -52c however it settles around -48c when idling with no load.

 

 

 

 

Anyway as requested it has been taken out of said case and i am now mounting it on a piece of wood to make it easier to use for benching.

So i went an got some MDF

 

Drill out the rivets hold everything in and place in loose on the board for now until i decide where to place everything

 

then i start doing a bit of testing and started with a dfi lanparty nforce ultra 3 with an Athlon 64 x2 3800+

 

i didnt mange to get a great score as this cpu did not like the cold The load temps were ok though.

 

next up i tried a 4200+ in an Abit board and you can see the load temps were good during the cinebench run.

 

 

So today i set it up with the different mounts for 775 and decided to test a dual core chip to start with.

Now as a base for these results i did run some tests on air before. i set the voltage to a maximum of 1.5v and this was the results

 

So now phase coolers turn

In the bios at -25c cpu temp, already a good start

 

you can see here i was running 4.6ghz on 1.55v and the phase cooler was keeping the evap at -30c.

 

A bit later on during the bench session and the chip was scaling well with the voltage managing 4.8ghz on 1.6v, the evap was still -28c under load.

 

And the final result at the end: it managed 4.925ghz on 1.7v the scaling was not as good at this point and in the last runs the phase was getting upto -25c

 

Here is a better look at the full setup on 775. 

 

 

condenser size comparison with 120mm rad

 

I have yet to make a full conclusion as the ultimate test will come tomorrow when i use this on my Q6600, but i am very happy with how it has performed on these dual core chips. The cooler is rated to around 200W load at around -20c to -15c. The quad core chip should push the cooler to its limits and i will be able to compare it to both air cooling and my LD cooling rotatory phase cooler which has a much higher rating of 400W load at -50C............. 

 

@ProKoN

[flibberdipper]

Wish I had the cash and parts to get into phase change, even just to dick around and see how cold I can get things lol

[mikat]

nice

[Overkilled]

What's the point if you're not trying to break records with a 5960x

[harrynowl]

Wish I had the cash and parts to get into phase change, even just to dick around and see how cold I can get things lol

This unit will be going to me when he is done with it

 

I asked him to mount it to some MDF and tidy it up

[harrynowl]

What's the point if you're not trying to break records with a 5960x

The 5960X is one of many, many cpus in the world

[The_Stig]

What's the point if you're not trying to break records with a 5960x

Because its cool

Don't kill me it had to be done

[harrynowl]

Because its cool

Quite literally.

[crystal6tak]

Very cool! I didn't know such a small phase cooler existed! Always thought they were large like the second last pic you posted.

 

Out of curiosity, about how much would such a setup cost new in US?

[harrynowl]

Very cool! I didn't know such a small phase cooler existed! Always thought they were large like the second last pic you posted.

 

Out of curiosity, about how much would such a setup cost new in US?

In the us they're less common, there are some vapor compression coolers available in the us but you'll be paying more than $160 or whatever 100gbp is worth

 

On the plus side, dry ice is cheap & accessible in the states.

[Jumper118]

Very cool! I didn't know such a small phase cooler existed! Always thought they were large like the second last pic you posted.

 

Out of curiosity, about how much would such a setup cost new in US?

yes the ones in cases are usually quite small. and this one is cute compared to my big one . You have to look hard to find them, but they can be very cheap, there was actually the same model for sale in the uk for just £75+12 shipping, but i missed that one. they will be anywhere from $150-200 for a unit like this and then $600-800 for a larger unit. 

[ProKoN]

Very cool. Nice post and good read.

You are our go to phase guy

[Jumper118]

Very cool. Nice post and good read.

You are our go to phase guy

i'm seriously considering making one at some point this year. maybe something between like a medium one.

[rattyrich]

Really interesting I've been wanting to do a DIY phase cooling for a while cos all the pre built ones seem to big and expensive.

What are the dimensions of a phase change system like yours and how much flexibility is there in the way its laid out

[Benji_w]

i'm seriously considering making one at some point this year. maybe something between like a medium one.

 

I'd love to make one for my overclocking needs especially with my AMD system. Is it even possible to run one for 24/7?

[boarder2k7]

That's pretty sweet! Looks like guts from a dorm fridge.

I'd just be careful using it for benching not to bend the lines too many times as the copper will work harden and crack over time.

[sandboarder08]

Wow that case front panel was fugly. Looks good nice price too.

[Jumper118]

Really interesting I've been wanting to do a DIY phase cooling for a while cos all the pre built ones seem to big and expensive.

What are the dimensions of a phase change system like yours and how much flexibility is there in the way its laid out

on the board i have made it 2x1ft you can lay it out however you want. 

 

I'd love to make one for my overclocking needs especially with my AMD system. Is it even possible to run one for 24/7?

for an amd system you need a powerful one. you can run them 24/7 but there is really no point.

 

That's pretty sweet! Looks like guts from a dorm fridge.

I'd just be careful using it for benching not to bend the lines too many times as the copper will work harden and crack over time.

yes it is basically a big freezer i havent bent the cooper pipes from there original position at all.  i would have to re gas it if a wanted to do that. 

 

Wow that case front panel was fugly. Looks good nice price too.

yes the case is from 2005

[Benji_w]

for an amd system you need a powerful one. you can run them 24/7 but there is really no point.

 

It's no problem I just want to do it for the lols and experience in all honesty, plus I'd love to see how far the 8350 I have would go besides I could always use it on my intel rigs in the future. 

[Jumper118]

It's no problem I just want to do it for the lols and experience in all honesty, plus I'd love to see how far the 8350 I have would go besides I could always use it on my intel rigs in the future. 

ln2 would be the best for you fx8350 as they love cold and scale very well

[Jumper118]

Update:

I tested this unit on a Q6600 the other day and it was able to hold the temps below -15 upto 1.55v, but once i got up to 1.6v is was really starting to struggle and it could not hold the temps under a sustained heavy load. it could just abot manage cinebench r15 and got upto -15c at the evap.